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4.61 Improper
Sexual or Romantic Relationships |
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I. Purpose |
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Central Piedmont
Community College employees are supported in carrying out the mission of the
College through an atmosphere of professionalism, academic integrity, trust, and respect.
Professionalism, academic integrity, trust, and respect are diminished when those in positions of power abuse
their power. Actions of faculty members, supervising administrators, other employees, or
students which harm the College's atmosphere of trust and respect undermine
professionalism, damage the academic integrity of the College, and hinder the fulfillment
of the College's educational mission. |
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Relationships
between faculty members and students and between supervising administrators and employees
they advise, counsel, supervise, or evaluate impose a special burden of responsibility and
accountability. The same is true for clerical, secretarial, maintenance,
technical/paraprofessionals, professional staff, students, and administrators when acting
in an advisory, counseling, instructional, supervisory, or evaluative role with respect to
students or employees. There are substantial risks
for faculty members engaging
in sexual or romantic relationships
with students they teach or, in the case of supervising administrators, with employees
they supervise or evaluate. |
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II. Definitions |
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A. Faculty Member - any person employed by, or whose activities are supervised by, the College
and who engages in advisory, counseling, instructional, or evaluative activities relative
to any student who is enrolled in a course being taught by that individual or whose
academic work is being supervised or evaluated by that individual. Students and
non-faculty employees, when performing official College advisory, counseling,
instructional, or evaluative roles with respect to students, are considered faculty for
the purpose of this policy. |
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B. Supervising
Administrator - all individuals who have responsibility for specific
employees and their activities and who are classified as management. These specifically
include the president, vice presidents, deans, managers, division directors, supervising
administrators, coordinators, and all other supervisors. Non-administrative and classified
employees, when performing assigned advisory, counseling, supervisory, or evaluative roles
with respect to other employees, are considered supervising administrators for the purpose
of this policy. |
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C.
Improper Sexual or
Romantic Relationships - (1) any sexual or romantic relationship
between a faculty member or employee who engages in advisory, counseling, instructional,
or evaluative activities and any student who is enrolled in a course being taught by that
person or whose academic work is being supervised or evaluated by that person; (2) any
sexual or romantic relationship between a supervising administrator and someone the
supervising administrator advises, counsels, evaluates, or directly or indirectly
supervises in any way; and (3) any sexual or romantic relationship between any College
employee and any student or employee who is less than 18 years of age. |
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No faculty member
or supervising administrator shall initiate, pursue, or be involved in an improper sexual
or romantic relationship with any employee or student who is advised, counseled, evaluated
by, or supervised directly or indirectly or whose job performance is reviewed or evaluated
by that person. The same is true for clerical, secretarial, maintenance, technical, paraprofessionals, professional staff, students, and administrators when acting in an advisory, counseling, instructional, supervisory, or evaluative role
with respect to students or employees supervised directly or indirectly by that person. |
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Friendships or
mentoring relationships are not affected by this policy, nor is it the intent of this
policy that such non-romantic relationships be discouraged or limited in any way. |
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IV. Procedures for
Reporting and Investigating Improper Sexual or Romantic Relationships or Suspected
Improper Sexual or Romantic Relationships |
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A. Any supervising
administrator who receives an improper sexual or romantic relationship complaint, or who
has knowledge of such a relationship, shall inform his/her immediate supervisor and the
Director of Equal Opportunity.
The Director of Equal Opportunity will investigate all improper sexual
or romantic relationship complaints. |
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B. Any College
employee may report an improper sexual or romantic relationship, or alleged improper
sexual or romantic relationship, to his/her immediate supervisor. If the relationship
involves the immediate supervisor, or if the employee prefers, the employee may report the
relationship to the next level of management or to the Director of Equal Opportunity. |
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C. Any College
student may report an improper sexual or romantic relationship or suspected improper
sexual or romantic relationship to the appropriate department head. If the relationship
involves the department head, or if the student prefers, the student may report the
relationship to the appropriate dean or to the Director of Equal Opportunity. |
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D.
In the event of an improper sexual or romantic relationship complaint,
the following procedures will be followed: |
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1. An Improper
Sexual or Romantic Relationship Complaint Form (ISRR 1) will be completed in detail and
signed by both the complainant and the Director of Equal Opportunity. |
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2. Each improper
sexual or romantic relationship complaint shall be investigated by the Director of Equal
Opportunity, and a determination of the facts shall be made.
The complainant and the
respondent may expect a response to a complaint within thirty working
days following the filing of a formal Improper Sexual or Romantic
Relationship Complaint. the President or his designee may extend
the response period if any investigation requires additional time to
gather facts. |
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3. The Director of
Equal Opportunity shall investigate the complaint by separately interviewing the
individual(s) against whom the complaint is filed and potential witnesses. The appropriate
Improper Sexual or Romantic Relationship report form (ISRR2 for the accused or ISRR3 for
witnesses) will be completed during each interview. Copies of completed forms will be
retained by the Director of Equal Opportunity.
While an effective investigation cannot promise complete confidentiality
of information provided by complainants or witnesses, the Director of
Equal Opportunity will deep such information and identities confidential
to the extent possible. |
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4. Any employee
involved in the investigation of an improper sexual or romantic relationship complaint
must treat all information gained from the complainant(s) or witness(es) during the
investigation as confidential and disclose such information only on a
'need-to-know'
basis. |
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5. In extraordinary
circumstances, the President or his designee may at any time during or
after an investigation of an improper sexual or romantic complaint place
the employee against whom a complaint has been filed on administrative
leave per Policy 4.28 Administrative Leave.
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6. Following the
investigation of the complaint, the immediate supervisor of the accused, the unit vice
president (or designee), and the Director of Equal Opportunity will determine the validity
of the complaint and recommend appropriate action to the president. |
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E. In the event
that an improper sexual or romantic relationship complaint is made directly to the
Director of Equal Opportunity, the Director shall report the complaint to the immediate
supervisor of the employee against whom the complaint is filed
and the unit vice president. |
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F.
Any employee who fails to act promptly and in accordance with
established procedures in response to an improper sexual or romantic
relationship complaint is in violation of this policy and will be
subject to disciplinary action as described in this policy. (See V.,
Disciplinary Action) |
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V. Disciplinary
Action |
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CPCC will not tolerate improper sexual or romantic relationships nor
will it tolerate any form of retaliation against any employee or student
who has brought good faith concerns to the attention of the College or
who has properly participated in the investigation or resolution of such
concerns. A faculty member, supervising administrator, or other
employee acting in an advisory, counseling, supervisory, or evaluative
role with respect to employees or students who is involved in an
improper sexual or romantic relationship or in any retaliatory activity
will be deemed to have engaged in serious misconduct as defined in
Policy 4.07
Administrator Contract Policy, III. B. 2. and
Policy 4.08
Non-administrator Contract Policy, III. B. 2., and will be subject
to discipline up to and including dismissal.
While disciplinary action taken
against an employee or faculty member as a result of a complaint of
an improper sexual or romantic relationship may be the subject of a
grievance under Policy 4.21 Grievance Process,
the Director of Equal Opportunity's investigation conclusions, or
alleged lack of conclusions, shall not be subject to the grievance
process.
The College recognizes that
romantic relationships may develop between employees or faculty members
that if undisclosed would lead to situations in violation of this
policy.
In such circumstances, the
College encourages the employees or faculty members involved in such a
relationship to disclose its existence to the Director of Equal
Opportunity. In circumstances where such early, voluntary
disclosure is made the college shall have the option of waiving the
investigation and disciplinary procedures contained in this policy and
addressing the new relationship through other means, including
reassignment. While no right of reassignment or continuing
employment of one or both parties to the relationship is guaranteed, the
College will, when appropriate, seek a resolution where no violation of
this policy would result. This option is not available in the
event of any improper sexual or romantic relationship involving a
student.
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Updates approved by Cabinet on Jan. 25, 2005; June 5, 2006
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