Consent

Means “affirmative consent,” which means affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity.

This means that consent must be given without coercion, force, threats, or intimidation.

It also means that consent cannot be given when a person is deemed to be incapacitated. Being intoxicated by drugs or alcohol does not diminish one’s responsibility to obtain consent. The factors to be considered when determining whether consent was given include whether a person knew or should have reasonably known that the other person was incapacitated.

A person cannot freely give consent if they are:

(A) asleep or unconscious;

(B) incapacitated due to the influence of drugs, alcohol, or medication, such that they cannot understand the fact, nature, or extent of the sexual activity; or

(C) unable to communicate due to a mental or physical condition.

It is the responsibility of each person involved in the sexual activity to ensure that he or she has the affirmative consent of the other or others to engage in the sexual activity. Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence mean consent. Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual activity and can be revoked at any time. The existence of a dating relationship between the persons involved, or the fact of past sexual relations between them, should never by itself be assumed to be an indicator of consent.

Coercion

A form of force that comprises unreasonable pressure for sexual activity. When someone makes clear that they do not want to participate in a sexual activity, that they want to stop, or that their limit is at a certain point, continued pressure to act beyond that point can be coercive.

Force

The use of physical violence and/or imposing on someone physically to gain sexual access. Other forms of force include intimidation (implied threats), threats and coercion that overcome resistance or produce consent. For example, “Have sex with me or I’ll hit you.” “OK, don’t hit me; I’ll do what you want.”

Incapacitation

A state where a person cannot make an informed and rational decision to engage in sexual activity because the person lacks conscious knowledge of the nature of the act (i.e., to understand the who, what, when, where, why or how of the sexual interaction) and/or is physically helpless. A person is incapacitated, and therefore unable to give consent, if that person is asleep, unconscious, or otherwise unaware that sexual activity is occurring. Incapacitation may occur as the result of alcohol or drugs.

Complainant

Refers to the person who may identify as having experienced, or being a victim or survivor of possible sexual misconduct and who makes a report of sexual misconduct under this Policy. A Complainant can also be a person who reports self-knowledge of an incident of possible sexual misconduct but is not a victim, such as a CCA student, staff member, faculty, teacher, or administrator.

Respondent

Refers to the person whose conduct is at issue under this Policy. A Respondent may be a current or former student, staff member, faculty, teacher, administrator, visitor, alumni, contractor of CCA or any other person. A Respondent may be a stranger or a nonstranger person.

Advisor or Support Person

A person who provides support to a Complainant or Respondent and who may be present in a nonparticipating role to provide moral support during any meeting or proceeding under this Policy. The advisor or support person may be a currently enrolled student, parent of the student, or a CCA faculty or staff member, or other person not of the CCA community. Nonparticipating means that the advisor or support person is silent and does not speak or present information during the meeting or proceeding under this Policy. All persons involved in a proceeding might consider themselves as victims and CCA tries to provide meaningful support.

Who Can Serve as an Advisor?

The Parties may each have an Advisor (friend, mentor, family member, attorney, or any other individual a party chooses) present with them for all meetings and interviews within the Resolution Process, including intake. The Parties may select whomever they wish to serve as their Advisor as long as the Advisor is eligible and available.26

The Title IX Coordinator will offer to assign a trained Advisor to any party if the party chooses. If the Parties choose an Advisor from the pool available from the College, the College will have trained the Advisor and familiarize them with the College’s Resolution Process.

The College cannot guarantee equal Advisory rights, meaning that if one party selects an Advisor who is an attorney, but the other party does not, or cannot afford an attorney, the College is not obligated to provide an attorney to advise that party.

A party may elect to change Advisors during the process and is not obligated to use the same Advisor throughout. Parties are expected to provide the Title IX Coordinator with timely notification if they change Advisors. If a party changes Advisors, consent to share information with the previous Advisor is assumed to be terminated, and a release for the new Advisor must be submitted.

The College may permit Parties to have more than one Advisor, or an Advisor and a support person, upon special request to the Title IX Coordinator. The decision to grant this request is at the Title IX Coordinator’s sole discretion and will be granted equitably to all Parties.

Advisors appointed by the institution cannot be confidential employees, and although they will not be asked to disclose details of their interactions with their advisees to institutional officials or Decision-makers absent an emergency, they are still reminded of their Mandated Reporter responsibilities.

The College fully respects and accords the Weingarten rights of employees, meaning that for Parties who are entitled to union representation, the College will allow the unionized employee to have their union representative (if requested by the party) as well as an Advisor of their choice present for all resolution-related meetings and interviews. To uphold the principles of equity, the other party (regardless of union membership) will also be permitted to have two Advisors.

Advisor’s Role in the Resolution Process

Advisors should help the Parties to prepare for each meeting and are expected to advise ethically, with integrity, and in good faith. Advisors may not provide testimony or speak on behalf of their advisee unless given specific permission to do so.

The Parties are expected to ask and respond to questions on their own behalf throughout the Resolution Process. Although the Advisor generally may not speak on behalf of their advisee, the Advisor may consult with their advisee, either privately as needed, or by conferring or passing notes during any Resolution Process meeting or interview. For longer or more involved discussions, the Parties and their Advisors should ask for breaks to allow for private consultation.
Records Shared with Advisors

Advisors are entitled to the same opportunity as their advisee to access relevant evidence, and/or the same written investigation report that accurately summarizes this evidence.

Advisors are expected to maintain the confidentiality of the records the College shares with them, Section 14 of the Policy addressing Confidentiality. Advisors may not disclose any College work product or evidence the College obtained solely through the Resolution Process for any purpose not explicitly authorized by College.

Accordingly, Advisors will be asked to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs). The College may decline to share materials with any Advisor who has not executed the NDA. College may restrict the role of any Advisor who does not respect the sensitive nature of the process or who fails to abide by the College’s confidentiality expectations.

Advisor Expectations

The College generally expects an Advisor to adjust their schedule to allow them to attend College meetings/interviews when planned, but the College may change scheduled meetings/interviews to accommodate an Advisor’s inability to attend, if doing so does not cause an unreasonable delay.

The College may also make reasonable provisions to allow an Advisor who cannot be present in person to attend a meeting/interview by telephone, video conferencing, or other similar technologies.

All Advisors are subject to the same College policies and procedures, whether they are attorneys or not, and whether they are selected by a party or appointed by the College. Advisors are expected to advise their advisees without disrupting proceedings.

Advisor Policy Violations

Any Advisor who oversteps their role as defined by the Policy, who shares information or evidence in a manner inconsistent with the Policy, or who refuses to comply with the College’s established rules of decorum, will be warned. If the Advisor continues to disrupt or otherwise fails to respect the limits of the Advisor role, the meeting/interview may be ended, or other appropriate measures implemented, including the College requiring the party

Additional Definitions

• Witness. Refers to any person who either witnessed an incident or who has relevant information regarding a case that is being investigated under this Policy.
• Advisor. Any person chosen by a party, or appointed by the institution, who may accompany the party to all meetings related to the Resolution Process and advise the party on that process.
• Deputy/Title IX Coordinator. The person with primary responsibility for overseeing and enforcing the CCA Sexual Misconduct Policy. As used in these policies and procedures, the “Deputy/Title IX Coordinator” also includes their designee(s).
• Appeal Decision-maker. The person or panel who accepts or rejects a submitted appeal request, determines whether any of the grounds for appeal are met, and directs responsive action(s), accordingly.
• Complainant. A student or employee who is alleged to have been subjected to conduct that could constitute discrimination, harassment, or retaliation under the Policy; or a person other than a student or employee who is alleged to have been subjected to conduct that could constitute discrimination or harassment or under the Policy and who was participating or attempting to participate in the College’s education program or activity at the time of the alleged discrimination, harassment or retaliation.
• Complaint. An oral or written request to the College that can objectively be understood as a request for the College to investigate and make a determination about the alleged Policy violation(s).
• Confidential Employee.
• An employee whose communications are privileged or confidential under federal or state law. The employee’s confidential status, for purposes of this definition, is only with respect to information received while the employee is functioning within the scope of their duties to which privilege or confidentiality applies; or
• An employee whom the College has designated as confidential under this Policy for the purpose of providing services to persons related to discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. If the employee also has a duty not associated with providing those services, the employee’s confidential status only applies with respect to information received about discrimination, harassment, or retaliation in connection with providing those services; or
• An employee who is conducting an Institutional Review Board-approved human-subjects research study designed to gather information about discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. The employee’s confidential status only applies with respect to information received while conducting the study.
• Day. A business day when the College is in normal operation. All references in the Policy to days refer to business days unless specifically noted as calendar days.
• Decision-maker. The person or panel who hears evidence, determines relevance, and makes the Final Determination of whether Policy has been violated and/or assigns sanctions.
• Education Program or Activity. Locations, events, or circumstances where the College exercises substantial control over the context in which the discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation occurs and also includes any building owned or controlled by a student organization that the College officially recognizes.
• Employee. A person employed by Recipient either full- or part-time, including student employees when acting within the scope of their employment.
• Final Determination. A conclusion by the standard of proof that the alleged conduct did or did not violate Policy.
• Finding. A conclusion by the standard of proof that the conduct did or did not occur as alleged (as in a “finding of fact”).
• Informal Resolution. A resolution agreed to by the Parties and approved by the Title IX Coordinator that occurs prior to a Final Determination in the Resolution Process.
• Investigation Report. The Investigator’s summary of all relevant evidence gathered during the investigation. Variations include the Draft Investigation Report and the Final Investigation Report.
• Investigator. The person(s) authorized by the College to gather facts about an alleged violation of this Policy, assess relevance and credibility, synthesize the evidence, and compile this information into an Investigation Report.
• Knowledge. When College receives Notice of conduct that reasonably may constitute harassment, discrimination, or retaliation in its Education Program or Activity.
• Mandated Reporter. A College employee who is obligated by Policy to share Knowledge, Notice, and/or reports of discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation with the Title IX Coordinator.
• Notice. When an employee, student, or third party informs the Title IX Coordinator of the alleged occurrence of discriminatory, harassing, and/or retaliatory conduct.
• Parties. The Complainant(s) and Respondent(s), collectively.
• Pregnancy or Related Conditions. Pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or lactation, medical conditions related thereto, or recovery therefrom.
• Protected Characteristic. Any characteristic for which a person is afforded protection against discrimination and harassment by law or College Policy.
• Relevant Evidence. Evidence that may aid a Decision-maker in determining whether the alleged discrimination, harassment, or retaliation occurred, or in determining the credibility of the Parties or witnesses.
• Remedies. Typically, post-resolution actions are directed to the Complainant and/or the community as mechanisms to address safety, prevent recurrence, and restore or preserve equal access to the College’s Education Program and Activity.
• Resolution Process. The investigation and resolution of allegations of prohibited conduct under this Policy, including Informal Resolution or Administrative Resolution.
• Respondent. A person who is alleged to have engaged in conduct that could constitute discrimination based on a protected characteristic, harassment, or retaliation for engaging in a protected activity under this Policy.
• Sanction. A consequence imposed on a Respondent who is found to have violated this Policy.
• Sex. Sex assigned at birth, sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
• Student. Any person who has gained admission.
• Title IX Coordinator. At least one official designated by the College to ensure ultimate oversight of compliance with Title IX and the College’s Title IX program. References to the Coordinator throughout the Policy may also encompass a designee of the Coordinator for specific tasks.