Title IX Title IX: Confidentiality

Options for Support and Pursuing Actions

When seeking support or reporting covered sexual harassment, individuals should be aware of confidentiality, privacy, and reporting requirements in order to make informed choices. Different College employees have different reporting responsibilities and different abilities to maintain confidentiality, depending on their roles at the College and upon College policy. Reporters are encouraged to ask questions about an employee’s ability to maintain confidentiality or to maintain privacy before consulting and are reminded that reporters do not have to share any information that they do not wish to share when seeking support.

Confidential Reporting

Reporters who are members of the College community, who are not responsible employees, and who wish to maintain absolute confidentiality can seek support from the College’s confidential employees. All confidential employees can offer individuals confidentiality, discuss options, and offer advice without any obligation to tell anyone unless the individual wants them to do so. Confidential employees include College mental health counselors and nurses. College mental health counselors are available to help students free of charge.

Tompkins Cortland Mental Health Counseling
Main Campus 122
counseling@tc3.edu
607.844.6577 
tompkinscortland.edu/mental-health-counseling

Employees may connect with the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), a confidential service the College has arranged for eligible employees and family members. 

Higher Ed EAP
1-800-252-4555
HigherEdEAP.com

Additionally, reporters can seek confidential resources external to the College from other mental health practitioners or clergy in town, LGBTQ+ resource centers, the YWCA, and other nonprofit advocacy organizations.

Seeking Support Where Personally Identifiable Information Remains Private 

Responsible employees, who are not confidential employees, will be required to report information shared when a report is made (including name of complainant, date, location, category of misconduct/crime, potential for danger, and name of respondent, if known). This information will only be shared as necessary on a need-to-know basis, and all efforts will be made to protect the complainant’s privacy. 

A reporter and/or complainant who does not wish to speak with the Title IX Coordinator is not required to do so. However, the Title IX Coordinator will send the reporter and/or complainant information about available resources and support. Additionally, if the reporter is identified as a complainant in a grievance process detailed below or if a complainant can be identified from the report, the complainant will receive status updates from the Title IX Coordinator regarding the status of the grievance process but will not be required to respond to the status updates or participate in the grievance process.

Making a Report Regarding Covered Sexual Harassment to the College

Any person may report sex discrimination, including sexual harassment (whether or not the person reporting is the person alleged to be the victim of conduct that could constitute sex discrimination or sexual harassment), in person, by mail, by telephone, or by electronic mail, using the contact information listed for the Title IX Coordinator, or by any other means that results in the Title IX Coordinator receiving the person’s verbal or written report.
Contact Information for the Title IX Coordinator:

Title: Associate Vice President of Student Affairs
Address: 170 North Street, P.O. Box 139, Dryden NY 13053
Office Location: Main Campus
Email Address: TitleIX@tompkinscortland.edu
Telephone Number: 607-844-8222 x4378

The Associate Vice President of Student Affairs, with the approval of the President, may designate a Senior Student Affairs Officer to serve as an alternate Title IX Coordinator if circumstances require. 

Responsible employees who receive a report of potential discriminatory and/or harassing conduct must inform the Title IX Coordinator within 24-48 hours. The responsible employee receiving the report will gather basic information from the reporter, including: a description of the alleged incident(s), when and where it occurred, and any safety concerns of the reporter. The reporter should also include the name and any contact information for the respondent, if known. 

An individual, other than a responsible employee, can make a confidential report to the Title IX Coordinator using the College’s anonymous reporting feature without disclosing their own identity or the identity of the respondent. The Title IX Coordinator will assess the report using the same intake process detailed below, however, depending on the amount of information provided, the College may not be able to take further action to respond to the report. 
Individuals with complaints of this nature also always have the right to file a formal complaint with the United States Department of Education: 

Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
400 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20202-1100 
Customer Service Hotline: 800-421-3481 
Facsimile: 202-453- 6012 
TDD#: 877-521-2172 
Email: OCR@ed.gov
Web: http://www.ed.gov/ocr

Likewise, complaints may be filed with the Office of the New York State Division of Human Rights:

Division of Human Rights
Telephone Number:  844-697-3471
Email:  info@dhr.ny.gov
Web: https://dhr.ny.gov/

Under the Policy, there is no time limit on reporting alleged prohibited conduct, but reporters are encouraged to report alleged prohibited conduct as soon as possible after the incident(s) in order to ensure the report can be most effectively assessed.