The Title IX Office supports survivors of sexual and interpersonal violence. We encourage any member of the campus community to report, confidentially discuss, or raise questions and concerns regarding any instance of gender discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual violence, interpersonal violence, and stalking. For more information on our campus Title IX Coordinators, including contact information, please visit our Title IX Coordinator contact page.
The role of the Title IX Office and the Office of Student Conduct are distinct and multifaceted. The following information provides context to the roles of each department. For more information, please visit the Title IX Website, Office of Student Conduct, and the Title IX Myth Vs Truth Flier.
Title IX Office:
- The role of the Title IX Coordinator is to support survivors/reporting individuals. The Title IX Coordinator does not work directly with the accused party.
- The Title IX Coordinator works to ensure that survivors have an understanding of all of their rights, resources, and support measures. It is always up to a survivor to determine which options, if any, they want to pursue.
- The Title IX Coordinator receives reports directly from survivors and can perform outreach to individuals based on referrals (faculty, advisors, coaches, friends).
- The Title IX Coordinator facilitates Title IX trainings, workshops, and other prevention programming.
- The Title IX Coordinator connects survivors/reporting individuals to the conduct process if the reporting individual so chooses. Not every survivor/reporting individual chooses conduct processes, there are many reasons for this choice.
- The conduct process, where chosen by the individual and sustained by the code of conduct, is under the purview of The Office of Student Conduct.
- The Title IX Coordinator also supports students who are pregnant or expecting. Under Title IX, reasonable accommodations must be provided for students who are pregnant. This can include supporting the student to ensure they can participate as fully as possible in their educational experience including accommodations to ensure successful completion of coursework.
Office of Student Conduct:
- No Contact Orders are issued at the discretion of the Director of Student Conduct or designee within the Division of Student Affairs. A No Contact Order may be used to support interim remedies/measures – e.g. changes in residential accommodations or academic scheduling.
A No Contact Order is an administrative directive (Official Request) to both a reporting individual and accused (or respondent), or any students the university deems appropriate, which prohibits all contact (in person or through other means) until parties are notified otherwise. This includes all contact made which can be considered verbal, nonverbal, physical, electronic, mail/written letters, email, social networking sites, phone calls, text messages, and/ or voicemail. In addition, this extends to all action which may occur as a result of ‘third parties’ (friends, family members or acquaintances) acting on a student's behalf (other than an attorney.) No Contact Orders remain in effect as long as the students are enrolled at New Paltz, even between semesters or during breaks, and wherever they may be geographically located at any time. - Conduct/Judicial Process
The college is not required to provide this format or the level of detail provided in this representation . The college does already provide and will continue to provide the federal Clery Report and New York State 129-B report as mandated by law.
This report will be reported annually by calendar year on this website. The categories used in this report differ from, Clery and 129B as each of these reports call for different statistical representation of cases. This report is more detailed and therefore, total number of incidents represented across the reports are different.
Please read the definitions and information provided in the footnotes carefully as it provides important context for the report.
| Total Incidents Reported to the Title IX Coordinator | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total On-Campus Incidents | Total Cases Reported to the TIXC: On-Campus Incidents | 15 |
| Total Off-Campus Incidents | Total Cases Reported to the TIXC: Off-Campus Incidents | 25 |
| Total Reports to TIXC | Total Reports to TIXC (all categories of cases) | 40 |
| Date | Description | Number of Reports |
|---|---|---|
| Occurred in 2020 | Experience occurring between January 1st, 2020 and December 31st, 2020 | 23 |
| Occurred before 2020 | Experiences occurring before 2020 (2019 and prior) | 17 |
| Instances/Behaviors | Description | Total Accused | Accused Students | Accused Non Students | Unknown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rape | Total Reports of Rape | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Sex. Assault/Miscon | Total Reports of Sexual Assault/Sexual Misconduct (including unwanted touching, kissing, patting, or pressing up against someone without their affirmative consent) | 17 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
| Dating Violence | Total Reports of Dating Violence | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Stalking | Total Reports of Stalking | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sexual Harassment | Total Reports of Sexual Harassment | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Total Unknown | Total Reports of Unknown (student opted not to disclose) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Identity of Perpetrator | Description | Times Occurred |
|---|---|---|
| Student | Accused was a New Paltz Student | 12 |
| Non-Student | Accused was NOT a student at SUNY New Paltz. | 26 |
| Unknown | Accused was either unknown or reporting individual declined sharing their identity. | 2 |
| Conduct Process | Description | Times Occurred |
|---|---|---|
| Pursued College Conduct Process | Pursued and completed Conduct process | 1 |
| No request for College Conduct | Reporting Individual opted to not pursue the Conduct Process | 11 |
| No Jurisdiction for Conduct | No Jurisdiction because the accused was a non-student | 28 |
Additional Context:
- On campus refers to any building or property owned or controlled by SUNY New Paltz. This includes all academic and administrative buildings and residence halls.
- Off campus refers to any location not on the SUNY New Paltz campus. This can include incidents occurring in the town of New Paltz, in a student’s hometown, out of state, or out of the country.
- Total reports to the Title IX Coordinator refers to the total number of incidents reported to the Title IX Coordinator. This number reflects all reports regardless of when or where the incident occurred. For example, a student may have reported an experience that occurred in 2015 to the Title IX Coordinator in 2020.
- Incidents occurring in 2020 refers to any incident that occurred between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 2020.
- Incidents occurring before 2020 refers to any incident reported in 2020 which occurred before January 1st, 2020. This may include incidents that occurred prior to matriculation at SUNY New Paltz (IE sexual abuse as a child).
The following definitions are found in the Student Handbook. - Rape is any vaginal, penile, oral, or anal penetration. with any individual if such behavior is against the will and without the affirmative consent of that person.
- Sexual Assault/Misconduct is any sexual behavior towards any individual against their will and without their affirmative consent. Such behavior includes, but is not limited to, touching, pinching, patting, or pressing up against someone, exposing genitalia, sexual based stalking or bullying, or sexual exploitation. Sexual exploitation may include but is not limited to invasion of sexual privacy, non-consensual use of photographs, video or audio-taping of sexual activity, engaging in voyeurism or knowingly transmitting an STI or HIV to another student.
- Dating Violence is any violent act or pattern of coercive behavior that serves to exercise control and power in an intimate relationship. The coercive and abusive behaviors can be physical, sexual, psychological, verbal, financial and/or emotional in nature. Intimate partner abuse can occur in relationships of the same or different genders; between current or former intimate partners who have dated, lived together, or been married.
- Stalking is a repeated course of conduct directed at a specific individual that directly or indirectly (or through third parties) distresses, intimidates or threatens, and places a reasonable person in fear. This also includes repeated incidents where electronic media such as the internet, social media, cell phones, or other similar devices are used to pursue, intimidate or threaten and place a reasonable person in fear (cyber-stalking).
- Sexual Harassment is any unwelcome conduct directed at an individual which is so severe or pervasive that it interferes with an individual’s sense of safety or well-being, and may interfere with an individual’s employment, academic performance, or participation in the College’s programs or activities.
- Unknown behavior refers to a reported experience where the specific type of incident is unknown. On rare occasions, survivors are reluctant to share specific details about their experience which makes it challenging to determine which behavior it should be classified as.
- Affirmative Consent is a knowing, voluntary, and mutual decision among all participants to engage in sexual activity. Consent can be given by words or actions, as long as those words or actions create clear permission regarding willingness to engage in the sexual activity. Silence or lack of resistance, in and of itself, does not demonstrate consent. The definition of consent does not vary based upon a participant’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
- Student: If the identity of the perpetrator or accused individual is a current student, or was a current student at the time of the report, at SUNY New Paltz.
- Non-Student: If the identity of the perpetrator or accused is not a student at SUNY New Paltz.
- Unknown: If the identity of the perpetrator or accused party is unknown to the survivor.
- The College Conduct process occurs occurs when the survivor, or reporting individual, requests to take action against another SUNY New Paltz student. Once a formal written and signed statement made by the reporting individual is submitted, the Student Conduct Office, not the Title IX Office, will initiate charges and notify the alleged through a formal charge letter and concurrently serve any No-Contact Orders (if applicable).
As of August 2020, there is an additional protocol for alleged incidents that occurred on campus after August 2020. In these cases: the Title IX Investigator will then begin the investigation of the incident and prepare an investigatory report. The completed report will be forwarded to both parties and their advisors for review. Please note: If the alleged incident happened off-campus or prior to August 2020 this part of the process will not take place.
Regardless of location or date, the Student Conduct Office will then convene a conduct board hearing where both the reporting individual and the respondent will have the opportunity to present their statements, witnesses, evidence and have their advisor or themselves (off-campus and/or prior to 8/20) ask questions of the other side and their witnesses. Once the case is presented, the conduct board will convene and make their decision based on a preponderance of the evidence. If the alleged is found responsible, they will recommend a sanction to the Director of Student Conduct or designee for a sanction and any special conditions as appropriate. If there is not a preponderance of evidence and the alleged is found not responsible by the committee, the case will conclude.
- The College Conduct Process can only be utilized if the accused is a current SUNY New Paltz student. In many incidents, the accused has not ever attended SUNY New Paltz or is no longer a student. In these cases where the college does not have jurisdiction or the ability to hold the alleged accountable under campus policies, a student is always afforded the right to pursue criminal charges in the appropriate local or state jurisdiction. In some cases, the behavior of a non-New Paltz student enrolled at a different college might be addressed under that college's code. Support from the campus Crime Victim Advocate is also made available.
