Employees

Responsible Employee Required Reporting

All university employees are required to report any act of sexual misconduct or sexual assault to the university Title IX Coordinator or Deputy Coordinator. The only exceptions to this policy are university identified confidential resources – the Kemp Marriage and Family Therapy counseling center.

Confidential resources are given federal authorization to provide trusted advice to individuals who are subject to an allegation of sexual assault and not disclose any information obtain in the discussion.

How to Assist a Student Who Reports a Sexual Assault

The following points provide guidance to assist a student who experiences an act of relationship violence:

Student reports a sexual assault
In most situations when a student wants to talk about an act of sexual misconduct, the conversation might begin with, “Can I talk with you about something?” If you are not a university identified confidential resource and before the student starts talking, you should indicate something like “I am here to assist you. However, please know if you tell me anything related to sexual misconduct, I will have to report that information to university Title IX Coordinator. If you want to talk with someone privately and confidentially, I can direct or take you to a confidential resource.”

Amnesty provision: a student who reports a sexual assault complaint will not be held accountable for violations outlined in the Student Handbook provided the conduct of the complainant does not jeopardize the safety of another or the university.

Student indicates she/he is a victim of sexual assault:

• Inform the complainant that he/she can make an official report with the University Police Department and/or OBU’s Title IX Coordinator. Although a student files a report with the University Police Department, the student does not have to initiate criminal action. If a report is filed with the Title IX Coordinator, the Title IX Coordinator will initiate an investigation that may lead to university action.
• Direct the student to the Student Handbook to review the Title IX misconduct policy and its enforcement.
• The student may want to talk with an attorney about their options.
• Direct the student to university counseling or the office of spiritual life; staff in these offices are equipped to assist students to make the decision to report or not report a violation.

Student indicates he/she has been accused of a sexual assault

• Inform the respondent that he/she can make a statement to the University Police Department or to the university Title IX Coordinator. When a student indicates he/she has been accused of sexual assault violation, the Title IX Coordinator will initiate an investigation that may or may not lead to university action.
• Inform the student that he/she may want to seek legal advice from an attorney.
• Direct the student to university counseling or the office of spiritual life; staff can advise the student as to their best option to respond to the allegation.

Actions That May be Initiated in Response to a Sexual Assault Allegation

In order to eliminate elements of a hostile educational environment, the Title IX Coordinator may initiate any or all of the following:

• No contact order – the complainant and respondent are instructed to have no further contact unless specifically approved by the Title IX Coordinator.
• Residence hall reassignment – due to the nature of the incident or allegation, a student’s campus residence hall assignment may be changed to provide the student with a better feeling of safety.
• Classroom and/or course modification – in some instances where the complainant and respondent are in the same class(es), the elimination of a hostile education environment will require one or both individuals being moved from the current classroom or course.
• Reasonable attendance adjustment – in conjunction with discussion with the professor, the university counselor and the Title IX Coordinator, curriculum attendance may be subject to realistic modifications.
• Campus restriction – the protection of a student’s educational environment may require restricting access to another who has no legitimate educational interest in a particular area of campus. In some situations, restriction may entail the creation of a schedule when the complainant and the respondent can be in a particular area of campus (i.e. cafeteria, RAWC, etc.).

Review Title IX Policy

It is a good practice for all employees to be familiar with OBU’s Title IX Policy. The complete policy can be found in Appendix B of the Student Handbook.