(1)(a) All employees of institutions of higher education, not considered academic or athletic department employees, who have reasonable cause to believe a child has suffered abuse or neglect, must report such abuse or neglect immediately to the appropriate administrator or supervisor, as designated by the institution. The administrator or supervisor to whom the report was made, if not already a mandatory reporter under RCW 26.44.030, must report the abuse or neglect within forty-eight hours to a mandatory reporter designated by the institution for this purpose.

(b) For purposes of this section, "child" has the same meaning as in RCW 26.44.020(2).

(c) For purposes of this section, "abuse or neglect" has the same meaning as in RCW 26.44.020(1).

(2) Institutions of higher education must ensure that the employees covered by the provisions of RCW 26.44.030 and subsection (1)(a) of this section have knowledge of their reporting responsibilities through whatever means are most likely to succeed in providing this information to affected employees.