Prevention & Awareness

The campus will support an individual’s desire to keep a report private, except when that request interferes with the University’s obligation to provide a safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all students, faculty, and staff. In any case, the University will take steps to protect the student making the report and limit disclosure of information to those who have a need to know. Students, or staff who are not Responsible Employees for reporting purposes, can choose to talk through an incident of sexual misconduct with a confidential resource before making a report, to better understand reporting options. Students, or staff who are not Responsible Employees, may also consult with the Title IX Coordinator to obtain information outlining the formal complaint process or information on contact information for confidential resources before making a report or filing a formal complaint.

If you are not a Responsible Employee bound to meet the obligation to provide detailed reports, you can choose whether to identify the alleged offender or not. However, if you want UIS to pursue an investigation of your concerns, you must name the person you believe to have violated the Sexual Misconduct Policy and file a formal complaint against them. If you don’t wish to pursue a formal complaint from which an investigation will be launched it is strictly your choice whether you name the person or persons about whom you have concerns. However, please be aware that choosing not to name the alleged offender may limit UIS’s ability to respond comprehensively to the sexual conduct of concern.

Confidential resources, like the Counseling Center or off-campus victim advocacy services such as the Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault, are not required to report incidents you share with them to the police or the University. There are legal protections for the discussions you have with confidential resources. Non-confidential resources, such as professors, academic advisors, resident advisors, coaches, and supervisors, are obligated to report incidents of possible or observed sexual misconduct to the UIS Title IX Coordinator. If you are not a Responsible Employee, a decision to choose to report only to confidential resources is absolutely okay and the Title IX Coordinator or other involved UIS administrators and other employees will not judge you for it or push you to report.

On-campus, the UIS Counseling Center provides confidential advisors. In the community, the Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault and the Sojourn Shelter and Services for victims of domestic or dating violence are confidential resources. For contact information, please see your Rights and Options.

UIS encourages you to immediately report incidents of sexual misconduct if you are comfortable doing so but understands there may be uncertainty about whether or how to proceed. If you choose to file a formal complaint, please note the time limits for internal or external complaints in the UIS Sexual Misconduct Policy. Faculty and staff who are made aware of sexual misconduct must immediately report the incident to the UIS Title IX Coordinator.

Where a student has experienced sexual misconduct while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, the University will not pursue disciplinary action against that student for their improper use of such substances. Please review the Amnesty provision in the UIS Sexual Misconduct Policy for more information.

Yes. You do not have to provide details about the incident or participate in an investigation conducted by the Title IX Coordinator to receive support services or request supportive measures.

There are options on which the Title IX Coordinator will work to assist you, with assistance from Campus Police and the Dean of Students. If you live in the same residence hall, apartment, or townhouse complex as the alleged offender and would like to discuss alternative housing accommodations, the Title IX Coordinator will assist you, working with the Director of Residence Life and the Dean of Students.

If you are in the same class as the person about whom you have a concern involving sexual misconduct, the Title IX Coordinator can assist you, working with the Dean of Students, your course instructors, and Records and Registration on class schedules, deadline extensions, or petitions for withdrawal from a class without a penalty.

The UIS Title IX Coordinator will work with other administrators to assist students who have experienced sexual misconduct on or off-campus, including while participating in an off-campus University-related program. If the alleged offender was another UIS student, that student is still subject to the UIS Sexual Misconduct Policy for conduct occurring on or off-campus. We encourage students to report all incidents of sexual misconduct involving other UIS students or employees, including faculty members, whether they occur on or off-campus, including in study abroad or other off-campus UIS-affiliated programs.

If you are over the age of 18, you have the right to choose if you want to press criminal charges. You have the right to choose not to participate in the University’s investigation or provide any additional information. If the survivor chooses not to provide information or participate in the University’s investigation, this may limit UIS’s ability to fully respond to the incident. In most cases, it is unlikely that the investigation can continue. However, if the Title IX Coordinator determines that the safety of the campus community requires a full investigation of the incident, then the University may proceed without the cooperation of the survivor in order to protect the safety of the campus community. If this is the case, UIS will inform the survivor of this decision.

All University employees, including all faculty members, maintenance employees, food service employees, and all other employees, including Residence Life Assistants are Responsible Employees. Other undergraduate and graduate student employees are not Responsible Employees.

Responsible employees must immediately report allegations or disclosures of sexual violence/sexual misconduct involving students to the Title IX Coordinator.

You should immediately inform the student of your reporting obligations as a Responsible Employee, and inform them of their right to first seek confidential counseling from the UIS Counseling Center or one of the off-campus confidential advocacy resources (the Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault or Sojourn Shelter and Services for Domestic Violence or Dating Violence) if they wish to keep the information private or confidential. You should also encourage them to consider reporting the incident to the UIS Title IX Coordinator for assistance.

UIS values the safety and well-being of its employees. Both Title IX and the UIS Sexual Misconduct Policy prohibit sexual misconduct against employees as well as students. Employees are also protected from discrimination on the basis of gender under Title VII and related University policies. Please contact the UIS Title IX Coordinator for assistance and support.