Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

["S. Daniel Carter" <>]

While referenced in OCR’s Title IX Dear Colleague Letter from earlier this year, as the provision in question is actually a requirement of the Jeanne Clery Act I would also suggest referencing the U.S. Department of Education’s 2011 Clery handbook and the 2009 version of the FERPA regulations which are the first to formally reflect this determination (although the underlying requirement actually dates back to 1992 the Georgetown case in 2004 was the first where it was applied in this context).

Specifically, page 144 of The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting states that “This is an unconditional disclosure; a victim cannot be required to sign a nondisclosure agreement or to otherwise agree to a prohibition from discussing the case. Notification of the final results to both the victim and the accused should be made in the same manner and the same time frame.” The handbook is available online at http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/handbook-2.pdf.

The current FERPA regulations, at 34 CFR § 99.33(c), provide that FERPA’s re-disclosure prohibition “does not apply…to information that postsecondary institutions are required to disclose under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, 20 U.S.C. 1092(f) (Clery Act), to the accuser and accused regarding the outcome of any campus disciplinary proceeding brought alleging a sexual offense.” The Family Policy Compliance Office, which enforces FERPA, makes a copy of these regulations available at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/pdf/ferparegs.pdf.

If you need any further information or clarification please don’t hesitate to let us know.

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S. Daniel Carter

Director of Public Policy

Security On Campus, Inc.

http://www.securityoncampus.org/

110 Gallagher Road

Wayne, PA 19087

Office: (484) 580-8754

E-Mail:

From: Jessie Mindlin <>
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:59:39 -0400
To: Juliette Grimmett <>, <>, <>, <>
Subject: RE: confidentiality re: survivor in SM hearing

Juliette – I’m guessing you’re referring to the OCR decision in the Georgetown/Dieringer case. The OCR letter is attached  - see item 2) on page 2.  This issue is also referenced in the April 2011 Dear Colleague Letter (see page 13), which is also attached. The relevant excerpt is below:

(D) Notice of Outcome

Both parties must be notified, in writing, about the outcome of both the complaint and any appeal,31 i.e., whether harassment was found to have occurred. OCR recommends that schools provide the written determination of the final outcome to the complainant and the alleged perpetrator concurrently. Title IX does not require the school to notify the alleged perpetrator of the outcome before it notifies the complainant.

Due to the intersection of Title IX and FERPA requirements, OCR recognizes that there may be confusion regarding what information a school may disclose to the complainant.32 FERPA generally prohibits the nonconsensual disclosure of personally identifiable information from a student’s “education record.” However, as stated in the 2001 Guidance, FERPA permits a school to disclose to the harassed student information about the sanction imposed upon a student who was found to have engaged in harassment when the sanction directly relates to the harassed student. This includes an order that the harasser stay away from the harassed student, or that the harasser is prohibited from attending school for a period of time, or transferred to other classes or another residence hall.33 Disclosure of other information in the student’s “education record,” including information aboutsanctions that do not relate to the harassed student, may result in a violation of FERPA.

Feel free to let me know if you need additional information or resources. - Jessie

 

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From: Juliette Grimmett []
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 8:06 AM
To: ; ;
Subject: confidentiality re: survivor in SM hearing

 

Hello all -

 

I know that several years ago there was a change made federally that made it allowable for the survivor in a campus sexual misconduct hearing to be able to share the outcome.  Does anyone have that documented somewhere so that I can share it with our Student Conduct folks?

 

Thank you

 

 

Juliette Grimmett
Assistant Director, NC State University Women's Center
Interpersonal Violence Services

Office for Institutional Equity & Diversity

3120 Talley Student Center
Raleigh, NC 27695
o: 919-515-2012

f: 919-515-1066

 

Are you a student who needs support for yourself or a loved oneregarding sexual and relationship violence including stalking?  The Women's Center is now able to offer NCSU students confidential support services Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

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