Attending University is supposed to be the best years of a young person’s life. Working to maintain their degree while also having new social experiences, which frequently involve attending parties. A classic college party scene is marked by loud music, dancing, and plenty of alcohol to go around. Unfortunately, along with alcohol comes poor decision making. This occasionally results in allegations of sexual misconduct, assault, or even rape, which triggers a university investigation. Title 9 (IX) is the federal law that requires the University to investigate the allegation, and therefore it is commonly referred to as a “Title IX Investigation”.
Different Universities have different policies and procedures for investigating these cases. It always includes an investigation followed by a hearing. The school has an obligation to conduct an impartial investigation, and students have some rights in the process. However, in our experience, many schools offer the bare minimum to the accused. For example, schools allow students to have an advisor or an attorney, but that advisor is not actually allowed to attend or participate in the hearing, rendering them useless and effectively leaving the student to fend for themselves against university staff.
From our experience of different schools around Indiana, Purdue sets the bar for respecting the rights of the accused, which also happens to result in an in-depth process. This blog explains that process.
The first step in the process is that the University receives a formal complaint from a student. The University provides the accused with a copy of the complaint including the written statement and any evidence the accuser provides. At that point the University will determine whether the claim warrants are moving forward with an investigation. If so, the accused has 10 days to submit a written response to the allegations. After that, a 60-day investigation period begins. The accused will be invited to submit an interview about the allegations. Participation in the interview is not required.
The University has employees specifically for the purpose of investigating these cases. They will interview as many witnesses as possible and collect as much evidence as possible. They will interview witnesses offered by both the accuser and the accused. The goal is to conduct an impartial investigation and genuinely try to determine if the accuser is telling the truth. At the end of this 60-day investigation, the University compiles all of the evidence they accumulated and provides it to the parties so that both parties have access to everything. This is a significant departure from other schools and is significant in providing a fair process for both parties.
The parties have time to review the evidence and submit a written response. Shortly thereafter, the school will draft a Final Report and then conduct a hearing. The hearing will take place regardless of whether the school believes the incident occurred or not. The investigators are not the decision makers. The investigators simply assist in presenting the information to the decision makers. Your advisor or attorney are allowed to participate in the hearing and question witnesses.
Fourteen days from the conclusion of the hearing, a decision will be made. The parties have an opportunity to appeal against this decision if they do not agree with it.
If an adverse decision is made, then the school has a lot of options ranging from probation to expulsion from the school. At any point in the process, the accused may propose an “informal resolution” to resolve the matter. They may volunteer to complete some sort of programing or agree to some kind of punishment, and the accuser must agree to these terms as well. If all parties agree, then it can be resolved without a hearing.
