Harassment and Intimidation

3.200 POLICY ON HARASSMENT AND INTIMIDATION

As has been stated in the Nondiscriminatory Policy Statement, it is the intent of Guilford College to prevent discrimination affecting any job applicant, employee or student based on race, creed, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, 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.

Sexual or other discriminatory harassment is prohibited by federal and state law. Sexual harassment of job applicants, employees or students at Guilford College 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; or
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.

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 or physical 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, placing sexually suggestive objects or pictures in the work or study area that may embarrass or offend an individual, using sexually degrading words to describe an individual or propositions of a sexual nature;
2. threatening or suggesting that a person's employment, grades, wages, promotional opportunities, classroom or work assignments, other conditions of employment or academic life may be adversely affected by not submitting to sexual advances;
3. general exploitation of the individual for private advantage;
4. physical or mental abuse or racial, ethnic or sexual insults, jokes or slurs.

Consensual sexual relationships outside the marital or committed partner relationship are inappropriate when they occur between members of the teaching staff or administrators/staff 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.

Ignoring harassment does not make it go away. Any employee or student who believes that he or she has been the victim of sexual or other discriminatory harassment should report the incident immediately. The College cannot take steps to solve the problem if it is not reported.

All complaints and related information will be investigated promptly. 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.

Any employee who believes that he or she has been the victim of sexual or discriminatory harassment should report the conduct to his or her supervisor or the appropriate person under the College's grievance procedure.

In cases involving faculty or professional staff members, any complaints regarding violations of these policies should be brought to the appropriate senior administrator: President, Academic Dean, Dean of Student Life, Chief Financial Officer, or Vice President for Institutional Advancement.

Other staff members who wish to seek redress may do so through the Director of Human Resources.

Cases involving students are brought to the Dean of Student Life (who may, if the case involves faculty members, refer it to the Academic Dean. If it involves an administrator or staff person, the Dean may refer it to the Senior Administrator.) Students are encouraged to select an advocate from fellow students, faculty or staff if the advocate can be supportive to the student in the process.

If the complainant is not satisfied with the response to the complaint, she or he should report the problem to a higher level manager or administrator.

The charging party in a harassment complaint may withdraw his or her complaint if it is determined during the initial phase of the investigation that no harassment has occurred. The charging party will be strongly discouraged from withdrawing the complaint if there is sufficient information presented to cause the individual(s) hearing the complaint to believe that harassment has occurred.

In the event that the situation is not resolved during the process which is described above, the individual is entitled to file a formal complaint. A complaint filed against a student will be heard by the appropriate judicial board as is outlined in the Student Handbook.

A complaint filed against a faculty member will be heard by an appointed committee composed of three faculty members and an alternate. The Nominating Committee of the faculty will have responsibility for appointing this committee on an as needed basis. All grievance committee members must be tenured faculty members, and they shall not serve on Clerk's Committee or Faculty Affairs Committee during the appointment. The Committee will be responsible for appointing its own chairperson.

A complaint filed against a staff member other than faculty will be heard by a hearing committee composed of five individuals appointed by the President and convened by the Director of Human Resources.

Parties involved in such hearings shall be entitled to bring with them a Guilford student, staff or faculty member to aid in the presentation and defense of their positions.

Documentation of matters involving alleged sexual or discriminatory harassment shall be maintained as follows: all records involving faculty members will be maintained in the Office of the Academic Dean; all records involving professional or other staff will be maintained in the Office of Human Resources; records involving students will be maintained in the Office of the Dean of Student Life.

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