If a student discloses to you that they have been affected by sexual misconduct, it is important that you are prepared to appropriately respond to them with the relevant resources.
There are several departments at PSU that are available to support you in navigating student disclosures.
Please ensure you are fully aware of faculty and staff reporting obligations. If a student begins to share an experience of sexual harassment, assault, or any other crises, please advise the reporting student that you cannot offer them confidentiality. If they wish to speak to a confidential support person, please direct them to these resources and provide them with a copy of the Printable Resource List. If you desire to add a statement to your syllabi regarding your reporting obligations and how students can obtain confidential resources please use these recommended statements.
PSU CARES, hosted by the Dean of Student Life office, is available to consult with you regarding any issues of students in distress, including sexual misconduct. For more information, visit the PSU CARES website, email psucares@pdx.edu, or call 503-725-4422.
The Office of Equity & Compliance is responsible for monitoring Portland State University’s Title IX compliance.
You may make a report to PSU’s Title IX Coordinator by emailing titleixcoordinator@pdx.edu.
Student Notification
We encourage staff and faculty to notify students of their reporting obligations in all student employee training materials, course syllabi, and in individual conversations (if it appears a student may be about to share personal information). A potential template you could use to let the student know of your reporting obligations would be:
"Thank you for coming to talk to me. Before you start talking to me about anything sensitive, I want to make sure you know that I have certain reporting obligations as a faculty/staff member. I am obligated to report to university officials any information I receive about discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment and sexual violence. Please know that PSU’s first concern is providing resources for you. They will refer you to a confidential advocate. Before I report, I want to make sure I am providing them with a safe method to contact you. Is your PSU email address the best method for an advocate or university official to contact you? If you would like to speak to someone confidentially at PSU then you can."
PSU’s first concern is providing resources for the student, and the student will be referred to a confidential advocate. Before reporting an incident, please ask a student if their PSU email address is a safe method for an advocate or university official to contact them.
PROVIDING ACADEMIC AND EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT TO STUDENTS
PSU is committed to providing students with an educational environment where students may thrive in their educational pursuits. Incidents of interpersonal violence or sexual harassment may create barriers to students completing their education. We at Portland State support students to help them overcome these barriers. PSU’s Dean of Student Life, Title IX Coordinator, Interpersonal Violence (IPV) Advocates and CARE team are committed to assisting students who have experienced any form of sexual harassment or interpersonal violence.
Title IX of the Educational Act of 1972 requires educational institutions (PSU) to provide academic and employment support to students and/or employees, including student employees, who experience sexual harassment, sexual assault or any other form of interpersonal violence. Academic and employment support includes, but is not limited to,
- Providing additional time to complete assignments or to take exams;
- Completing the course without attending the lectures;
- Providing academic support, such as tutoring;
- Arranging to have extra time to complete or re-take a course or withdraw from a course without an academic or financial penalty;
- Providing a No Contact Order (NCO) between the victim and the alleged perpetrator, where the victim and the alleged perpetrator may not contact each other;
- Changing the alleged perpetrator or the victim’s course to prevent both students from being in the same course;
- Providing excused absence from employment with PSU for a reasonable time; and
- Changing hours of employment or department of employment at PSU.
PSU must provide these academic and/or employment supports whether or not the student decides to report the matter to Office of the Dean of Student Life or the Office of Equity and Compliance. An IPV Confidential Advocate, the CARE Team Case Manager, the Assistant Dean/Director of Conduct and Community Standards or the Title IX Coordinator may contact a faculty member/instructor and/or a supervisor to arrange for academic and/or employment support for a student or employee who has experienced interpersonal violence. If a faculty member or supervisor has any questions about providing the academic or employment support, the faculty member should contact PSU’s Title IX and 504/ADA Coordinator, Meredith Smith, at titleixcoordinator@pdx.edu.
Title IX
If you have any questions about Title IX, please contact PSU’s Title IX Coordinator at titleixcoordinator@pdx.edu. Title IX pertains to any form of sex/gender discrimination, discriminatory harassment, sexual harassment or sexual violence.