Nov 21, 2024  
Policies 
    
  Catalog Home

  Academic Affairs
  Administrative Organization
  Business and Finance (Includes Plant Operations)
  College Advancement and Public Relations
  Economic and Workforce Development
  General Information
  Human Resources
  Institutional Effectiveness, Research, and Planning
  Purpose, Values and Mission
  Student Affairs
  System of Governance
  TCAT
  Technology Division
  Title IX

  My Portfolio
HELP
Policies

Human Resources

Sexual Offense Policy
06:58:00 Sexual Offense Policy

 

  1. Chattanooga State Community College will not tolerate sexual offense in the work or academic setting. Offenders will be subject to appropriate College and criminal judicial processes and disciplinary action. Chattanooga State also provides support to community members who feel that they have been victims of a sexual offense. There are two types of sexual offense - sexual harassment and sexual assault.
    1. Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment includes:
      1. Behavior that is based on another person’s gender, sexuality, or sexual orientation and has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with that individual’s performance by creating an unreasonably hostile, offensive, or intimidating environment.
      2. Behavior in the form of unwelcome or irrelevant comments, gestures, or touching which may be reasonably perceived as a sexual overture or sexual denigration. This includes making known to other people a person’s sexual orientation without his/her consent and with the intent to denigrate that person sexually. A request for sexual favors when submission to (or rejection of) such a request might reasonably be viewed as a basis for evaluative decisions affecting an individual’s career or educational experience.
  2. Sexual Assault: Sexual assault includes coercion for the purpose of sexual relations, as well as unwanted touching or sexual contact to which any party involved does not give full and free consent. Sexual assault also occurs when a person engages in sexual intercourse, fellatio, cunnilingus, or other type of penetration of bodily orifices with another through the use of force, threat of force or by forcefully, deceitfully, surreptitiously administering intoxicants or when the other person’s ability to apprise a situation or control his or her conduct is substantially impaired.
  3. The College encourages the reporting of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Since sexual harassment has been defined as discriminatory in nature, the following set of procedures are in place for filing complaints:
    1. A complaint against a faculty member or employee of the college should be filed with the Affirmative Action Officer (697-4457) located in Room 232 of the CBIH Building. In such instances, the complainant should consult TBR Guideline P-080 prior to filing the complaint. When the allegation of harassment is against the EEO/AA, Student Affairs Officer, Title VI or Title IX Officer, the President/Director will identify an individual who has been trained in investigating such complaints to investigate the complaint and carry out the responsibilities assigned pursuant to this guideline. When the allegation of harassment is against the President/TTC Director of the institution, the EEO/AA shall notify the Office of the General Counsel who will assign an investigator who will make his/her report to the Chancellor.
    2. A complaint against a student should be reported to the Dean for Student Life and Judicial Affairs (697-4475) located in S-216.
    3. If a sexual assault occurs on College property, notify the Hamilton County Sexual Assault Center (423) 755-2700 and Campus Security (423) 697-4467 immediately. For support and referral, victims may also contact campus advocates through the office of the Dean for Student Life and Judicial Affairs (697-4475) and the Student Government Association Office (697-4423). For TTY access, call the Tennessee Relay Services at 1-800-848-0298.
    4. Victims of a sexual assault should not change their clothing nor clean their person(s) or clothing until after the collection of evidence by medical personnel at the Sexual Assault Center (755-2700) or a hospital. This collection of evidence is necessary to the successful prosecution of the offense.
    5. The Chattanooga State Center for Career Planning and Counseling (423) 697-4421 provides a list of available counseling, crisis, and mental health centers, both on campus and in the community, to victims of sexual assault.
    6. Procedures regarding sexual offense disciplinary hearings are available at the Office of Vice President for Student Affairs or the Student Judicial Affairs Office. In addition to the provisions contained within the disciplinary hearing process, both the victim and offender have the following rights guaranteed under the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990:
    7. The right to have legal assistance or to have another person present during the disciplinary proceeding.
    8. The right to be informed of the outcome of the disciplinary proceeding.
    9. The further right to require that Chattanooga State change the academic situations of victim and offender so as to prevent unnecessary and unwanted contact with each other, providing such academic changes are reasonably available.
    10. Possible sanctions for sexual offenses are listed in the Student Handbook under the Sanctions section.
  4. Consensual Relations:
    1. Chattanooga State seeks to provide and maintain a professional learning and working environment. For this reason it is inappropriate for faculty members to engage in sexual relationships with students even when both parties have consented to the relationship. Such relations are prohibited when a student is enrolled in a class taught by the faculty member, is an advisee, or is in some other way subject to the faculty member’s supervision. Also prohibited are sexual relationships between staff and the students they advise or supervise.
    2. Because of the dynamics of power and authority between supervisors and workers, sexual relationships between supervisors and subordinate employees are discouraged.

Approved: Executive Staff, 05/20/09
Approved: President’s Cabinet, 05/20/09
Approved: President, 05/20/09
Reviewed and Revised by: Human Resources, November 2000