To make informed choices, all parties should be aware of confidentiality and privacy issues, as well as institutional mandatory reporting requirements.
Confidential Reporting
If reporting students wish that details of an incident be kept confidential, they should speak with campus mental health counselors and/or health service providers. Campus counselors are available to help on an emergency basis. Their service is free of charge. Members of the clergy, chaplains, and off-campus rape crisis center staff and/or members of the campus clergy can maintain confidentiality. Local resources such as crisis centers are also confidential and have no duty to report your information to Wooster.
Mandated Reporting
All Wooster employees who are not designated above as confidential, are mandated reporters for all the details of which they are aware of an incident. They share this information with the Title IX Coordinator. Giving a mandated reporter notice of an incident constitutes official notice to the College. Incidents of sexual misconduct will be taken seriously when official notice is given to the College. Such incidents of sexual misconduct will be investigated and resolved in a prompt and equitable manner under Wooster’s resolution procedures, which are discussed in a later section. You may request privacy and/or that the Title IX Coordinator provide you with remedies and resources without initiating a formal resolution process. The Coordinator will weigh requests for privacy against the institutional need to address and remedy discrimination under Title IX. Generally, Wooster will be able to respect your wishes, unless it believes there is a threat to the community based on the use of weapons, violence, pattern, predation, or threatening conduct by the person being accused.
In cases where your request for confidentiality is granted, Wooster will offer you available resources, supports, and remedies. You are not obligated to pursue formal resolution in order to access the resources that are available. If Wooster decides that it is obligated to pursue a formal resolution based on the notice you have given, you are not obligated to participate in the resolution process. However, the ability of Wooster to enforce its policies or provide some remedies may be limited as a result of your decision not to participate.
The state of Ohio requires that most College employees with knowledge of a felony having been committed are required to report it to law enforcement. Therefore, all reports that may constitute a felony will be reported to local law enforcement. These reports may be made without including the complainant’s identifying information. Additionally, the College must statistically report the occurrence on campus of any of seven major violent crimes, including certain sex offenses and hate crimes, in an annual report of campus crime statistics. This statistical report does not include personally identifiable information.
Incidents Involving Minors
Please be aware that institutional duties with respect to minors (those under the age of 18) may require reporting sexual misconduct incidents to state agencies and/or local law enforcement. As a result, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed in sexual misconduct incidents involving minors.
Parental Notification
College officials will not inform a parent or guardian of a report or investigation of sexual misconduct except in specific circumstances. The College’s primary relationship is to the student and not to their parent/guardian. In the event of major medical concerns, conduct action, or academic jeopardy, students are strongly encouraged to inform their parents. College officials may directly inform parents when requested to do so by a student, in a life-threatening situation, or in the case that the student is a minor (under the age of 18).