Get Your Students Hired
Whether or not the offense happened on or off campus it should be investigated and a report should be encouraged
Comment on Lisa Creach's post: Agree on that one! Students or anyone should feel comfortable and supported during this terrible time. Know that the institution is there for the student.
I learned that criminal investigations and institutional investigations are separate. Even if a criminal investigation does not lead to charges, a school may find violations related to Title IX and/or VAWA and seek disciplinary action.
A request for a date between students would not create a hostile environment, as it is the totality of the circumstances in which the behavior occurs that is critical in determining whether a hostile environment exists.
Students are encouraged to report their situation to the police. As an advocate for my students, I would recommend they report to the Title IX coordinator and police to maximize protection and investigation resources.
I was surprised to find out the grievance process is not streamlined. It makes me wonder when I hear stories on the news of universities being sued for violations of Title IX could that have been prevented if the process was actually streamlined rather than giving each university a set list of guidelines to follow and allowing each school to create there own process. Is this not leaving opportunity for unintentional error by the school?
Even if a victim does not want to report a Title IX violation to the police, it is important to still provide the victim with all the available resources to support and assist them.
What this unit made clear is that a Title IX violations can be multi-layered a complex. A clear and thoughtful review of the context(s), accusations, and implications of a violation is imperative before the investigation can move forward.
Even if an incident such as cyberstalking or harassment occurs off campus, if that incident affects the student's welfare or on-campus presence then it must also be investigated under title IX.
This module as well as my facilities policies on Title IX and VAWA have brought to my awareness the federally mandated nature of reporting these types of complaints. I will be more aware and make my students aware of the need to report information that they receive about sexual harassment and crimes of a sexual nature that are federally prohibited.
Regardless of if an act of cyberstalking occurred on campus or not, a school is obligated to investigate.
I learned that not all campus cases are reported to the police though do agree with a full investigation. I believe all instances of sexual misconduct should be reported to the police however, and would encourage so.
There is a difference in Title IX and VAWA as to jurisdiction in terms of locality of the violative act incurred.
Comment on Sheila Heinert's post: i completely agree with you. This course was very beneficial and an eye opener.
VAWA rules and jurisdiction can differ from Title IX policy . When in doubt, apply the more stringent of the two.