Civil Rights/Title IX

Student Rights and Responsibilities can issue a “no contact” restriction at the request of either the complainant or the respondent. Once both parties have been notified of the “no contact” restriction, all communication between the parties should cease until the restriction has been lifted. Asking another person to communicate with the other party will also be considered a violation of the restriction. If you violate the no-contact restriction, Student Rights and Responsibilities may take action against you.

If you are in a public place and the other person arrives at the same location, you should avoid each other. If you are uncomfortable being in the same location as the other person, you should leave the premises.

Yes. Individuals who intentionally mislead an investigator will be sanctioned by the University. Please note that a finding of “not responsible” is not evidence of a false report.

The university has an amnesty policy for complainants and witnesses who make a good-faith report of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, dating violence or stalking. The amnesty policy does not apply to a student who reports the student’s own commission or complicity in the commission of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence or stalking.

The university does not have an amnesty policy for employees. All employees are required to fully participate in an investigation.

Supportive measures are non-disciplinary, non-punitive individualized services offered as appropriate, as reasonably available and without fee or charge to the complainant or the respondent before or after the filing of a formal complaint or where no formal complaint has been filed. Such measures are designed to restore or preserve equal access to the member’s education program or activity without unreasonably burdening the other party, including measures designed to protect the safety of all parties or the member’s educational or work environment, or deter sexual harassment.

Please contact the University Ethics and Compliance office to discuss supportive measures. The request will be considered regardless of whether you choose to report the incident to law enforcement or pursue an investigation through our office. Requests are considered from both complainants and respondents.

You have the right to choose an advisor to be present with you at any point during the investigation and resolution process, including during your interview with the investigator. Your advisor may be any person selected by you, including legal counsel. The advisor’s participation will be limited to the role of an observer, although the advisor may request a break at any point to give you advice. The advisor cannot be called as a witness once they have assumed the role of advisor. Any fees charged by an advisor will be paid by the party that brings the advisor.

In order to protect the privacy of all who are involved in the investigation process (including complainants, respondents, and witnesses), and to protect the integrity of the investigation process, we ask that you keep information related to the investigation private. You are not prohibited from speaking with others about what is going on; however, you should be careful not to engage in conduct that could be perceived as retaliation.

No. You may report discrimination based on sex or gender, sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking at any time. However, if the alleged respondent has graduated or is no longer employed with Texas A&M University-Commerce, our response to the report may be limited.

Ethics and Compliance is charged with investigating violations of civil rights. Sexual misconduct becomes a civil rights violation when it is so severe, persistent or pervasive that it creates a work, educational or campus living environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile or abusive. The determination of whether an environment is “hostile” must be based on all of the circumstances, which may include the frequency of the conduct, the nature and severity of the conduct, whether the conduct was physically threatening or humiliating and the mental or emotional effect of the conduct on the individual(s) subjected to the alleged harassment. An “intimidating or abusive” environment exists when the conduct interferes with, limits, or deprives an individual from participating in or benefiting from the university’s educational, employment and/or campus-residential experience (including participation in university programs, activities or benefits).

Sometimes, a behavior may be unacceptable to members of the A&M-Commerce community but not reach the standards required by law to be a civil rights violation. To ensure that this kind of behavior does not go unaddressed, we may delegate the investigation and sanctioning of unprofessional or inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature to other university administrators, such as a department head or the dean of students.

In some cases, you may wish to move to a different residence hall in order to avoid contact with the other person named in your report. Please talk to Ethics and Compliance staff member if you would like to do so.

In other cases, it may be necessary for the university to move a student to a different residence hall or restrict access to certain locations on campus while an investigation is ongoing.

Going through an investigation as either a complainant or a respondent is very stressful. Individuals may wish to seek on-campus or off-campus confidential support services, including counseling and/or medical services.

For information about counseling and other types of support services, please consult our campus and community resources.