Confidentiality and Rights

Confidentiality
Privacy and Respect for Information
Rights as a Complainant 
Rights as a Repondent

Confidentiality

If you share information with a faculty or staff member, they are required to disclose that information to the Title IX coordinator. This information will be used to offer you resources and may be used as part of an official investigation by the college. You may be contacted by an investigator to discuss your experience.

The college must maintain accurate statistical data on crimes which occur on property that the college owns or controls under the Clery Act and its amendments. This anonymous data is reported each year in October to the campus community and the federal government.

Privacy and Respect for Information

Respecting one’s right to privacy is important to MACU. Students can be assured that when they share information with medical, police, and/or University officials, such information will be handled professionally and within the framework of each agency’s governing body privacy limitations (e.g., state law, licensing, FERPA, etc.).

University employees who have the authority to take action to redress sexual violence; who have been given the duty of reporting incidents of sexual violence or any other misconduct by students to the Vice President for Student Services or appropriate University official; or who are contacted by a student and reasonably believe that the student reasonably believes that the employee has this authority or duty, shall each report all complaints of sexual violence to the Vice President for Student Services.

A student’s privacy concerns are weighed against the needs of the University to respond to acts of harassment, including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. To the extent reasonably possible, all reports will remain private. However, information may be shared with appropriate departments and agencies under a need-to-know basis when it pertains to investigative needs and safety concerns of the University community. Third party reports will be investigated on a case-by-case basis. If a complainant requests that his or her name not be revealed to the respondent or asks the University not to investigate or seek administrative action against the respondent, MACU will be limited in its ability to respond fully to the incident.

University Counseling Service counselors, persons with professional licenses requiring confidentiality, or a person is supervised by one of the foregoing, should not report incidents of sexual violence to the Vice President for Student Services in any way that identifies a student without the student’s consent.

All information received is subject to inclusion, in statistical form, in annual MACU-published reports.   Title IX and the Campus SaVE Act include protections against retaliation. MACU officials will not only take steps to prevent retaliation but will also take strong responsive action if it occurs.

The complainant’s confidentiality is protected in as much as possible throughout the reporting, investigating and adjudicating processes in cases which include an allegation of rape, acquaintance rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and other sexual offenses or violence, including but not limited to:

1. All conversations and meetings related to such a case are held in private areas.

2. The complainant’s personally-identifiable information is withheld by the University and its personnel, except on a need-to-know basis for the purposes of notification, investigation, student disciplinary proceedings, and provision of accommodations (such as a change of class sections).  Personally-identifiable information includes:  a first and last name; a home or other physical address; information likely to disclose the complainant’s location; contact information (including a postal, e-mail or Internet protocol address, or telephone or facsimile number); social security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or student identification number; and any other information that would serve to identify an individual, alone or in combination with known information (e.g., birth date, racial or ethnic background).

3. When University personnel (including student workers) forward information and reports regarding a crime or incident to the Student Life Administrator and the Vice President for Student Services, which may include the complainant’s personally-identifiable information, all such communications are conducted in a manner that seeks to protect the confidentiality of the complainant inasmuch as possible.

4. The report of outcomes from student judiciary proceedings excludes a complainant’s personally-identifiable information.

Rights

Rights of the Complainant

As a student or employee filing a complaint (complainant), you have the following rights during an investigation into an alleged case of Dating or Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault or Stalking:

• The right to be notified of an investigation.
• The right to be assisted by an advisor, advocate or support person of their choice, at their own expense (if a fee is charged), throughout the entire judiciary process, including investigation, informal deposition of the case, hearings, and appeals.
• The advisor, advocate or support person may not speak in any proceeding or part of the  process. They may only speak in private to the victim.
• The right to call witnesses who have information about the incident
• The right to have their name or other personally identifiable information withheld (by the University) from release to the public, the press, or others who are not directly involved in the case.
• The right to be notified of the outcome of any University Judiciary Committee action in a case of sexual misconduct concurrent to the notification of the accused
• The right to request to have their living arrangements (if in university housing) modified pending the outcome of a University Judiciary Committee action if the accused lives close to the victim (pending space availability).
• The right to request extra time to make up academic work the student has missed because of time lost due to the assault, investigation and the hearing. This is done solely at the discretion of the professor.
• The right, when reasonable and possible, to have their classes reassigned so as not to share classes with the accused.
• The right not to have the student’s sexual history discussed during the hearing.
• The right to be present for the entire hearing (with the exception of deliberations).
• The right to make a victim impact statement to be presented to the hearing body subsequent to a determination of responsibility for a violation and prior to the determination of a sanction or sanctions.
• The right to give testimony from separate or divided room (or other accommodation which separates the student complainant from the accused which is approved by the Dean of Students).
• The right to file an appeal of the finding.

Victims have the right to request the following safety and support measures.  The University will take all request under advisement.

• No Contact Order – The college may impose a temporary “No Contact” order restricting contact between individuals during an investigation.
• Interim Suspension – The college may remove one or more students who are suspected of violating policy from the college prior to a hearing on the issues if there is a potential for risk to one or more members of the college community.
• Modification of Living Arrangements – The college can provide a temporary modification of your living arrangements. The college reserves the right to adjust the housing assignment of students who are alleged to have violated college policy. The college can also provide emergency on-campus housing to students living off-campus if warranted.
• Modification of Class and On-Campus Employment Schedules – The college can reassign on-campus classes and employment duties within the college during the course of an investigation. The college may review the assigned duties of students who are alleged to have violated college policy.
• Security Escorts – The college may provide temporary security escort options for ensuring student safety to and from locations on campus.

Rights of the Respondent

As a student or employee facing charges of sexual misconduct (the respondent) you have the following rights during an investigation into an alleged case of Dating or Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault or Stalking:

• The right to be notified of an investigation.
• The right to be assisted by an advisor, advocate or support person of their choice, at their own expense (if a fee is charged), throughout the entire University Judiciary Committee process, including investigation, informal disposition of the case, hearings and appeals.
• The advisor, advocate or support person may not speak in any proceeding or part of the process. They may only speak in private to the accused.
• The right to share any information which may be relevant to the investigation.
• The right to have their name or other personally identifiable information withheld from the public as part of the disciplinary process – however at the close of the process, when a case is resolved, the University is permitted to release name, charge(s) and resolution of the case (records in the Police Department are not covered the same and may be released to the public unless doing so would impact their investigation.)
• The right to call witnesses who have information about the incident.
• The right to be notified of the outcome of any University Judiciary Committee action in a case of sexual misconduct concurrent to the notification of the accused (if participating in the hearing process, or subsequent if not participating).
• The right to request to have their living arrangements (if in university housing) modified pending the outcome of a Citizenship Education process if the accused lives close to the victim. (Pending space availability).
• The right to request extra time to make up academic work the student has missed because of time lost due to the investigation and the hearing. This is done solely at the discretion of the professor.
• The right, when reasonable and possible, to have their classes reassigned so as not to share classes with the student complainant.
• The right not to have the student’s sexual history discussed during the hearing.
• The right to be present for the entire hearing (with the exception of deliberations).
• The right to make a victim impact statement to be presented to the hearing body subsequent to a determination of responsibility for a violation and prior to the determination of a sanction or sanctions.
• The right to give testimony from separate or divided room (or other accommodation which separates the student complainant from the accused which is approved by the Dean of Students).
• The right to file an appeal of the finding.