Definitions
Actual Knowledge.
Advisor
Complainant
Decision Maker
Education Program or Activity
Formal Complaint
Hostile Environment
Informal Resolution
Investigator
Party
Preponderance of Evidence
Privileged Information
Recipient
Respondent
Responsible Party
Sexual Harassment
Supportive Measures
Title IX Coordinator
Allegations or other notices of sexual harassment provided to the Title IX Coordinator.
An individual chosen by the complainant or respondent to support them throughout the investigative process.
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A complainant is the alleged victim of sexual harassment who has filed a formal complaint with SWIHA’s Title IX Coordinator.
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The decision-maker(s) in investigations and adjudications of formal complaints of sexual harassment cannot be the same person as the Title IX Coordinator or investigator(s). Further, they will be unbiased toward the complainant and the respondents, and have no personal, professional, educational, or other relationship with either party.
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Includes locations, events, or circumstances over which SWIHA exercised substantial control over both the respondent and the context in which the sexual harassment occurs, and also includes any building owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by a postsecondary institution
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A document that is filed and signed by a complainant (with a physical or digital signature) or the Title IX Coordinator and requests SWIHA to investigate the allegation of sexual harassment against the respondent. At the time of filing a formal complaint, a complainant must be a participant or attempting to participate in the education program or activity at SWIHA.
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Includes only unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe and pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to SWIHA’s education program or activity.
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Informal resolutions are flexible meaning the process can move forward in many ways. As a rule, an informal complaint process:
- Will not receive a comprehensive investigation
- Can be kept fully confidential; and
- Will not be referred for official disciplinary action if an agreement between the parties and the school is reached.
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An individual responsible for working with all parties to investigate allegations of violations of Title IX. The investigator will be unbiased toward the complainant and the respondents, and have no personal, professional, educational, or other relationship with either party.
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In the context of Title IX party or parties to the individuals directly involved in the complaint process. These include the complainant, respondent, and any witnesses or advisors for each.
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The Preponderance of Evidence standard states that the burden of proof is met when the complainant convinces the investigative panel that there is a greater than 50% chance that the respondent is responsible for sexual harassment.
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Information protected by attorney-client privilege, a patient-physician privilege, or any other privilege recognized by law. In addition, SWIHA cannot unilaterally access or consider a party’s records, if those records are made or maintained by a physician, psychiatrist, or other recognized professional or made for the purpose of providing treatment to the party. These records can only be access with a party’s voluntary written consent.
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For the purposes of Title IX, SWIHA is also known as the “recipient,” as an institution that receives funding under Title IV of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”), 20 U.S.C. §1681 et seq.
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A respondent is an individual or individuals named by the complainant as allegedly responsible for sexual harassment.
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Any individual employed or under contract by the recipient who can communicate a person’s verbal or written report of sexual harassment to the Title IX Coordinator.
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Conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following:
- An employee of SWIHA conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or service of SWIHA on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct (quid pro quo);
- Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to SWIHA’s education program or activity; or
- Sexual Violence as defined by:
- “Sexual assault” defined as an offense classified as a forcible or nonforcible sex offense under the uniform crime reporting system of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)(v)
- “dating violence,” as defined in 34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(10), meaning violence committed by a person:
- who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim; and
- where the existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration of the following factors:
- The length of the relationship
- The type of relationship.
- The frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
- “domestic violence” includes felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving grant monies, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction as defined in 34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(8)
- “stalking,” as defined in 34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(30), means engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to
- fear for his or her safety or the safety of others; or
- suffer substantial emotional distress.
In addition, this includes domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. These categories (as well as sexual assault) are defined by reference to Clery Act as amended by the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA).
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Non-disciplinary, non-punitive and individualized services designed to restore or preserve access to SWIHA’s education program or activity, without unreasonably burdening the other party, including measures designed to protect the safety of all parties and SWIHA’s educational environment or to deter sexual harassment. These may include “counseling, extensions of deadlines or other course-related adjustments, modifications of work or class schedules, campus escort services, mutual restrictions on contact between the parties, changes in work or housing locations, leaves of absence, increased security and monitoring of certain areas of the campus, and other similar measures.” Title IX regulations require that SWIHA offers supportive measures to the complainant or respondent as appropriate as reasonably available, and without fee or charge before or after the filing of a formal complaint or where no formal complaint has been filed. The Title IX Coordinator is responsible for the “effective implementation” of supportive measures.
In addition, SWIHA will maintain as confidential any supportive measures provided to the complainant or respondent, to the extent that maintaining such confidentiality would not impair the ability of the institution to provide the supportive measure
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The Title IX Coordinator has the responsibility for effectively implementing supportive measures and remedies for victims of sexual harassment. Anyone, and not just the victim, is able to report sexual harassment to a Title IX Coordinator 24 hours a day by mail, phone or email. SWIHA’s Title IX Coordinator is Dr. Brad Bouté, bradb@swiha.edu, 480-393-1396. For the SWINA campus, students may contact Pam Brown, pamb@swiha.edu, 480-994-9244 x203.
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Title IX Table of Contents
1. Title IX Overview and Coordinator Information
2. Title IX Sequence of Events
3. Grievance Process Detail
4. Important Definitions
5. Important Title IX Procedures
6. Title IX Training Materials