Information for Complainant and Respondent
Information Applying to Both Parties
- Define Title IX, and who the Title IX coordinator is.
- Committed to maintaining a positive learning, working, and living environment.
- When sexual harassment or sexual violence has occurred and is brought to the attention of a responsible administrator, steps will be taken to end the harassment or violence, prevent its reoccurrence, and address its effects.
- Within the college’s processes, the person making the allegations is referred to as the Reporting Party or Complainant. The person who the allegations have been made against is referred to as the Respondent.
- A complainant who wishes to report sexual harassment, sexual violence or other gender-based harassment may report their complaint directly to the Title IX Coordinator. A complainant may also report directly to law enforcement. If the incident happened on campus, you may contact the Campus Safety Department or the Student Health Center.
- If a report is initially made with Campus Safety or the Student Health Center, authorized personnel in those departments may refer cases to the Title IX Coordinator, but only with the victim’s consent. A complainant may pursue both the campus process through the Title IX Coordinator and the criminal process simultaneously. In addition, students may file a Title IX complaint with the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education.
- The Title IX Coordinator has authority to address complaints of sexual harassment and sexual violence in a non-criminal context. This campus process is completely separate from the police and courts. hen the respondent is a student at the time of the incident, the Title IX Coordinator provides a student conduct process for investigating those cases whether they occur on or off campus. For cases where the respondent is an employee, those cases are handled by the Director of Personnel Services, who is also a member of the Title IX Investigative Team. When the respondent is both a student and an employee, the two offices may work together to resolve the case.
- College employees must refer reports of sexual harassment, sexual violence, or other gender-based harassment to the Title IX Office. The only exception to the obligation to report applies to employees working in the Student Health Center.
- The Title IX Coordinator will review the allegations and determine an appropriate course of action. Some cases can be handled informally and outside of the formal investigative process, although the college will not mediate cases of sexual violence even on a voluntary basis. For cases that result in an investigation, those investigations are conducted by individuals who have received specialized training in those types of investigations. All investigations will be conducted in a thorough and neutral manner.
- When the college becomes aware of sexual violence, the college may have an obligation to proceed with an investigation, regardless of a complainant’s wishes, in order to ensure campus safety. You are not required to participate if you choose not to; however, this may limit the college’s ability to respond to the incident. If you request that your name or other identifying information not be used in an investigation, the college will consider your request in light of the context of its responsibility to provide a safe and nondiscriminatory environment. In most cases, information including your name may be shared with the respondent, witnesses and with college officials who have a legitimate need to know. Beyond that, the college will take steps to protect your identity and the identity of all individuals involved.
- In the college’s process, the complainant and respondent will not be permitted to directly question each other and are not required to be present together at any point. Both a complainant and a respondent have the right to identify witnesses and provide other information relevant to the investigation. The college will decide the case based on a preponderance of the evidence standard (whether or not it is more likely than not that the conduct occurred).
- In most cases, the college will not wait until a criminal case is resolved before proceeding with the case. In addition, if a college official has a reasonable belief that a crime has been committed, she or he may be obligated to report that to law enforcement if police have not already been notified. In cases where a police investigation has been conducted or is being conducted, law enforcement may be able to provide some information to the Title IX Coordinator with the victim’s consent. The college’s fact-finding investigation may be delayed for a short period of time upon a request from law enforcement, but will be resumed as soon as possible.
- Describe normal timeframe for cases to be resolved (60 days)
- State how the complainant will be notified (by writing)
- Because the school’s primary concern is student safety, minor alcohol and drug violations by a complainant may be handled informally. If you are underage, you will not get in trouble if you report a sexual assault that happened while you were drinking. The use of alcohol or other drugs never makes the victim at fault for sexual violence. An individual accused of sexual misconduct does not avoid or mitigate responsibility because s/he was under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.
- The college will take interim steps to protect a complainant and a respondent while the case is pending. Depending on the case and the complainant’s wishes, these steps may include class moves, ordering a respondent to not have contact with the complainant, excluding a respondent from parts of campus.
- Any adjustments made will be designed to minimize the burden on the complainant’s educational program. Some of these actions may also be remedies in those cases resulting in a finding of a policy violation.