U. codifies Title IX complaint process

The link she sent out — from the email address of Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Thomas Dunne — brings users to a page detailing the University’s Title IX policy, from which they can navigate to a list of procedures for filing a complaint against the University.

According to the list of procedures, the University will accept both informal and formal complaints. If the filer of the complaint wishes to pursue the informal route, he or she should simply bring the issue to the attention of the Title IX coordinator directly. The coordinator will then interview the grievant as well as others who may have knowledge of the case, to gather facts about the complaint. The procedures section does not explicitly state what actions the University would take in response to an informal complaint but says that the grievant is welcome to switch their complaint to formal stating at any point.

Under the formal process, the grievant would fill out the official Title IX grievance form, also available on the page linked to in Minter’s email.

The University’s Title IX coordinator would then review the officially filed complaint and have permission to dismiss it without further review if it is “frivolous” or “not credible.” If the Title IX coordinator deems that the complaint has merit and is within the scope of the University’s responsibilities under Title IX, the coordinator will seek to resolve the issue within 45 days of receiving the complaint.

The procedure section also describes how the University will respond to complaints of sexual assault and harassment in order to comply with Title IX.

“It is the responsibility of the University Title IX Coordinator to assure that the University’s disciplinary response to allegations of student sexual misconduct, including student-on-student harassment or assault, is handled consistently with applicable existing University disciplinary policies,” the procedures read.

Last year, the University began investigation into a Title IX complaint raised in response to alleged violations with regards to sexual assault reporting procedures. The complaint was filed in part by Wendy Murphy, an adjunct professor at New England Law School, who also filed similar complaints against Harvard Law School and the University of Virginia.

At a meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community on Sept. 26, Provost Christopher Eisgruber ’83 announced that the University had made the language in “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities” more specific with regard to sexual harassment in order to comply with Title IX. Murphy, however, recently told the Yale Daily News that she does not think these changes are nearly sufficient to comply with the law.

“The critical concerns I raised [in complaints filed against Princeton and Harvard Law School] don’t have nearly as much to do with definitions of sexual assault as much as the promptness with which complaints are resolved,” Murphy told the YDN. She added that the changes are “not remotely close to sufficient to comply with Title IX.”