Confidentiality

Except as necessary to investigate and resolve complaints of sex discrimination or formal complaints of sexual harassment, FNU will keep confidential the identity of any individual who has made a report or complaint of sex discrimination, any individual who has made a report or filed a formal complaint of sexual harassment, any complainant, any individual who has been reported to be the perpetrator of sex discrimination, any respondent, and any witness. 

For a report of sex discrimination, if the complainant requests to remain anonymous, the Title IX Coordinator will take all reasonable steps to investigate and respond to the report consistent with the student’s request, but the Title IX Coordinator’s ability to investigate the incident will be limited. In some circumstances, the University may not be able to respect the request for anonymity in order to avoid being deliberately indifferent to the report of sex discrimination.

For a report of sexual harassment where the complainant wishes to be anonymous and does not intend to file a formal complaint, the Title IX Coordinator will work with the complainant to provide supportive measures and will keep such supportive measures confidential to the extent possible (as described above in the section titled “Supportive Measures”). As discussed above in the section titled “Formal Complaints of Sexual Harassment”, there may be some circumstances where the Title IX Coordinator receives a report of sexual harassment and determines that he/she must sign a formal complaint to avoid being deliberately indifferent, even if the complainant does not wish to pursue a formal complaint. This may occur where there have been other similar accusations against the same respondent such that the University is concerned about the safety of its students.

Any reports of sexual violence must be reported to the Office of Student Services so they may be included in the University’s crime log and the annual security report. Crimes of sexual violence can be reported without disclosing either party’s name or any other information that would identify the parties.

Complaints involving students are protected under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) but may be disclosed for legitimate educational purposes within the University. To disclose the information outside of the University, any affected students would have to give explicit permission for the information to be shared through the Disclosure of Information Form available at the FNU Publications webpage and at the Office of the Registrar, except as described below.

Under FERPA the University does not need student consent to:

1. disclose to the complainant information about the sanction imposed upon a student respondent who was found to have engaged in sexual harassment when the sanction directly relates to the complainant;
2. disclose to the complainant the final results of a disciplinary proceeding against the student respondent, regardless of whether the University concluded that a violation was committed, when the conduct involves sexual violence or a crime of violence including arson, burglary, robbery, criminal homicide, assault, destruction/damage/vandalism of property and kidnapping/abduction; and
3. disclose to anyone—not just the complainant—the final results of a disciplinary proceeding (including the name of the student respondent, the violation, and the sanction) if it determines that the student respondent is an alleged perpetrator of sexual assault or a crime of violence (see bullet above for examples), and, with respect to the allegation made, the student has committed a violation of the University’s rules or policies.

Medical records are confidential and medical and health professionals are required to maintain confidentiality with regard to the patient’s information.