Unlawful Harassment & Retaliation

California College of the Arts is committed to maintaining the community as a place of work and study for faculty, administrators, staff, and students, free of sexual and other unlawful harassment, intimidation, and exploitation. The college does not tolerate behavior that constitutes sexual or other unlawful harassment of any member(s) of the college community.

The college remains committed to providing an environment free of sexual harassment and harassment because of race, color, religion, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, age (except for minors), sex, marital status, citizenship status, military service status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic condition), disability and/or any other status protected by law. Prohibited harassment in any form, including verbal and physical conduct, visual displays, threats, demands and retaliation is unlawful and will not be tolerated. This policy (see below) provides complaint procedures to assist the college in its efforts to implement this policy.

The college will take prompt and effective corrective action in response to occurrences of harassing behavior, including, where appropriate, disciplinary action up to and including termination or expulsion. The policy explicitly applies to college administrators, staff, students and faculty and all other individuals engaged with college activities. Individuals who know of harassment, or believe that they have been harassed, in violation of this policy have access to the complaint procedures described below in this policy and are encouraged to use these complaint procedures.

This policy must be adhered to by all college administrators, staff, faculty, students, contractors, and other individuals involved in any employment, educational or other relationship, with the college.

Prohibited Harassing Behavior

Harassing behavior, when engaged in on any basis prohibited by this policy, can take a variety of forms. Examples of the kinds of behavior that may constitute such harassment include, but are not limited to:

• Verbal conduct such as epithets, derogatory comments, slurs, or unwelcome sexual advances, invitations, or comments;
• Visual conduct, such as derogatory posters, photography, cartoons, drawings, or gestures;
• Physical conduct, such as unwanted touching, blocking normal movement, or interfering with work;
• Threats and demands, such as those which seek submission to sexual requests, in order to retain employment or educational benefits, and/or offers of job or educational benefits or conditions in return for favors;
• Retaliation, in the form of adverse employment or educational actions, for good faith opposing, reporting or threatening to report harassment or for participating in good faith investigations, proceedings or hearings related to this policy.

Sexual Harassment Warrants Special Attention

Conduct in violation of this policy occurs when an individual's behavior involves (1) unwelcome sexual advances; (2) unwelcome requests for sexual favors; or (3) other unwelcome verbal, physical or visual behavior of a sexual nature. Also, such conduct can become a violation of this policy and of the law when:

• Submission to such behavior is made explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's education or employment; or
• Submission to, or rejection of, such behavior by an individual is used as the basis for educational or employment decisions; or
• Such behavior otherwise has the purpose or effect or unreasonably interfering with, or otherwise creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational or employment environment.

Retaliation is Prohibited

An individual's good-faith filing or pursuing a complaint under this policy or otherwise reporting, complaining, or assisting or cooperating in good faith with a complaint of harassment will not be the basis for any adverse college decisions concerning a student, faculty, or staff member's employment or student position or status. Such retaliation is forbidden by this policy.

Procedure for Complaints of Harassment

The college encourages students, faculty, administrators, and staff who know of sexual or other unlawful harassment or who believe that they have been harassed in violation of this policy to contact a college intake officer. A complaint should be filed promptly if an instance of harassment has occurred or is expected to occur. Delay in initiating a complaint impedes the college's investigative effort.

For students the primary intake officer is the dean of student development, who will address all informal complaints. The dean of student development will be available to meet with the individuals involved jointly or separately and will seek to find a resolution, provided that the college concludes such resolution is likely to provide prompt and effective corrective action. All efforts at resolution will be made within thirty days of receipt of the complaint. If an acceptable resolution is not reached, or is not likely to be reached, within 30 days or in a manner necessary to promptly and effectively correct the harassment, the complainant may determine to resolve the matter as a formal complaint, or the college may take immediate action it deems necessary to effect prompt and effective corrective action.

To file a formal complaint, the complainant should ordinarily include details of the incident or incidents, the name of the person alleged to have engaged in the conduct complained of, the names of any witnesses, and any relevant documents.

Determination of the complaint will be promptly made by the appropriate college officer. The determination will be communicated to the complainant and to the person whose conduct is at issue, to the extent and in a form that is deemed appropriate. The written report of investigation will summarize information relevant to the determination of whether a violation of this policy occurred and what, if any, corrective action should be taken by the college.

Corrective action may include disciplinary action toward the person or persons whose conduct violates this policy. Disciplinary action may include but is not limited to warning, suspension, dismissal, or termination from employment with the college.

College officials have a duty to report in good faith any conduct of which they have direct knowledge that they believe constitutes harassment in violation of this policy. Whenever deemed appropriate to assist the college in determining whether a violation of this policy has occurred or in determining what corrective action the college should take, the college may initiate an investigation without a formal complaint.

Students may file a harassment complaint within the time required by law with the federal Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Region IX, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 50 United Nations Plaza, Room 322 in San Francisco, California, 94102.

Sexual Offense

Sexual assault by force, nonforce, or coercion is a serious act, and unacceptable at the college. The sexual-offense policy applies to all college faculty, staff, and students. Any violation of this policy can result in disciplinary action, up to and including immediate dismissal and employment termination.

Definitions

For the purposes of this policy, sexual offense includes, but is not limited to, forcible rape, forcible sodomy, sexual assault with an object, forcible fondling, and unlawful nonforcible sexual intercourse. Forcible sexual offenses are defined as any sexual act directed against another person forcibly or against the person's will, or not forcibly against the person's will where the victim is incapable of giving consent. Nonforcible sexual offenses are defined as unlawful nonforcible sexual intercourse (e.g., incest and statutory rape). Depending on the circumstances, acquaintance rape could fall into either category. The following clarifications serve as a guide to understanding whether a given situation involves a sexual offense:

• Saying no constitutes a lack of consent.
• Failure to resist sexual activity does not provide consent.
• Consent requires consenting words or overt actions from a person competent to give consent.
• Personal responsibility is not diminished or relieved from an alleged perpetrator if either party used alcohol or other drugs.

Education & Prevention

The Student Affairs Office, Counseling Services Office, and Residential Life program provide various sexual misconduct education and prevention efforts, including workshops, lectures, informational brochures, confidential counseling, and referral to community resources. The Counseling Services staff is prepared to provide the campus community with educational presentations tailored to the concerns of the particular group requesting service.

Procedures for Responding to Sexual Offenses

CCA encourages victims of sexual assault to immediately seek medical attention. Hospitals are prepared to collect evidence, but the examination must be conducted within 72 hours of the incident for prosecution purposes. Although the victim is not required to report, the hospital is required by law to report an incident of sexual assault to the police.

Students are encouraged to promptly report all incidents of sexual assault to the dean of student development or (if the incident involves a CCA residential student and the dean of student development is not immediately available) to the associate dean of students for residential life and judicial affairs. These personnel will assist the student in obtaining medical or crisis counseling if necessary. The student will be informed of the option to notify proper law enforcement authorities and will be offered assistance in doing so. The student will be notified of the availability of confidential counseling through CCA's counseling service and of off-campus sexual assault counseling and community resources. The college will make changes in the victim's class schedule and/or living situation if the student requests these changes, and in the judgment of the college the request can be reasonably accommodated.

The president, provost, director of human resources, and dean of student development are required to report any known case of an on-campus sexual offense, whether forcible or nonforcible, for inclusion in the campus crime statistics, as required by the Crime Awareness and Public Safety Act of 1990 and the Higher Education Amendments of 1992. The identity of the parties involved and details regarding the incident will not be reported without the written consent of the victim.

Procedures for Campus Disciplinary Action in Sexual Offense Cases

Students who are sexually assaulted by another member of the CCA community have the right to lodge a complaint. It is solely the decision of the victim whether or not to file such a complaint. Students are encouraged to report instances of sexual assault to the dean of student development so that they may receive appropriate counseling and other assistance even if they do not intend to file a formal complaint. Complaints should be put in writing and filed with the dean of student development , who is responsible for investigating the complaint and taking appropriate disciplinary action.

When an allegation of a sexual offense has been made, the rights of both parties will be protected in any disciplinary process. Personal information about the victim and the perpetrator will remain confidential insofar as this does not interfere with the college's ability to investigate allegations of misconduct and take corrective action where necessary. Both the accuser and the accused will have the same opportunity to have an advocate present during a disciplinary proceeding, and both will be informed of the outcome of any disciplinary proceeding in which a sexual offense is alleged.

Sanctions for Sexual-Offense Cases

Possible sanctions for persons found in violation of the sexual offense policy range up to and include suspension or dismissal from the college (for students) and discharge from the college (for employees). A victim of a sexual offense always has legal recourse outside of the campus disciplinary system without the necessity of exhausting the administrative remedies described above. If civil or criminal proceedings are filed, the college reserves the right to conduct its own investigation and disciplinary proceeding.