VII. Confidentiality

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Different people on campus have different reporting responsibilities and different abilities to maintain your confidentiality, depending on their roles at the College. When consulting campus resources, victims should be aware of confidentiality and mandatory reporting, in order to make informed choices. On campus, some resources may maintain your complete confidentiality, offering you options and advice without any obligation to tell anyone, unless you want them to. Other resources are expressly there for you to report crimes and policy violations, and they will take action when you report your victimization to them.

Confidential Reporting Options

If you desire that details of the incident be kept confidential, you should speak with on-campus counselors or off-campus rape crisis resources, who will maintain confidentiality. Campus counselors are available to help you free of charge. In addition, you may speak to off-campus members of the clergy and chaplains, who will also keep reports made to them confidential. Counselors and health care providers are not designated by TCCD as Campus Security Authorities and therefore, they are not required to report crime statistics for Clery Act purposes. They are also not considered "responsible employees" for the purposes of Title IX.

Non-confidential Reporting Options

You are encouraged to speak to college officials to make reports of incidents, including but not limited to the Vice President of Student Affairs Office, and TCC Police, or their designees. You have the right and can expect to have incidents of sexual misconduct to be taken seriously by the college when reported, and to have those incidents investigated and properly resolved through administrative procedures. Reporting does not mean that your report won’t be confidential, but it does mean that people who need to know will be told, and information will be shared as necessary with investigators, witnesses and the accused. To the greatest extent possible, the College District shall respect the privacy of the complainant, persons against whom a report is filed, and witnesses. Limited disclosures may be necessary in order to conduct a thorough investigation and comply with applicable law. If the complainant is participating in the criminal process, i.e. law enforcement is investigating the complaint, TCCD will pause its administrative investigation while law enforcement conducts fact-finding. TCCD will resume its administrative investigation once the police department has finished its gathering of evidence, which usually takes between 3–10 business days.

If the complainant reports sexual harassment and requests confidentiality or asks that the complaint not be pursued, TCCD will take all reasonable steps to investigate and respond to the complaint consistent with the request for confidentiality or request not to pursue an investigation. The College will obtain consent from the complainant before beginning an investigation unless the College determines it must investigate and resolve the complaint in order to protect the community. If a complainant insists that his/her name or other identifiable information not be disclosed to the accused individual, the District's ability to respond may be limited and response by the College may be hindered. If the student continues to ask that his/her name not be revealed, TCCD will take all reasonable steps to investigate and respond to the complaint consistent with the student’s request as long as doing so does not prevent TCCD from responding effectively to the harassment and preventing harassment of other students or employees. At the same time, TCCD will evaluate the confidentiality request in the context of its responsibility to provide a safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all members. It is a violation of TCCD policy to retaliate against an individual bringing a complaint, serving as a witness or providing information for an investigation.

If a College official is accused of sexual misconduct, that official will not be involved in the investigation or decision making of the alleged misconduct. All attempts will be made to avoid any conflicts of interest.

Updated January 20, 2023