Faculty and staff reporting best practices

Best practices when working with a reporting person(s):

A faculty or staff member is often the first person at the university an individual will tell if they have experienced gender-based violence.

A student may share the information for a variety of reasons, such as:

All faculty and staff should be able to identify Title IX-related concerns when they are raised by individuals to ensure that students receive appropriate support, resource information, and complaint options. Faculty and Staff must contact the Equity and Access Office at 928-523-3312, Office of the Dean of Students, or the Office of Title IX Compliance & Institutional Response to Sexual Misconduct to report the incident.

When possible, speak to the individual(s) in a comfortable location
Share that you support the individual’s right to be treated seriously and with respect
Be aware that the individual may be experiencing a wide range of emotions including shame, anger, fear and denial
Interrupt to inform the individual about your limits to confidentiality and that you only will report to those who have a need to know
Explain the option of discussing the incident with confidential resources such as Counseling Services, 928-523-2261
Remember that:
- Victims are not responsible for causing their assaults, only offenders are to blame for sexual assault, rape, and other forms of gender violence.
- People of all genders and gender identities can impacted by gender-based violence.
- Avoid asking why questions. It is not your role to determine what happened.
- College students are at high risk for sexual assault.
- College-aged women are four times more likely to be sexually assaulted than women of any other age group.

Minimize the situation
Express personal biases
Try to explain the differences between “sexual assault,” “rape,” “stalking” and other forms of gender violence. The distinction might be immaterial to the feelings the reporter may be experiencing about the incident.