Title IX and Trinidad State College Sexual Misconduct Procedure

• For incidents before August 1, 2024:
  http://cccs.edu/about/governance/policies-procedures/sp-19-60a-civil-rights-and-sexual-misconduct-resolution-process-prior/
• For incidents on or after August 1, 2024:
  http://cccs.edu/about/governance/policies-procedures/sp-19-60a-civil-rights-and-sexual-misconduct-resolution-process/

Complaint forms

• Non-Civil Rights Complaint Form - Employees
• Non-Civil Rights Complaint Form - Students
• Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct Reporting Form

Clery Act and the Annual Security Report

• Safety and Security - CleryTrinidad State College

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Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct Resolution Process

Application

This procedure applies to the Colorado Community College System, including its Colleges (CCCS or System).

Allegations that an individual has engaged in any discriminatory, harassing, and/or retaliatory behavior, including sexual misconduct, after the effective date of this procedure will be resolved under this procedure. 

Basis

Board Policy (BP) 19-60 provides that individuals affiliated with CCCS shall not discriminate or harass on the basis of sex, gender, race, color, age, creed, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, familial or marital status, veteran or military status, pregnancy status or related conditions, religion, genetic information, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, sex stereotypes, gender identity, or gender expression, or any other protected class or category under applicable local, state, or federal law (also known as “civil rights laws”), in connection with employment practices or educational programs and activities (including in admissions). BP 19-60 further provides that individuals affiliated with CCCS shall not retaliate against any person who opposes discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, or participates in any complaint or investigation process. 

Notice of Discrimination

Individuals affiliated with the Colorado Community College System, including Trinidad State College, shall not discriminate or harass on the basis of sex, gender, race, color, age, creed, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, familial status, veteran or military status, pregnancy or related conditions, marital status, religion, genetic information, gender identity, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, sex stereotypes, gender expression, or any other protected class or category under applicable local, state or federal law (also known as “civil rights laws”), in connection with employment practices or educational programs and activities (including in admissions). BP 19-60 further provides that individuals affiliated with CCCS shall not retaliate against any person who opposes discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, or participates in any complaint or investigation process.

Retaliation

The College prohibits any acts of retaliation. Retaliation is defined as any adverse employment or educational action taken against a person because of the person’s participation, or perceived participation, in a complaint or investigation of discrimination and/or harassment. Retaliation also includes any act to intimidate, threaten, coerce, or discriminate against any individual for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege provided by applicable civil rights laws, policies, and procedures.

How to Report

• Any person can make a report by contacting the Deputy Title IX/EO Coordinator.
• A report can be made at any time.
• Trinidad State College employees, unless deemed a confidential resource by law, have an ethical obligation to promptly report any incidents they are aware of concerning civil rights violations. Reports should be made within 24 hours, unless there is reasonable justification for a delay. Employees unsure of the scope of this requirement may direct their questions to the Title IX/EO Coordinator. Failure to report will be considered a violation of BP 3-70, Colorado Community College System Code of Ethics, and may result in discipline, up to and including termination. All other individuals affiliated with CCCS are strongly encouraged to report civil rights violations.

Outside Reporting

In addition to reporting to CCCS, any person has the right to file a police report. Complainants requiring assistance with this should contact the Title IX/EO Coordinator.

Student Complainants also have the right to make inquiries and/or file a complaint with: 

• Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
  U.S. Department of Education 
  Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Building
  1244 Speer Boulevard, Suite 310
  Denver, CO 80204-3582
  
  Telephone: (303) 844-5695
  Facsimile: (303) 844-4303
  Email: OCR.Denver@ed.gov
  Web: http://www.ed.gov/ocr 

Employee Complainants also have the right to make inquiries and/or file a complaint with:

• Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA)
  Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD)
  1560 Broadway, Suite 825
  Denver, CO  80202
  
  Telephone:  (303) 894-2997
  Facsimile:  (303) 894-7570
  Email: dora_CCRD@state.co.us
  Web:  http://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dora/civil-rights

Or

• United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
  950 17th Street, Suite 300
  Denver, CO  80202
  
  Telephone:  (800) 669-4000
  Facsimile:  (303) 866-1085
  Web:  http://www.eeoc.gov/field-office/denver/location

Student Pregnancy or Related Conditions

Employees who become aware of a student's pregnancy or related condition are required to provide the student with the contact information of the Deputy Title IX/EO Coordinator so they can coordinate specific actions to ensure the student’s access to the college’s educational program or activity. To request reasonable modifications for pregnancy or related conditions, contact the Deputy Title IX/EO Coordinator at the above information.

• Reasonable modifications may include, but are not limited to Breaks during class to express breast milk, breastfeed, or attend to health needs associated with pregnancy or related conditions, including eating, drinking, or using the restroom
• Intermittent absences to attend medical appointments
• Access to online or homebound education
• Changes in schedule or course sequence
• Extensions of time for coursework and rescheduling of tests and examinations
• Allowing a student to sit or stand or carry or keep water nearby.
• Counseling
• Changes in physical space or supplies (for example, access to a larger desk or a footrest.
• Elevator access
• Other changes to policies, practices, or procedures

For more information about the college’s policy regarding pregnancy or related conditions, contact the Deputy Title IX/EO Coordinator.

Supportive Measures

“Supportive Measures” are non-disciplinary, non-punitive individualized services offered as appropriate, as reasonably available, and without fee or charge to the Complainant or the Respondent before or after the filing of a formal complaint or where no complaint has been filed. Such measures are designed to restore or preserve equal access to educational and employment programs and/or activities without unreasonably burdening the other party, including measures designed to protect the safety of all parties or the educational/employment environment or deter sexual harassment. Supportive measures may include (but not limited to):

• Counseling
• Reporting to law enforcement
• Extensions of deadlines or other course-related adjustments
• Modifications of work or class schedules
• Campus escort services
• Mutual restrictions on contact between the parties
• Changes in work or housing locations
• Leaves of absence
• Increased security and monitoring of certain areas of the campus
• Other similar measures

2023-VAWA-Brochure-revised.pdf (nhlp.org)

For more information about supportive measures, contact the Deputy Title IX/EO Coordinator.

Resources

• Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and Title IX
  201 East Colfax Ave.
  Denver, CO 80203
  Phone: 303-866-6600
  Fax: 303-830-0793
  
  
• Pandora’s Project: Support and resources for survivors of rape and sexual abuse
  www.pandys.org
  
  
• Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network
  www.rainn.org

Immediate medical attention, preservation of evidence, and SANE examination
(C.R.S.A. ss23-5-143)

If you are a victim of a sexual assault, you may decide to request a medical forensic exam from a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) to preserve evidence that may be used for the purposes of legal action. While you do not need to decide immediately if you want to report to law enforcement or pursue legal action, the preservation of evidence is most effective when done immediately after an assault. It is ideal to obtain medical treatment as soon as possible before bathing, showering, douching, or changing clothes. There is no cost to the exam. You may go to the following emergency room providers to request a SANE exam: SANELocations.pdf (state.co.us).

If you do not have transportation to the facility, you may contact a friend or family member, or sexual assault advocates that will provide transportation, taxi service, public transportation, or other providers. Any cost for transportation is the responsibility of the student. Victims who chose to have a medical forensic examination done are not obligated, at any time, to participate in a law enforcement
investigation or any criminal justice response along with any administrative proceedings with the College. If you have further questions, please contact the Deputy Title IX/EO Coordinator.

Recordkeeping

Colleges must keep a repository of all written or oral complaints for seven (7) years including date, identity of the Complainant (or anonymous), identity of Respondent, and substance of the complaint. This repository is not a public record.

Other records related to civil rights complaints (including Sexual Misconduct) must be maintained for a period of seven (7) years. Such records may include: informal resolution outcomes, preliminary investigation reports, final investigation reports, determination reports, recordings or transcripts, notices of findings, appeals and appeal outcomes, and discipline or remedies imposed. 

Revising this Procedure

CCCS reserves the right to change any provision or requirement of this procedure at any time and the change shall become effective immediately. 

Rights of Parties

• To be treated equitably and with respect by CCCS employees
• To take advantage of Supportive Measures and other resources, such as counseling, psychological services, and health services
• To experience a safe living, educational, and work environment.
• To have an advisor of their choice present at any meeting
• To have access to a Title IX/EO Coordinator, investigator(s), hearing officers/decision-maker(s) for Title IX cases, and/or other individuals assisting with the resolution process who do not have a conflict of interest or bias for or against either party
• To receive amnesty for minor student misconduct (such as alcohol or drug violations) that is ancillary to the incident
• To be free from retaliation
• To be informed of the outcome/resolution of the complaint, and the sanctions and rationale for the outcome where permissible
• To have assistance in contacting law enforcement, if desired
• To request housing, employment, and/or educational modifications, as deemed appropriate and reasonable
• To request no further contact with the opposite party, as deemed appropriate, allowable, and reasonable
• A presumption that the Respondent is not responsible for the alleged conduct until a determination regarding responsibility has been made at the conclusion of the resolution process

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APPENDIX A

Definitions (effective August 1, 2024)

“ADA, Title VI and Title VII Coordinator (EO Coordinator), and Title IX/EO Coordinator” is/are the employee(s) designated at the System Office and each College to oversee all civil rights, including sexual misconduct, complaints. A “Deputy” EO and/or Title IX Coordinator may also be designated to act on behalf of the Coordinator, but the Coordinator retains ultimate oversight over the responsibilities. All references in policies and procedures to the Coordinator include the Deputy Coordinator. 

“Coercion”, in the context of sexual misconduct, is unreasonable pressure for sexual activity. Coercive behavior differs from seductive behavior based on the type of pressure someone uses to get consent from another. When a person makes it objectively clear that they do not want to engage in sexual activity, that they want to stop, or that they do not want to go past a certain point of sexual interaction, continued pressure beyond that point can be coercive. 

“Complainant”  is a person who is alleged to have been subjected to conduct that could constitute unlawful civil rights discrimination or retaliation. For purposes of this procedure, a Complainant can be a CCCS employee, student, or other person who is participating or attempting to participate in an activity over which CCCS has jurisdiction.

“Complaint” means an oral or written request that objectively can be understood as a request for the System Office or College to investigate and make a determination about alleged prohibited conduct. 

“Consent” for sexual activity must be clear, knowing, and voluntary. Consent is active, not passive. Silence, in and of itself, cannot be interpreted as consent. Consent can be given by words or actions, as long as those words or actions demonstrate permission, based on an objective standard, regarding willingness to engage in (and the conditions of) sexual activity. Further, consent to any one form of sexual activity does not automatically imply consent to any other forms of sexual activity. Previous sexual activity or prior consent do not imply consent to future sexual acts. The consideration of prior, irrelevant sexual conduct, except relating to a prior relationship or history between the parties if relevant to some material issue in the process, is prohibited. Consent cannot be given if force, incapacitation, or coercion are used to engage in sexual activity.

“Dating Violence” is violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party’s statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship. There is no Colorado state law on dating violence; therefore, CCCS abides by the definition used in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) of 2013.

“Disciplinary Authority” is the individual with authority, or delegated authority, to impose discipline upon a Respondent. 

“Discrimination” is any distinction, preference, advantage, or detriment given to a person based on one or more actual or perceived protected classes.

“Domestic Violence” includes any act or threatened act of violence upon a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship. Domestic Violence also includes any other crime against a person or property, including an animal, or any municipal ordinance violation against a person, or against property, including an animal, when used as a method of coercion, control, punishment, intimidation, or revenge directed against a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship. (C.R.S. § 18-6-800.3). Domestic violence further 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 Colorado, 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 Colorado.

“Force” is the use of physical violence and/or imposing on someone physically to engage in sexual activity. Force also includes threats, intimidation (implied threats), and coercion that overcomes resistance.

“Harassment” is a form of discrimination that involves any unwelcome physical or verbal conduct, or any communication directed at an individual or group because of their membership or perceived membership in a protected class, which conduct is subjectively offensive to the Complainant and objectively offensive to a reasonable individual who is a member of the same protected class. It need not be severe or pervasive, but petty slights, minor annoyances, and lack of good manners do not constitute harassment. Types of harassment include quid pro quo and hostile environment. With respect to harassment based upon sex, types of harassment also include sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking.  

“Hostile Environment” occurs when a person is subjected to harassment that unreasonably interferes with an employee’s work performance, denies or limits any person’s ability to participate in or benefit from an education program or activity, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or educational environment. Factors to consider include the degree to which the conduct affected the Complainant’s ability to access the program or activity; the number of individuals engaged in the conduct; type, frequency, duration, and location of the conduct; the context in which the conduct occurred; other sex-based harassment in the education program or activity; the parties’ ages; previous interactions between the parties; whether the conduct is threatening; the parties’ roles within the System/College and the existence of a power differential; use of epithets/slurs that are humiliating or degrading; and stereotypes. 

“Incapacitation” is a state where someone cannot make rational, reasonable decisions because they lack the capacity to give knowing consent. Incapacitation could result from mental or physical disability, sleep, unconsciousness, involuntary physical restraint, being underage, or from the ingestion of drugs or alcohol. 

Sexual activity with someone whom one should know to be — or, based on the circumstances, should reasonably have known to be — mentally or physically incapacitated, is a form of sexual misconduct. 

Use of alcohol or other drugs will never function as a defense to a violation of this procedure. 

“Investigator” is a person charged to investigate the civil rights complaint by the Title IX/EO Coordinator. 

“Jurisdiction” applies to behaviors that take place on a CCCS campus or site, at CCCS sponsored events, and may also apply to off-campus and online behavior when the Title IX/EO Coordinator determines that the off-campus or online behavior affects a substantial CCCS interest.

“Pregnancy or Related Conditions” means pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or lactation; medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or lactation; or recovery from pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, or related medical conditions.

“Quid Pro Quo” is a type of harassment that exists when submission to the harassing conduct is explicitly or implicitly made a term or condition of employment or education, or when submission to or objection to the harassing conduct is used as a basis for employment or educational decisions.

“Relevant” means related to the allegations that are under investigation. Evidence is relevant when it may aid a decision-maker in determining whether the alleged civil rights violation occurred. 

“Respondent” is a person whose alleged conduct is the subject of a complaint. For purposes of this procedure, a Respondent may be a CCCS employee, student, or other person who engages in conduct over which CCCS has jurisdiction.

“Retaliation” is any adverse employment or educational action taken against a person because of the person’s participation or perceived participation in a complaint or investigation of discrimination and/or harassment. Retaliation also includes any act to intimidate, threaten, coerce, or discriminate against any individual for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege provided by applicable civil rights laws, policies, and procedures. 

“Sexual Assault” is an offense classified as a forcible or nonforcible sex offense as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s uniform crime reporting system. Sexual assault includes rape, fondling, incest, and statutory rape.

• Rape is the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the Complainant.
• Fondling is the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against the person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of their youth or because of their temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
• Incest includes non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
• Statutory Rape includes non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.

Sexual assault further includes any sexual intrusion, sexual penetration, or sexual contact on a victim if the actor knows the victim does not consent, the actor knows the victim is incapable of appraising the nature of the victim’s conduct, the actor knows the victim submits erroneously believing the actor to be the victim’s spouse, the victim is not of legal age to consent, the actor knows the victim is physically helpless and has not consented, or any other circumstances defined by state law to be sexual assault or unlawful sexual contact. (C.R.S. §§ 18-3-402, 404).

“Sexual Misconduct” is any discrimination, harassment, or retaliation based on sex, including sex harassment, sexual assault (e.g., rape, fondling, incest, statutory rape), domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.

“Stalking” is engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person’s safety, or the safety of others, or suffer substantial emotional distress. Stalking further includes directly or indirectly through another person, knowingly:

• Making a credible threat to another person and, in connection with the threat, repeatedly following, approaching, contacting, or placing under surveillance that person, a member of that person's immediate family, or someone with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship.
• Making a credible threat to another person and, in connection with the threat, repeatedly making any form of communication with that person, a member of that person's immediate family, or someone with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship, regardless of whether a conversation ensues.
• Repeatedly following, approaching, contacting, placing under surveillance, or making any form of communication with another person, a member of that person's immediate family, or someone with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship in a manner that would cause a reasonable person to suffer serious emotional distress and does cause that person, a member of that person's immediate family, or someone with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship to suffer serious emotional distress. (C.R.S. § 18-3-602). 

“Supportive Measures” are non-disciplinary, non-punitive, individualized services offered as appropriate, as reasonably available, and without fee or charge to the Complainant or the Respondent before or after the filing of a formal complaint or where no formal complaint has been filed. Such measures are designed to restore or preserve equal access to educational and employment programs and/or activities without unreasonably burdening the other party, including measures designed to protect the safety of all parties or the educational/employment environment, or deter sexual harassment. Supportive measures may include counseling, extensions of deadlines or other course-related adjustments, modifications of work or class schedules, campus escort services, mutual restrictions on contact between the parties, changes in work or housing locations, leaves of absence, increased security and monitoring of certain areas of the campus, and other similar measures. 

CCCS will maintain as confidential any supportive measures provided to the Complainant or Respondent, to the extent that maintaining such confidentiality would not impair the ability of CCCS to provide the supportive measures. The Title IX/EO Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the effective implementation of supportive measures. Following the completion of the matter, supportive measures may be ended, continued, or made permanent as deemed necessary.