While many students might think of Title IX as the foundation for equitable athletic funding for sports in college, it’s actually a more general framework for gender equity. The legislature for Title IX reads: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
Title IX also requires federally funded schools to respond to reports of sexual harassment and violence against students, in addition to equitable funding for men’s and women’s sports.
“Title IX requires campuses to develop a policy and process for responding to sexual harassment,” said Wendi Delmendo, the Chief Compliance Officer at UC Davis.
When UC Davis receives a report of sexual violence, several steps occur in order to make sure the school acts in compliance with Title IX regulations.
Firstly, the office looks at the allegations and determines if they fit within the policy’s definition of sexual violence. If that’s the case, the next step is to begin an investigation if the accused is a UC Davis student or employee.
If a student complainant is strongly against an investigation, then the office considers how serious the case is for the campus community and tries to abide by the complainant’s wishes.
However, if an investigation does begin, the first part of the process is assigning the case to an investigator.
“We have three full-time investigators,” said Delmendo. “They usually work on six or seven cases at a time.”
Both parties receive a letter containing information about what will happen next and the rights they’ll have, such as:
- the right to not participate in an interview with investigators
- the right to have an advisor or support person present during interviews
- the right to respond to contradictory or conflicting evidence provided by any witnesses or the party to the complaint
- the right to be informed of the outcome of the investigation
- the right to receive a copy of the complete investigation report
Typically, an investigator will then reach out to the complainant and schedule an in-person interview to get more information. The in-person interview helps the investigator find other evidence that can be used.
“Often times there’s social media, text messages, and other witnesses that the complainant feels will have information for the investigator,” said Delmendo.
The investigator then interviews other witnesses and the respondent. The respondent is also able to identify possible evidence and witnesses for the investigator. After all evidence has been collected, the investigator makes an evidence packet for both parties.
“The evidence packet includes all of the witness summaries and all of the evidence that they can rely on,” she said. “There’s an opportunity to comment on that.”
After the complainant and respondent comment on the evidence and return it to the investigator, the investigator makes a report with findings about the facts and a recommendation on whether the school’s policy was violated. Both parties receive a letter with this outcome from the Title IX office as well what the next steps are.
“All of that is typically done within 50 business days,” Delmendo said. “The report and recommendation then go to Student Judicial Affairs. By policy, the director of SJA makes the call of whether or not the respondent violated policy.”
Then, both parties can once again comment on the evidence before the director of SJA makes his decision. He then issues his decision within 10 days of receiving the report from the Title IX office. If he finds there has been a policy violation, he issues a conduct sanction.
Both parties can challenge SJA’s decision through an in-person hearing.
“If it’s sexual assault, then the sanction is a suspension of two years or greater, up to dismissal,” she said. “If it’s later in the respondent’s academic career, then we can put graduation on hold.”
The school’s investigation can run parallel with a criminal investigation if the complainant chose to report the sexual violence to the police. The school’s investigation is primarily focused on academic sanctions for the respondent.
“We want to make sure people are aware of Student Health and Counseling Services, CARE for complainants, and services for respondents as well,” she said. “We want to make sure everyone is as supported as possible throughout this process. We know it’s difficult to go through.”
For more information, visit sexualviolence.ucdavis.edu.