By Aleksandra Sidorova
Title IX Coordinator Kim Irland expanded the scope of the college’s jurisdiction and adjusted procedures for incidents taking place Aug. 1 onward. Students can also brush up on their knowledge of Title IX resources through a Brightspace course.
Title IX is a federal law against sex-based discrimination. SUNY Plattsburgh, and now New York state, interpret Title IX to apply to “harassment due to actual or perceived sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation and/or gender identity,” according to its website.
The law also applies, but is not limited to, sexual harassment, assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.
The updated policy states that the college can now handle cases related to incidents occurring off-campus, when before it was limited to campus or properties owned by student groups.
“If one of the parties, or both of the parties involved, are a student or an employee of us, then there’s likely something we can do to provide resources,” Irland said.
Additionally, under the pre-existing policy, there was only one person making a decision to resolve a Title IX case.
In the revised policy, there are three, who have to come to an agreement for handling the case.
The change reflects best practices in ensuring the decision maker is unbiased, but also supports the decision makers — members of the campus community who volunteer to help resolve the case.
“They’re not compensated to do that, and these are high-stakes decisions,” Irland said. “A panel of three employees having each other to make sure that their decision is that sound is more comfortable for the people making that decision as well.”
Title IX also has a requirement for cross-investigation, a process where both the accused and complainant parties have the opportunity to ask each other questions, to allow for due process. However, Irland said the requirement has been controversial because of the potential for questions to be asked insensitively and cause the parties hurt.
“That cross-examination piece can happen so many different ways, depending on who’s asking the questions,” Irland said.
Under the updated grievance policy, both parties’ advisers submit the questions for the decision-making panels to approve. The panel, the members of which have completed trauma-informed training, would then ask the questions instead of the advisers.
“It creates an extra layer of making sure that the questions are being asked in an appropriate way,” Irland said.
The changes apply only to incidents occurring on or after Aug. 1, though Irland said she has hopes for the policy to eventually affect past incidents.
Consent and Title IX grievance policies are important for any student to know, Irland said, but the training is mandatory for student employees, athletes, Greek life members and club leaders.
While much of Title IX’s outreach is in-person, such as tabling for Consent Awareness Week from Sept. 16 to 20, the resources are also in a Brightspace course Irland piloted last semester and built on over the summer.
“I wanted it to be accessible, self-paced and available on demand,” Irland said.
The course does not provide a credit or grade, and instead serves as a refresher or point of reference, with learning materials and quizzes.
Students Brooke Costigan, Zebulun Ducharme, Kimolie Heslop and Oliva Sorrell contributed to the course, too, by helping produce video materials. Irland said she is open to further opportunities to work with students.
“I don’t want to miss an opportunity for peers to be educating peers, and I think it’s more powerful,” Irland said. “It resonates more when you know a student created the content that you’re watching.”
A coordinator at SUNY Delhi is working on an in-depth Title IX course that could also be used to remediate those facing disciplinary action, which they are willing to open to other schools, Irland said.
“Together, we’re hoping to create a version of the course that can be assigned to students who are found responsible, because there’s not a lot out there for them,” Irland said.
Title IX also invited off-campus organizations Planned Parenthood and Behavioral Health Services North to host walk-in hours in Meeting Room 3 in the Angell College Center. PP’s Sexual Assault Services coordinator is available Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and BHSN’s STOP Domestic & Sexual Violence coordinator is available Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
