When the Equal Opportunity & Outreach (EOO) Office receives a complaint/concern from a member of the UML community or external party, it proceeds in the following manner:
- EOO contacts the alleged recipient of the conduct via telephone and email to schedule an intake meeting (If it is a Title IX matter, EOO notifies the alleged respondent as quickly as possible and provides a short description of the allegation and the EOO policy related to the conduct as required by the Title IX 2017 FAQs).
- EOO informs the university administrators responsible for the oversight of the area of the respondent, advising that we have received a concern involving an employee from their area.
- EOO interviews the alleged recipient of the conduct and collects any documentation in support of the concerns.
- EOO reviews the notes and any documentation provided by the recipient of the conduct and/or the complainant and plans the next step for the review.
- EOO interviews any potential individuals with knowledge of the alleged conduct, and the respondent. EOO gathers any documentation provided by the witnesses and the respondent.
- EOO reviews all the internal interview notes and the documentation and determines if additional information (additional interviews and/or documentation) is needed to review the concerns.
- Once EOO has all the information needed it will make a determination based on the applicable policy and definitions of the conduct on whether a violation of the policy has occurred using the preponderance of the evidence standard.
Considerations:
- EOO evaluates if the matter falls under the purview of EOO.
- If it does, EOO evaluates if the conduct as described could potentially be a violation of the university's EOO policies.
- EOO determines if any temporary measures are needed to protect the parties and the UML community and to maintain the integrity of the process.
- Reasonable Accommodations will be provided as needed throughout the review.
Additional information:
- EOO provides to the recipient of the conduct and/or complainant with copies of the applicable policy, procedure, their rights, internal and external resources and information about privacy and retaliation. The parties are also informed that they can bring a support person to the interview.
- EOO also invites the parties to contact the office if they have any questions or concerns of the university’s EOO policy and procedures.
- The parties and the administrator are provided updates throughout the process (goal is to provide updates every two weeks of the stage of the process).