4.3 Duty to Report Sex Discrimination
All Xavier employees (including certain identified student employees) who have knowledge of potential Sex Discrimination (including conduct that may constitute Title IX Sexual Harassment and Interpersonal Violence) experienced and/or reported by a student, staff, faculty, administrator or visitor must report all information learned to the Title IX Office so that it can respond promptly and in compliance with all federal, state, and other applicable law. Confidential resources on campus that are not required to report to the Title IX Office include Xavier's Campus Advocacy Coordinator, mental health counselors, physicians, and nurses at Xavier’s Health and Counseling Services, mental health counselors at the Psychological Services Center, and clergy functioning in the role of a pastoral counselor.
Xavier employees are trained on (1) identifying what constitutes Sex Discrimination (2) Xavier's policies addressing Sex Discrimination (3) the role of Xavier's Title IX Office (4) their obligation to report knowledge of Sex Discrimination (5) conduct procedures and the consequences for violating Xavier's policies and standards (6) informing individuals about how to report Sex Discrimination and (7) sharing on and off-campus confidential and non-confidential resources for individuals experiencing Sex Discrimination.
Anyone who perceives an imminently dangerous situation should immediately report the situation to the Campus Police.
Once the Title IX Office is on notice of a potential Sex Discrimination complaint, in consultation with the Reporting Party regarding their wishes, it will conduct an investigation and facilitate Xavier's Sex Discrimination complaint resolution process.
4.3.1 Procedures if the Reporting Party or Responding Party is a Minor:
If an employee of Xavier University, who is required to report Sex Discrimination, in their professional capacity, receives information regarding a Xavier student who is a minor or a non-Xavier individual who is a minor (such as a middle school student attending a day camp at the University) experiencing Sex Discrimination (whether by a non-Xavier or a Xavier individual), the employee will follow University protocol to report that information to the Title IX Office immediately. If the employee is a mandatory reporter under Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 2151.421 and the reported behavior appears to meet ORC 2151.421(a), the employee will follow the applicable law and policies to file a report with the appropriate state child protective services agency. If the employee does not qualify as a mandatory reporter under ORC 2151.421, Title IX Office staff (who do qualify as mandatory reporters) will file that report.
ORC 2151.421(a) provides in part: “No person described…in this section who is acting in an official or professional capacity and knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect based on facts that would cause a reasonable person in a similar position to suspect, that a child under eighteen years of age, or a person under twenty-one years of age with a developmental disability or physical impairment, has suffered or faces a threat of suffering any physical or mental wound, injury, disability, or condition of a nature that reasonably indicates abuse or neglect of the child shall fail to immediately report that knowledge or reasonable cause to suspect to the entity or persons specified in this division.”
In addition, upon receiving the information from the employee, the Title IX Office will provide comprehensive information to the minor on their rights, options, and resources related to all reporting systems (e.g. Title IX Office, law enforcement). The Title IX Office will also provide information on mandatory reporter responsibilities, medical and safety services, and confidential advocacy and support services.
If the individual alleged to have engaged in the sex discrimination is a Xavier student or employee, the Title IX Office will follow all policies and protocols described in Xavier’s Sex Discrimination policies in the Xavier Student Handbook if the Responding Party is a student; and, the Harassment Code & Accountability Procedures (HCAP) if the Responding Party is an employee. If the minor requests that the Title IX Office do so and/or if the Title IX Office assesses there are ongoing, urgent safety or medical issues, the Title IX Office will notify the Xavier University Police Department.
If the impacted individual is a Xavier student who is a minor, all of the same steps above will be followed. In addition, the Title IX Office will inform the student of their privacy rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The Title IX Office will prioritize sharing information only with individuals for whom the student provides a written release, but will discuss with the minor the type of emergency circumstances (such as those with ongoing, urgent safety and medical issues) that may result in the Office needing to share information with the minor’s parent(s)/guardian(s) and may, in such emergency situations, notify parents/guardians without the minor’s consent.
If an employee of Xavier University receives information regarding a Xavier student who is a minor engaging in Sex Discrimination, the employee will follow University protocol to report that information to the Title IX Office immediately. If the employee is a mandatory reporter under ORC 2151.421, the reported behavior appears to meet ORC 2151.421(a), and the employee has identifying information regarding the individual impacted by the conduct and that individual is a minor, the employee will follow the applicable law and policies to file a report with the appropriate state child protective services agency. If the employee does not qualify as a mandatory reporter under ORC 2151.421, Title IX Office staff will file that report.
If the individual alleged to have engaged in Sex Discrimination is a member of the University community, the Title IX Office will respond to the alleged conduct by following all policies and protocols described in Xavier’s Sex Discrimination policies in the Xavier Student Handbook if the Responding Party is a student and the HCAP if the Responding Party is an employee. The Title IX Office will inform the student of their privacy rights under FERPA and will discuss the University’s policy to inform the minor student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) of the reported information. If the Title IX Office assesses there are ongoing, urgent safety or medical issues related to the report, the office will notify the Xavier University Police Department.