University employees have different abilities to maintain a Complainant’s confidentiality.
- Disclosing an allegation or incident to the Title IX Coordinator, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, Department of Public Safety or any other responsible employee (described in the section that follows) constitutes a report to the University and generally obligates the University to investigate the incident and take appropriate steps to address the situation. Responsible employees are required to report information concerning an incident to the Title IX Coordinator.
- A Complainant is free to discuss an incident or allegation, in confidence, with Counseling Center. These staff are not required to report any information about an incident to the Title IX Coordinator or Associate Vice President for Student Affairs without a Complainant’s permission.
- A Complainant is also free to discuss an incident or allegation, in confidence, with Student Health Services staff. These staff are required to only report to the Title IX Coordinator, the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, or Department of Public Safety that an incident occurred without revealing any personally identifying information. Disclosures to these staff will not trigger a University investigation into an incident against the Complainant’s wishes.
PLEASE NOTE: A Complainant who speaks to Counseling Center or Student Health Services staff and who wants to maintain confidentiality should understand that the University will be unable to conduct an investigation into the particular incident or pursue disciplinary action against the Responding Party. A Complainant who at first requests confidentiality may later decide to file a report with the University or law enforcement authorities and thus have the incident fully investigated. Assistance in that regard will be provided if the Complainant chooses to do so.