Informal Resolution Process for Student
Sexual Misconduct Charge(s)-(Title IX)
Informal Resolution Process for Student Sexual Misconduct Charge(s)-(Title IX)
The sexual misconduct policy lays out the need for an investigation of sexual misconduct by the Title
IX coordinator (or designee) independent of any criminal investigation by police. It allows informal
resolution for all cases of sexual misconduct. The informal resolution will include findings and
sanctions, when appropriate, by the investigator. This does not mean mediation is acceptable in
cases of alleged sexual assault. There is a difference in meaning between informal resolution and
mediation. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines mediation as “. . . an
informal and confidential way for people to resolve disputes with the help of a neutral mediator who
is trained to help people discuss their differences. The mediator does not decide who is right or
wrong or issue a decision. Instead, the mediator helps the parties work out their own solutions to
problems.” The KSU policy states that mediation in cases where sexual assault is alleged is
inappropriate. No complainant should be asked to resolve the issue of sexual assault with a
respondent by “discussing their differences.”
The alleged sexual misconduct, including sexual assault, will be investigated by the Title IX
coordinator (or deputies). If the Title IX coordinator (or deputies), after investigation, finds that
there has been sexual misconduct by a student, then s/he consults with the staff of the KSU Student
Conduct and Academic Integrity (SCAI) Department to determine appropriate sanction
recommendations. If both the complainant and respondent agree to accept the findings and
sanctions then, when the respondent is a student, the matter is concluded by a disciplinary meeting
between the respondent and a SCAI staff member. The purpose of this meeting is to enter the
findings and sanctions into the University’s student conduct records for both documentation and
enforcement purposes. Since both parties will have agreed to the findings and/or
recommendations prior to this disciplinary meeting there is no appeal allowed after an informal
resolution.
Agreement with the terms of the informal resolution is established by one of two ways:


A signature, or electronic signature, by a party or parties at the end of the investigation
report attesting to agreement with its findings and recommendations, or
No written objection by the complainant or respondent to the findings and recommendations
of the investigation report sent by email to the Title IX coordinator (or deputy) within five
business days of the date the investigation report was sent to the party’s official KSU email
address.
If either party disagrees with or does not accept the Title IX coordinator's findings and/or
recommendations, then a "formal" hearing process will take place through the Student Conduct and
Academic Integrity (SCAI) Department's special hearing process when the respondent is a student.