By Christiana Paradis, Director of Title IX Compliance
10.26.22
When reviewing the revamped Annual Report released by the Title IX Office on Sept. 1, you may have noticed that one option available to students was an informal resolution process.
So, what is an informal resolution process? Informal resolution is an opportunity for the people involved in the reported situation to resolve the allegations without an investigation or hearing. Essentially both Pparties come to mutually agreed terms to have the allegations addressed. Informal resolution is completely voluntary and both parties must agree to an informal process. If one party agrees and the other does not, the informal resolution process would not move forward. Furthermore, in some situations a student may want to move forward with an informal resolution process, but upon review of the allegations, the Title IX Coordinator deems the situation inappropriate to resolve via informal resolution. However, it is rare that I deny informal resolutions.
Why? Overwhelmingly we have found students much more satisfied with an informal resolution process versus a formal resolution process. Often times the case is addressed and closed in a shorter timeframe, typically 30 days, versus the 90 days it takes for a formal resolution process. The informal resolution process is more trauma-informed, meaning it provides a space to have issues resolved without forcing the complainant to tell their story to multiple people (for instance Title IX office staff, investigator, decision-maker). Additionally, the process allows for much more active participation and “say” in a process, which tends to result in more satisfying outcomes. One of the biggest flaws in our criminal justice system which the formal resolution process has become increasingly mirrored off of in the past several years by the Department of Education is that it: re-traumatizes survivors, limits their access to participation, and defines punishment, but not accountability.
So often in our office we hear, “I want this person to know/understand what they did” and “I don’t want them to do this to anyone else.” Staff in the Title IX Office will work with both parties and centralize the question of “what do you need to feel this situation has been addressed?” and set goals around those desires. Recent informal resolution processes have included: sharing/reviewing a victim-impact statement with respondent and processing the harm committed, sharing/reviewing a statement of acknowledgement or apology with the complainant, community or other parties harmed, on-going education sessions with one or both parties to mitigate harm in the future.
Additionally, to learn more about no contact notices you can attend the Title IX Listening and Learning Session on Wednesday, October 26 at 7p.m. in Degenstein Meeting Rooms 4 & 5 and on Zoom. If you would like to submit a question to be addressed in future columns or would like to learn more about this topic, please submit a note or question here.
