Harassment Policy

Reporting Harassment: Policy and Procedure for Students

Effective collegial working relationships must be based on mutual respect in an atmosphere free of racial, ethnic, religious, sexual or other harassment. Any employee or student exhibiting such behavior, whether explicit or implicit, may be in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Such behavior will not be condoned. Examples of unacceptable behavior include insults, derogatory remarks, jokes, unsolicited
and undesired sexual advances and verbal or physical threats or suggestions which could be considered offensive on the basis of racial, ethnic, sexual or religious content.

As stated in the Nondiscriminatory Policy Statement, it is the intent of Guilford to prevent discrimination affecting any job applicant, employee or student based on race, creed, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, military service, age or disability. The college further intends for the environment of this community to be free of any intimidation or sexual or other discriminatory harassment of job applicants, employees or students. The college views discriminatory conduct as a very serious matter, and any employee or student who violates this policy will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, whether such conduct occurred on or off-campus.

Federal and state law prohibits sexual or other discriminatory harassment. Sexual harassment of job applicants, employees or students at Guilford is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or other physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature when:

1. submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment or education.
2. submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as a basis for academic or employment decisions or assessments affecting the individual.
3. such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's academic or work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, offensive or demeaning work or educational environment.
4. in third-party situations, the third party is offended by the conduct or communications that occur between others that a reasonable person would find offensive.

Sexual Harassment

Types of Harassment

There are two basic categories of sexual harassment:

A. Quid Pro Quo Harassment is any action in which submission to conduct of a sexual nature is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's education or employment, or in which submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for academic or employment decisions affecting that individual.

B. Hostile Environment Harassment is any action, verbal expression, repeated or persistent or series of actions or expressions that is reasonably perceived as creating an intimidating, offensive, hostile, or demeaning educational, employment, or living environment for a student or College employee, by focusing on that person's gender or sexual orientation. A hostile environment is one that interferes with an individual's ability to participate in all and any aspects of academic, professional, or residential campus life.

Prohibited acts of sexual or other discriminatory harassment may take a variety of forms. Sexual or discriminatory harassment can range from subtle pressure for sexual activity to physical assault. Examples of the kinds of conduct prohibited by this policy include, but are not limited to:

1. Verbal sexual advances or threats or intimidation for sexual relations or sexual contact that is not welcome: Sexually explicit derogatory statements or verbal abuse of a sexual nature, including graphic commentaries about a person's body; Using sexually degrading words to describe an individual; Propositions of a sexual nature; Comments or inquiries about dating, marital status, sexual activities, or sexual orientation; Patronizing remarks (i.e. little girl, boy, referring to an adult as "girl", "boy", "hunk", "doll", "honey", "sweetie", "women's work"); Starting or spreading rumors; Whistling, hooting, kissing noises.

2. Visual examples: Gestures that are insulting or belittling; Circulating or displaying written or pictorial material that is offensive or belittling (pictures, jokes, cartoons, posters, or reading material); Offensive manner of communication (e.g. leering, lewd gestures, body positioning - blocking a person's path, eye contact that is intimidating, ogling or staring at body parts, making facial expressions); Notes and letters of a personal nature which are sexist, degrading, intimidating, or offensive; Wearing inappropriate or sexually suggestive clothing.

3. Physical examples: Unwanted physical contact: Hugging, kissing, patting, stroking, pinching or grabbing, rubbing one's self around another person, brushing against a person; touching the person's clothing, hair or body; giving a massage around the neck or shoulders; revealing parts of the body in violation of common decency; Persistent following (stalking); Persistently disrupting an individual's work, work space, or equipment, or interfering with his or her personal property; Flirtation between a superior and subordinate which is disruptive to the work environment (See policy on Consensual Relationships); Physically forcing sexual activity on someone including any form of assault or rape. Physical violence or any means of intimidation to discourage employees from pursuing complaints including retaliatory acts based on an employee having filed a charge of harassment.

Consensual Relationships

Consensual sexual relationships outside the marital or committed partner relationship are inappropriate when they occur between members of the teaching staff or administrators and students or between a supervisor and an employee. A professional power differential exists in these situations in terms of the influence and authority that the one can exercise over the other.

Reporting Harassment: Procedural Steps for Students

Harassment or intimidation of students will result in disciplinary action that may include verbal or written warnings, probation, suspension or dismissal. The severity of the discipline will be determined by the seriousness of the incident.

A grievance is any claimed violation, misinterpretation or inequitable application of policies, procedures or work rules of the college. Every member of the community has the right to present his or her grievance free from interference, coercion, restraint and discrimination or reprisal. To the fullest extent practicable, the college will keep complaints and the nature of the resolution of complaints confidential. However, under the college 's policies and procedures, such complaints may be subject to review by an appropriate hearing committee. Any form of retaliation against an employee or student who has complained about sexual or discriminatory harassment is strictly prohibited.

Cases involving students are brought to the Dean for Campus Life. Students are requested to present their complaint in writing to the Dean within 14 days of the incident of harassment. Statements should include information about the dates, time, place, participants' names, and the harassing behavior. The Dean will turn the report over to an Investigatory Committee, who will discuss the report with the complainant to ensure clear and thorough understanding of the allegations. Every effort will be made to maintain the confidentiality of information regarding the complaint. The Committee will contact the accused to discuss the accusation. Investigation of a harassment complaint may include interviewing other persons necessary to obtain sufficient information on which to make a determination of the situation. Once the investigation is complete, the Committee, in consultation with the complainant, will determine how the resolution process is to proceed.

If the complaint is against the Dean for Campus Life, the complaint should be submitted in writing to the Vice President for Enrollment and Campus Life, who will commence the investigatory process.

RESOLUTION

In many instances the perceived harassment is subtle; it cannot be assumed that the perceived offenders are aware of the way in which their behavior has been interpreted and both parties share the responsibility for resolution. Either directly or through a third party, complainants should make their discomfort known to perceived harassers. Perceived harassers have a responsibility to attempt to understand both the intentional and unintentional effects of their behavior and to respond in a thoughtful, sensitive manner to those perceived effects. The complainant can consider all the informal and formal means available for resolution and choose what seems most useful and workable in a particular case. The grievant must also weigh the fact that the perceived harasser may continue the offensive behavior until being made aware of his/her actions. In the most serious instances of sexual harassment, it is unreasonable to expect complainants to confront their perceived harassers. In these cases the grievant should enlist the help of the Investigatory Committee or the Dean for Campus Life.

Informal Resolution

If appropriate and desired by the complainant, the Investigatory Committee will arrange a meeting between the two parties to facilitate discussion of the complaint. Mediation is designed to encourage each person to be honest and direct with the other and to accept personal responsibility where appropriate. Its goal is to facilitate the resolution of the incident to the satisfaction of both persons involved, and to produce a written agreement that is binding on both parties. If both parties are satisfied with the outcome, the matter will be considered resolved. If the outcome of mediation is unsatisfactory to the complainant, the complaint will be returned back to the Dean for Campus Life, and the formal process will be enacted.

Formal Resolution

If mediation is unsatisfactory or undesired, and/or sufficient evidence of wrongful harassment exists, then the accused will receive written notice of the allegations and the specific violations with which the accused is being charged. A hearing will be scheduled before a hearing officer or the Judicial Board, as assigned by the Dean for Campus Life or designee. The accused student and the complainant will be afforded all rights outlined in the procedures of the Judicial System, as described in the Student Handbook.

Faculty/Staff Harassment of Students

PROCEDURES

Step One

All formal grievances pertaining to faculty will be presented to the Academic Dean unless the grievance involves the Academic Dean, in which case the grievance will go directly to the President. All formal grievances pertaining to staff will be presented to the immediate manager unless the grievance concerns the manager, in which case the grievance will go to the Senior Administrator. Grievances must be filed in person, within fourteen days of the employee becoming aware of the alleged violation. The grievance is to be filed in writing by the person(s) affected directly. The manager or Academic Dean will take appropriate steps to respond to the grievance, provided she or he has the authority to take such action.

If the grievance relates to an established policy, procedure or work rule of which the employee may be unaware or if it relates to an incident that must be handled outside the Guilford College community for legal or other reasons, it will be the Academic Dean's or manager's responsibility, after consultation with the Director of Human Resources, to explain this fact to the faculty or staff member. The explanation should assist the faculty or staff member in improving and increasing her or his awareness of the particular issue so that the faculty or staff member understands that it is not a grievance that can be handled through the grievance process of the College.

The Academic Dean's or manager's response to the grievance will be provided within five business days and will be one of the following:

• REFERRAL TO ANOTHER DEPARTMENT- The staff or faculty member is advised by the manager or Academic Dean in writing that she or he does not have the authority to resolve the grievance. The staff or faculty member is advised as to which department and department manager the grievance should be forwarded.
• RESOLUTION- The issue is resolved, and the faculty or staff member is given an explanation of the resolution in writing.
• DENIAL- The faculty or staff member is told that nothing can be done about the grievance and is given reasons why in writing. A referral to the appropriate manager or to the Office of Human Resources is offered, should the employee want to receive further information or consideration.

Step Two (Faculty members will move to step three at this point.)

If the employee believes that the action taken by the supervisor is insufficient or unsatisfactory, the employee may request a meeting with the senior administrator. At this meeting the written grievance will be presented and discussed.

The senior administrator will take appropriate action to investigate and to respond to the grievance. A written response explaining the action to be taken will be given to the employee within five business days of the meeting.

Step Three

If the faculty or staff member believes that the action taken is insufficient or unsatisfactory, the faculty or staff member may meet with the appropriate Vice President if she or he has not done so already. A copy of the grievance will be forwarded to the appropriate Vice President for review.

The Vice President will schedule a meeting within five working days of receiving the written notice of the grievance. Attendees at the meeting will include the faculty or staff member, the Academic Dean or other Senior Administrator and any other individuals who should be in attendance based on discussions with the faculty or staff member who has filed the grievance.

A written response to the faculty or staff member will be made within five working days of this meeting unless it is determined that more time is needed so that additional investigation and consultation can occur, in which case the employee will be so informed. Copies of this response will be furnished to the Academic Dean or Senior Administrator. A copy of the response will also be filed in the Academic Dean's personnel file for faculty. For staff a copy will be filed in the employee's personnel file.

Both faculty and staff are encouraged to exhaust other administrative remedies prior to setting in motion the procedures which involve the appropriate grievance committees. However, this is not a requirement of the policy.

Step Four

In the event that the grievance is still not resolved, a Grievance Committee will be established to consider and resolve the issue.

A Grievance Committee is an ad hoc committee chosen to hear just one case.

The Faculty Grievance Committee will consist of tenured faculty members, three regular members and an alternate, appointed by the Nominating Committee on an as needed basis. No grievance committee members shall be serving on Clerk's Committee or Faculty Affairs Committee during the appointment. The Committee will be responsible for appointing its own chairperson.

The Staff Grievance Committee will be an appointed committee of three regular members and an alternate. The Administrative Council will have responsibility for appointing this committee on an as needed basis. All grievance committee members must be full-time employees who have been with the College on a full-time basis for a minimum of five years. These employees may not serve on the Administrative Council during their appointments. The committee will be responsible for appointing its own chairperson.

Training in conflict resolution will be provided to each participant. Committee members will be required to treat all proceedings as confidential and will observe the confidentiality of all documents and statements presented to it. Any violation of confidentiality shall be deemed a breach of trust and of professional ethics. Appropriate disciplinary action and removal from the committee will be immediate, should violation of confidentiality occur.

The Grievance Committee will consider the written grievance, all written responses to the grievance, a brief written explanation by the Provost of the earlier steps taken, any other relevant materials, and will interview the persons directly involved in the grievance, the Academic Dean or Senior Administrator, the Provost, and any other individuals it believes may have information helpful in resolving the issue. The committee will immediately seek to mediate and to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of those directly involved.

If mediation fails, the matter will be reported to the President. All relevant materials and a brief report by the Grievance Committee of its efforts to resolve the issue will be forwarded to the President. The President shall determine and set forth the College's position and any requisite action with respect to the grievance. The President will respond to those directly involved within two weeks of receipt of the grievance from the chairperson of the grievance committee.

Documentation of matters involving alleged sexual or discriminatory harassment shall be maintained in the Office of Human Resources. Records involving students will be maintained in the Office of the Dean for Campus  Life.

Wrongful Allegations

Disciplinary action shall be taken against any person found to have willfully falsified a claim of harassment. It is also a violation of this policy to retaliate against another member of the campus community for bringing forward a claim of harassment.