Understanding Employee Reporting Obligations
You can be a vital part of the campus prevention efforts, because you can serve as a bridge to connect students, staff and faculty to the resources available to them. Please consider the following steps you can take with regard to our sexual misconduct prevention efforts:
- Familiarize yourself with Campus and community resources available to support victims of sexual harassment and violence.
- Understand your reporting obligation (see below).
- Pursuant to Title IX requirements, faculty and staff are obligated to report allegations of sexual misconduct & harassment to the Title IX Coordinator or Additional Title IX Team Members. 1 Contact information for the Title IX Coordinator and Additional Title IX Team Members is available online. While you should always do your best to ensure a victim’s privacy, a victim’s complete confidentiality cannot be guaranteed (PDF) due to the school’s responsibility to provide a safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all students, faculty and staff. If you are in doubt as to whether a complaint constitutes a form of sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, or other form of discrimination as defined by the CSU Nondiscrimination Policy, please contact the Title IX Coordinator or Additional Title IX Team Members for assistance. The goals of the Executive Order is to provide a framework to address all types of discrimination, and is a valuable resource to everyone in our campus community.
- We have an on-campus resource where students, faculty and staff can make a confidential report around instances of sexual misconduct. This resource is WellCat Safe Place(opens in new window). There are also a number of off-campus resources available for confidential reporting. Students can also make a confidential report to the WellCat Counseling & Wellness Center(opens in new window).
- Seek assistance! WellCat Safe Place(opens in new window) has information and videos posted on their Disclosure Support webpage that can help you navigate the difficult conversation you may need to have with a student in explaining your reporting obligations. Let students know up front that you have this obligation and guide them to the places they can go to make a confidential disclosure.
- Report instances of sexual misconduct and other forms of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation (DHR) to Erika Romo, Title IX Coordinator, or to any of the Additional Title IX Team Members. After fulfilling your reporting obligations, keep the person’s information private.
- Remember your role. You are not an investigator, you are not asked to be a counselor, and you are not called upon to name, analyze, or define victim experiences. You are a bridge to connect members of the campus community with the Title IX Coordinator or Additional Title IX Team Members. These employees have received in-depth training and they are able to provide options for support, accommodations, and accountability. For further information about how to have these conversations, check out WellCat Safe Place's Disclosure Support web page and specifically review the video "Things Not to Say to Someone Who's Been Sexually Assaulted"(opens in new window) to help ensure you provide support in a safe and healthy manner.
1 Physicians, Psychotherapists, Professional Counselors, Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Counselors and Advocates are generally not required to report to the Title IX coordinator and are governed by distinct guidelines around confidentiality and reporting for individuals in these positions.