Reporting Options

Mandated Reporting

All Otis College employees (faculty, staff, administrators) are expected to report actual or suspected sexual harassment or retaliation to appropriate officials immediately, although there are some limited exceptions.

To make informed choices, it is important to be aware of confidentiality and mandatory reporting requirements when consulting institutional resources. Within the institution, some resources may maintain confidentiality and are not required to report actual or suspected sexual harassment or retaliation in a way that identifies the parties. They may offer options and resources without any obligation to inform an outside agency or institution official unless a Complainant has requested the information be shared.

If a Complainant expects formal action in response to their allegations, reporting to any Mandated Reporter can connect them with resources to report alleged crimes and/or policy violations, and these employees will immediately pass reports to the Title IX Coordinator (and/or police, if desired by the Complainant or required by law), who will act when an incident is reported to them.

The following sections describe the College’s reporting options for a Complainant or third party (including parents/guardians when appropriate):

Confidential Resources

If a Complainant would like the details of an incident to be kept confidential, the Complainant may speak with: 

• On-campus licensed professional counselors
• Community-based (non-employees):
  • • Licensed professional counselors and other medical providers
    • Local rape crisis counselors
    • Domestic violence resources
    • Local or state assistance agencies
    • Clergy/Chaplains
    • Attorneys

All of the above-listed individuals will maintain confidentiality when acting under the scope of their licensure, professional ethics, professional credentials, or official designation, except in extreme cases of immediacy of threat or danger or abuse of a minor/elder/individual with a disability, or when required to disclose by law or court order.

Institutional counselors and/or the Employee Assistance Program are available to help free of charge and may be consulted on an emergency basis during normal business hours.

Employees who have confidentiality as described above, and who receive reports within the scope of their confidential roles will timely submit anonymous statistical information for Clery Act purposes unless they believe it would be harmful to their client, patient, or parishioner. 

Anonymous Notice to Mandated Reporters

At the request of a Complainant, notice may be given anonymously (i.e., without identification of the Complainant) to the Title IX Coordinator by a Mandated Reporter. The Mandated Reporter cannot remain anonymous themselves.  If a Complainant has requested that a Mandated Reporter maintain the Complainant’s anonymity, the Mandated Reporter may do so unless it is reasonable to believe that a compelling threat to health or safety could exist. The Mandated Reporter can consult with the Title IX Coordinator on that assessment without revealing personally identifiable information.

Anonymous notice will be investigated by Otis College to the extent possible, both to assess the underlying allegation(s) and to determine if supportive measures or remedies can be provided. However, anonymous notice typically limits the Otis College’s ability to investigate, respond, and provide remedies, depending on what information is shared.

When a Complainant has made a request for anonymity, the Complainant’s personally identifiable information may be withheld by a Mandated Reporter, but all other details must be shared with the Title IX Coordinator. Mandated reporters may not be able to maintain requests for anonymity for Complainants who are minors, elderly, and/or disabled, depending on state reporting of abuse requirements.

Mandated Reporters and Formal Notice/Complaints

All Otis College employees (including student employees), with the exception of those who are designated as Confidential Resources, are Mandated Reporters and must promptly share with the Title IX Coordinator all known details of a report made to them in the course of their employment. Employees must also promptly share all details of behaviors under this Policy that they observe or have knowledge of, even if not reported to them by a Complainant or third party. 

Complainants may want to carefully consider whether they share personally identifiable details with non-confidential Mandated Reporters, as those details must be shared with the Title IX Coordinator.

Generally, disclosures in climate surveys, classroom writing assignments or discussions, human subjects research, or at events such as “Take Back the Night” marches or speak-outs do not provide notice that must be reported to the Title IX Coordinator by employees, unless the Complainant clearly indicates that they desire a report to be made or a seek a specific response from the College. Supportive measures may be offered as the result of such disclosures without formal College action.

Failure of a Mandated Reporter, as described above in this section, to report an incident of sexual harassment or retaliation of which they become aware is a violation of College Policy and can be subject to disciplinary action for failure to comply/failure to report. 

Though this may seem obvious, when a Mandated Reporter is engaged in sexual harassment and/or retaliation in violation of this Policy, they still have a duty to report their own misconduct, though the College is technically not on notice simply because a harasser is also a Mandated Reporter unless the harasser does in fact report themselves.

Finally, it is important to clarify that a Mandated Reporter who is themselves a target of sexual harassment and/or retaliation under this Policy is not required to report their own experience, though they are, of course, encouraged to do so.

When a Complainant Does Not Wish to Proceed

If a Complainant does not wish for their name to be shared, does not wish for an investigation to take place, and/or does not want a Formal Complaint to be pursued, they may make such a request to the Title IX Coordinator, who will evaluate that request in light of the duty to ensure the safety of the institution and to comply with state or federal law.

The Title IX Coordinator has ultimate discretion over whether the College proceeds when the Complainant does not wish to do so, and the Title IX Coordinator may sign a Formal Complaint to initiate a grievance process, usually upon completion of an appropriate violence risk assessment. The Title IX Coordinator’s decision should be based on results of the violence risk assessment that show a compelling risk to health and/or safety that requires the College to pursue formal action to protect the community.

A compelling risk to health and/or safety may result from evidence of patterns of misconduct, predatory conduct, threats, abuse of minors, use of weapons, and/or violence. Otis Colleges may be compelled to act on alleged employee misconduct irrespective of a Complainant’s wishes.

The Title IX Coordinator must also consider the effect that non-participation by the Complainant may have on the availability of evidence and the College’s ability to pursue a Formal Grievance Process fairly and effectively.

When the Title IX Coordinator executes the written complaint, they do not become the Complainant. The Complainant is the individual who is alleged to be the victim of conduct that could constitute a violation of this Policy.

When the College proceeds, the Complainant (and/or their Advisor) may have as much or as little involvement in the process as they wish. The Complainant retains all rights of a Complainant under this Policy irrespective of their level of participation. Typically, when the Complainant chooses not to participate, the Advisor may be appointed as proxy for the Complainant throughout the process, acting to ensure and protect the rights of the Complainant, though this does not extend to the provision of evidence or testimony. 

Note that the College’s ability to remedy and respond to notice may be limited if the Complainant does not want the College to proceed with an investigation and/or grievance process. The goal is to provide the Complainant with as much control over the process as possible, while balancing the College’s obligation to protect its community.

In cases in which the Complainant requests confidentiality/no formal action and the circumstances allow the College to honor that request, Otis College may offer Informal Resolution options, supportive measures, and remedies to the Complainant and the community, but will not otherwise pursue formal action.

If the Complainant elects to take no action, they can change that decision if they decide to pursue a Formal Complaint at a later date. Upon making a Formal Complaint, a Complainant has the right, and can expect, to have allegations taken seriously by the College and to have the incident(s) investigated and properly resolved through these procedures. Please consider that delays may cause limitations on access to evidence, or present issues with respect to the status of the parties.

Federal Statistical Reporting Obligations

Certain institutional officials–those deemed Campus Security Authorities–have a duty to report the following for federal statistical reporting purposes (Clery Act):

1. All “primary crimes,” which include criminal homicide, rape, fondling, incest, statutory rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, and arson
2. Hate crimes, which include any bias-motivated primary crime as well as any bias motivated larceny or theft, simple assault, intimidation, or destruction/damage/vandalism of property
3. VAWA-based crimes,[2] which include sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking
4.  Arrests and referrals for disciplinary action for weapons-related law violations, liquor-related law violations, and drug law violations

All personally identifiable information is kept private, but statistical information must be shared with [campus law enforcement] regarding the type of incident and its general location (on or off campus or in the surrounding area, but no addresses are given) for publication in the Annual Security Report and daily campus crime log. Campus Security Authorities include: student affairs/student conduct staff, [campus law enforcement/public safety/security], local police, coaches, athletic directors, residence life staff, student activities staff, human resources staff, advisors to student organizations, and any other official with significant responsibility for student and campus activities.

Reporting Protections

The College expects that all community members will take reasonable action to stop, or prevent an act of sexual misconduct, harassment, or discrimination. Such action may include intervening when safe to do so, requesting assistance of friends, contacting law enforcement or a person in authority. Any community member who should decide to exercise this moral obligation will be supported by the College and protected from retaliation.

Retaliation against any person or group that makes a complaint, cooperates with an investigation, or participates in the grievance procedure is in violation of College policy. Retaliation should be reported immediately to the Title IX Coordinator for investigative purposes.