View and download Erie County Community College's (EC3) Title IX Policy by clicking the button below.
Title IX Policy Statement
It is the policy of the Erie County Community College (“College”) to maintain an environment for learning and working that is free from discrimination and harassment as defined in the College’s Policy II.A.1, Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment, and as defined herein with more specificity with respect to Title IX sex discrimination and sexual harassment.
Students and employees are specifically notified that the College does not discriminate on the basis of sex, and prohibits sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, in any education program or activity that it operates, as required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq., and its regulations, 34 C.F.R. Part 106, including in admission and employment. The College will take all necessary steps to end conduct prohibited by this Policy, to prevent its recurrence, and to address its effects.
Inquiries about Title IX may be referred to the College’s Title IX Coordinator, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), or both.
Title IX Coordinator and OCR Contact Information
The College’s Title IX Coordinator is:
Guy Goodman
2403 W. 8th Street, Erie PA 16505
Email: TitleIX@ec3pa.org
Telephone: 814-413-7003
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights may be contacted at:
U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights
Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-1100
Telephone: 800-421-3481; FAX: 202-453-6012; TDD 800-877-8339
Email: OCR@ed.gov
https://ocrcas.ed.gov/contact-ocr.
To report information about conduct that may constitute discrimination or harassment, including Title IX sexual harassment, or to make a complaint of discrimination or harassment, including Title IX sexual harassment, please refer to the College’s Title IX Policy and Title IX Grievance Procedures Responding to Complaints of Title IX Sexual Harassment (“Title IX Grievance Procedures”), which can be located on the College’s Website: www.ec3pa.org/grievances, or contact the College’s Title IX Coordinator.
In the event of a conflict between this Policy Statement and the College’s Title IX Grievance Procedures, the Title IX Grievance Procedures shall control.
Title IX Definitions
Complainant - An individual who is alleged to be the victim of reported conduct that could constitute Title IX sexual harassment.
Respondent -- An individual who has been reported to be the perpetrator of conduct that could constitute Title IX sexual harassment.
Title IX Sexual Harassment – conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following:
- A College employee conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or College service on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct, commonly referred to as quid pro quo sexual harassment.
- Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to a College education program or activity, commonly referred to as hostile environment sexual harassment.
- Sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence or stalking.
- Dating violence means violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim and where the existence of such a relationship is determined by the following factors:
- Length of relationship.
- Type of relationship.
iii. Frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
- Domestic violence includes felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving federal funding, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction.
- Sexual assault means a sexual offense under state or federal law that is classified as a forcible or nonforcible sex offense under the uniform crime reporting system of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which includes but is not necessarily limited to certain sexual acts directed against another person without the consent of that person; fondling; incest; statutory rape.
- Stalking, under Title IX, means stalking on the basis of sex, for example, when the stalker desires to date a victim. Stalking means to engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to either:
- Fear for their safety or the safety of others.
- Suffer substantial emotional distress.
Such conduct must have taken place during a College education program or activity and against a person in the United States to qualify as sexual harassment under Title IX. An education program or activity includes the locations, events or circumstances over which the College exercises substantial control over both the respondent and the context in which the sexual harassment occured, and also includes any building owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by the College.
Reports, Grievance Process, and Live Hearing Requirement
The College encourages students, employees, and third parties who believe they or others have been subject to Title IX sexual harassment, or any other form of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, to promptly report such incidents to any College employee or the Title IX Coordinator. A person who is not an intended victim or target of discrimination, but who is adversely affected by the offensive conduct may file a report of discrimination.
The complainant or the individual making the report may use the Report Form (an Attachment to the College’s Title IX Grievance Procedures) for purposes of reporting an incident or incidents in writing; however, verbal reports of an incident or incidents shall be accepted, documented, and the procedures of this Policy and the relevant attachments followed. A copy of this Report Form can be accessed on the College’s website at www.ec3pa.org/grievances and through the Title IX Coordinator. The rights of complainants and respondents are outlined in detail in the College’s Title IX Grievance Procedures.
Consistent with applicable grievance procedures, the College will provide for a live hearing in Title IX matters as required, with opportunities for the parties to participate consistent with policy and law. Additional information about the live hearing procedure can be found in the College’s Title IX Grievance Procedures.
# 2647832.v2
