Did you know that all UT Health San Antonio responsible employees are required to promptly report, to the university’s Title IX coordinator, incidents of sexual misconduct that come to their attention?
Delays in reporting can greatly limit our university’s ability to:
- Stop sexual misconduct.
- Collect evidence.
- Take effective action against individuals or organizations accused of violating university policy.
Responsible versus confidential
Responsible employees at UT Health San Antonio include administrators, faculty, staff and supervisory staff and any UT Health San Antonio employee whom an individual reasonably believes has the duty to report incidents of sexual misconduct.
Confidential employees, including physical and mental health care professionals and pastoral counselors, are not responsible employees and are prohibited by confidentiality laws from reporting any information about an incident to anyone, in any way that identifies the complainant, without the complainant’s permission.
Examples of employees designated as confidential and not considered mandatory reporters at UT Health San Antonio include:
- For students — health care professionals at the Student Counseling Center and the Wellness 360 Center and student ombudspersons.
- For employees and faculty — health care professionals at the Wellness 360 Center and the Employee Assistance Program.
Under this policy, post-docs, residents, and other trainees are also not considered responsible employees and are not required, but are encouraged, to report incidents of sexual misconduct.
Know your reporting requirements
Under Texas law SB 212, a responsible employee who fails to report knowledge of an incident of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence or stalking “alleged to have been committed by or against a person who was a student enrolled at or an employee of the institution at the time of the incident,” can be charged with a Class B misdemeanor and terminated. The University goes further and requires responsible employees to report all acts reasonably believed to be any type of sexual misconduct.
Responsible employees are not required to discern whether an incident may be classified. Once you report the information shared with you, the Title IX coordinator will determine whether the information qualifies.
Three simple steps
Here are three steps you can take to fulfill your reporting responsibilities.
- Know the difference between confidential employees and responsible employees. If needed, refer an individual to a campus confidential employee.
- Disclose your responsibility to report sexual misconduct prior to meeting with learners or employees and convey that you care about them and their issues.
- Report an alleged incident to the Title IX office via phone (210-450-8131), email (titleix@uthscsa.edu) or our website.
Remember: Responsible employees report!
Once aware, you must share. Report sexual misconduct to Title IX!