Privacy & confidentiality:

Privacy refers to the way in which the university will treat reports and information relating to Prohibited Sexual Harassment. ISU is committed to protecting the privacy of all individuals involved in the reporting, investigation, and/or adjudication of incidents of Prohibited Sexual Harassment. In all cases, the university will share the details of reports of Prohibited Sexual Harassment only with university officials, law enforcement personnel, and other individuals who have a legitimate administrative or legal reason to be so informed, and records will not be disclosed outside the university unless required by law or legal subpoena.

Confidentiality refers to the protections provided to information disclosed within legally-protected or privileged relationships pursuant to university policy and/or Federal and State of Iowa law, including communications with licensed medical and clinical care professionals, licensed mental health care providers and counselors, ordained clergy, personal attorneys, and certain victim counselors as defined by Iowa Code § 915.20. Some resources (on and off-campus) are able, with very limited exceptions, to maintain complete confidentiality with respect to reports of Prohibited Sexual Harassment. This means that these resources will not share with anyone (including law enforcement, university officials, or anyone else) any information relating to reports of Prohibited Sexual Harassment, including information that identifies or might be used to identify persons related to reports of Prohibited Sexual Harassment, unless the speaker consents to the disclosure in writing, or where there is an imminent threat to the safety of the speaker or others, or the information concerns conduct involving suspected abuse or neglect of a minor under the age of 18. These confidential resources are identified on the Resources and Help page of this resource guide.

Reporting obligation: 

ISU strongly encourages anyone who has experienced, witnessed, or learned about a potential incident of Prohibited Sexual Harassment to talk to a resource about what has happened, to ensure they are informed of available support, resources, and available complaint processes, and to allow the university to respond appropriately.

University community members who have been designated Responsible Employees are responsible for immediately reporting information they learn concerning Prohibited Sexual Harassment to the Title IX Coordinator.

A “Responsible Employee” is a university employee who has been identified as having the responsibility of reporting potential Prohibited Sexual Harassment to the university’s Title IX Coordinator.

At ISU, Responsible Employees include:

• All instructors, including full-time professors, adjuncts, lecturers, adjunct instructors, and any others who offer classroom instruction or office hours to students; 
• All advisors;
• All coaches, trainers, and other athletic staff that interact directly with students;
• All student affairs administrators;
• All residential hall staff;
• All supervisors and university officials; and
• All employees who work in offices that interface with students. 

Responsible employees cannot promise confidentiality, anonymity, or withhold important information from the Title IX Coordinator. Responsible employees should not discuss or share any information related to the incident with anyone other than those directly involved in handling the university’s response, unless they received the individual’s prior consent or in the event of an emergency or existing threat.

Confidential resources do not have an obligation to report information to the Title IX Coordinator. See https://www.eoc.iastate.edu/title-ix/resources-help for a list of confidential resources.