117 / 154
111
B. Determining the Investigation Approach
Upon report of Sexual Misconduct to the Director of Title IX Compliance, whether directly from
a Complainant or from another source, such as a Responsible Employee, Title IX requires the
University to take prompt, reasonable action in response to the information received. The
Director of Title IX Compliance must assess and determine whether there is sufficient basis to
initiate a Title IX investigation or take other steps to address the effects of the alleged Sexual
Misconduct on the impacted party and the University community and prevent its recurrence. The
Director of Title IX Compliance, or designee, will meet with the impacted party, when possible,
to provide information about a Title IX investigation. Before beginning an investigation, the
Director of Title IX Compliance, or designee, will contact the impacted party and request
consent from the impacted party to proceed to an investigation. An investigation may still go
forward even if the impacted party refuses consent, if appropriate, subject to the balancing test
provided by the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights’ April 4, 2011 Dear Colleague
Letter, which states that in such cases, institutions should balance the following factors:
•
The seriousness of the alleged misconduct, including whether a weapon was involved;
•
The impacted party’s age;
•
Whether the misconduct was committed by multiple assailants;
•
Whether the misconduct included threatening behavior by the harasser or assailant against the
impacted party;
•
Whether there exists prior misconduct complaints about the same individual, including prior
arrests or history of violence at another institution; and
•
Whether the misconduct involves a pattern at a given location or by a particular group.
The alleged student harasser or Respondent’s rights to receive information about the allegations
if the information is maintained by the school as an “education record” under the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 C.F.R. Part 99.1.
In some instances, if the Director of Title IX Compliance does not initiate an investigation, the
matter may be referred to another process such as referring to a University administrator (i.e. the
Dean of Students or Chief Human Resources Officer to manage a concern on behalf of the
Director of Title IX Compliance and in lieu of an investigation under this policy. In some
instances, such as where the concern described does not fall within the scope of Prohibited
Conduct, an investigation may not go forward.