The UW is committed to providing safe, respectful, and inclusive learning and work environments. Employees contribute to this by demonstrating inclusion, intervening in harmful situations, offering support, and speaking up when others experience harm.
Title IX employee reporting categories
Every employee can support someone who has experienced sex- or gender-based violence, harassment, or discrimination by reaching out to the Title IX Office for support and consultation. Depending on your role–confidential employee, employee providing support, or Official Required to Report–you have different obligations.
Confidential employees
Campus-based confidential advocates and mental and physical health professionals have professional obligations and commitments to confidentiality. Confidential employees will only share information with express permission or when required by law.
Employees providing support
Most employees are encouraged, but not required by policy, to take action and get expert support and options to someone who has disclosed an experience of sex- and gender-based violence, harassment, or discrimination. Employees in this category are encouraged to contact the Title IX Office by submitting information via the online Title IX reporting form. When using the form, you can choose to remain anonymous and/or not share others’ names to protect an individual’s identity.
Officials Required to Report
Federal Title IX obligations require certain people to take action when they learn about sex- or gender-based violence, harassment, and discrimination. At the UW, these specific individuals are called Title IX Officials Required to Report. The purpose of making a Title IX report is not to initiate an investigation but to ensure the person who has experienced violence, harassment, or discrimination is offered supportive measures and is made aware of their right to submit a formal complaint.
When an Official Required to Report becomes aware of possible sex- and gender-based violence, harassment, or discrimination, they must:
- Contact the Title IX Office by submitting an online Title IX report.
- Indicate on the form that they are a Title IX Official Required to Report.
- Share all the details they have, including the names of any individuals involved.
The complete roster of Title IX Officials Required to Report is available.
FAQs
If someone tells you they have experienced sex- or gender-based violence, harassment, or discrimination, how you respond matters. Learn more about how to respond with care on the Offering Support page.
If someone has been named as a respondent in a University investigation, they can access help to understand their rights and navigate the process.
- Student respondents can work with Community Standards and Student Conduct respondent resources.
- Employee respondents can request assistance from a Human Resources Consultant, the Secretary of the Faculty, the Office of the Ombud, and/or the Washington State Employee Assistance Program.
The Office of the Title IX Coordinator will:
- Review the details of the situation and assess for immediate safety concerns
- Discuss supportive measures
- Explain formal and informal options to address the concern
- Provide referrals to additional resources
Making a report to the Title IX Office does NOT automatically initiate an investigation.
Anyone who is not an Official Required to Report may contact the Title IX Office or SafeCampus anonymously if they choose and may also choose to share limited information to protect the identity of a student or employee.
A Title IX case manager will advise the Official Required to Report on any immediate next steps, and if appropriate, ensure that the person who has been impacted is connected with a confidential advocate. The Title IX Office will also provide information about rights and resolution options to the person who experienced the concerning conduct. and work with the Official Required to Report on any appropriate follow-up.
If the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights were to find a university in violation of Title IX regulations, students could lose access to federal financial aid, researchers could lose federal grant funding, and other federal funding would be at risk.
Federal Title IX regulations require that officials with authority (at the UW, Officials Required to Report) inform the University when they become aware of possible sexual misconduct. This requirement is in place to ensure that supportive measures are offered and that individuals are informed of how to submit a formal complaint.
Yes, additional reporting expectations exist depending on the situation.
- Suspected child abuse and neglect – All UW employees have a duty to report suspected child abuse and neglect. The Office of Youth Protection’s policy explains these obligations.
- Clery reporting obligations – Campus Security Authorities (CSAs) are employees whose responsibilities are defined by the Campus Clery Act. Find relevant information on the Bothell CSAs, Seattle CSAs, or Tacoma CSAs web pages. The campus-specific Clery coordinators can also answer additional questions.
The UW’s Title IX reporting policy was developed with input from survivors as well as faculty and staff with expertise in trauma and healing related to sex- and gender-based violence, harassment, and discrimination. Survivors, scholars, and practitioners all agree that taking away a survivor’s choice (such as by requiring an investigation or by sharing details about a person’s experience that they do not want to be shared) can create more trauma and increase the risk of retaliation or additional harm to the survivor.
The University’s policy has been designed to give survivors the lead voice in determining what is right for their own situation while also allowing the University to assess and address violence, harassment, and discrimination in our communities.