Your Rights
Title IX and university policies protects students and employees from discrimination and sexual misconduct. If accused of such behaviors, you also have rights as a respondent.
Know Your Nine
- Title IX prohibits gender discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding. This means all public and charter k-12 schools, some private k-12 schools, and nearly all colleges and university.
- Sexual harassment, including sexual assault, is a type of gender discrimination that’s banned by Title IX. What to Report
- Title IX is not exclusive to female students. Title IX applies to and protects all students, faculty, and staff.
- Schools must have established procedures for handling gender discrimination and sexual assault. Reporting
- Schools must take prompt action to ensure complainants continue their education free of ongoing harassment. Support Services
- Schools must not retaliate against someone filing a complaint and must have procedures to protect complainants from retaliation. Support Services
- Schools can issue “No Contact” directives to prevent accused respondents from interacting with victims and other parties. Support Services
- Sexual harassment and assault create a hostile environment that interferes with students’ abilities to benefit from educational programs.
- If a school knows (or has actual knowledge) about sexual harassment, including sexual assault, that creates a hostile environment, Title IX requires the school to eliminate the harassment, prevent its reoccurrence, and address its effects.
Complainant & Respondent Rights
Complainant
The party who makes the complaint.
Respondent
The person accused of Sexual Misconduct or sex-based discrimination.
The right to:
- Report sexual misconduct to the university without discouragement and have report promptly and fairly investigated
- Be treated with respect by university officials
- Preservation of privacy, to extent possible and allowed by law
- Be informed of available resources such as counseling, medical, mental health, law enforcement, immigration, or services for victims/respondents, both on campus and in the community Support Services
- Be fully informed of the sexual misconduct policy and process as described in the sexual misconduct policy
- Petition that any investigator, coordinator or university administrator be removed from the process on the basis of demonstrated bias
- Timely notice of any meetings
- Be provided timely access to review relevant documents or materials, subject to privacy limitations imposed by state and federal law
- Identify and ask the investigator to question relevant witnesses
- Have a representative or advisor present (although not directly participating) during any meetings with Investigator, Coordinator, or Appellate Authority
- Be informed in writing of the outcome and sanction of any investigation involving sexual misconduct
- A finding and sanction (if any) based solely on evidence presented during the investigation
- Appeal the finding and sanction of the applicable administrator, in accordance with the sexual misconduct policy
- Have university policies and procedures followed without material deviation
- Be informed in advance, when possible, of any public release of information regarding the complaint
Focus Areas
Pregnancy, parenting, & LGBTQIA+ students are protected from discrimination and may seek accommodations. Check out our resource pages below.
Need Help?
Email & Call
Email Address: titleix@shsu.edu
Phone Number: (936) 294-3080