Despite complexity, WU believes Title IX policy is effective
According to the Association of American Universities (AAU), 23 percent of female college students experienced unwanted sexual contact while in college. A study that is commonly cited is from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) states one in five women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
Those numbers are concerning, but actually are far more complex than they seem, according to Director of Human Resources at Waynesburg University Tom Helmick, who is in charge of overseeing the reporting of sexual assaults and other Title IX violations. For example, numbers in studies from AAU and CDC are almost always higher than the number who have reported such crimes to police.
Discrepancies between sexual assaults that occur and those that are reported to police or campus authorities makes finding an accurate picture of the scope of the problem difficult, Helmick said.
“Are those numbers accurate? I don’t know if they’re accurate or not; no one does,” Helmick said.
Despite the complexity of the issue at the national level, Helmick, who serves as the Title IX coordinator at Waynesburg University, believes the sexual assault policy at Waynesburg University is a thorough process to ensure fairness for all parties involved.
“You never want sexual assault to happen, whether it’s on a college campus or outside of a college campus. That’s never something you want to happen,” Helmick said. “Unfortunately, it does happen in the world. Obviously, we react and report on things that are reported to us.”
As the coordinator, Helmick oversees all complaints made to the university about discrimination, harassment, sexual assault and stalking, among many others under the Title IX policy.
While Title IX has a baseline that all colleges must follow, Helmick said colleges, including Waynesburg University, individualize the policy to fit the specific university.
The policy, which is listed in the university Code of Conduct on myConnect, lays out the procedure for sexual assault complaints.
The procedure begins with the initial complaint being reported to someone at the university, whether that’s Helmick, someone in Student Services or anyone else with the university, Helmick said.
Chris Hardie, assistant dean of Student Services, said the first step is if a student reports any incident, it must be forwarded to Helmick.
“The first step is once it’s reported to a staff member, we are obligated to take it to the next level or next step,” Hardie said. “If I hear that a student was sexually assaulted or raped, it is a must for me to take that to either the authorities or the Title IX investigative officer.”
Helmick then speaks with the person who made the complaint and assigns an investigator to the case.
“We have several investigators on campus who have been trained as Title IX investigators and they would conduct the investigation,” Helmick said. “They’re responsible for speaking to all parties involved: the accused student, the student who filed the complaint and any witnesses.”
Helmick said three investigators are appointed each year, and under the Title IX policy, the university trains the investigators, who are faculty or staff members at Waynesburg University. The training involves learning the policy and investigative techniques. Many times the investigators end up being criminal justice professors, but that’s not always the case, Helmick said.
Hardie is one of the few investigating officers for Title IX policy violations on campus.
“If [Helmick] hears about some type of an assault or racism or anything like that, he’ll do a preliminary screening of some of the facts and then forward it off to an investigative officer who has been trained to interview a witness and write up a report,” Hardie said.
The investigator then makes a report to Helmick, who then decides if the case should be forwarded onto Student Services for a further hearing.
Following the hearing comes a decision, which ranges anywhere from recommending counseling to removal from the university for a certain amount of time to irrevocable expulsion, Helmick said.
Following the decision from the hearing, an appeal can be filed challenging the decision from the hearing.
Helmick said the entire procedure can take anywhere from two weeks to two months, but there is a specific timeline listed in the policy.
“We want to resolve it as fast as possible,” Helmick said. “The timeline is aggressive, and we try to follow it.”
The investigation followed by the university, according to Helmick, is completely separate from the investigation with the local police, if there is one.
“We advise the student that they have the opportunity to do that. Sometimes they don’t want to do that, though,” Helmick said.
Throughout the procedure, Helmick said, the university recommends students go to the counseling center at Waynesburg University.
“We make the opportunity for them to use counseling on campus,” Helmick said. “Whatever happens with the counselor, we don’t get any of that information from that because that’s a therapist-patient relationship.”
As required by Title IX and the Clery Act, Hardie said all Title IX violations on campus are disclosed.
“We are 100 percent honest and truthful about that,” Hardie said. “Regardless of what it looks like to the public, we are as honest as possible and it’s important to us that we are.”
Hardie said sexual assault is “one of the most heinous crimes you can see as a college administrator,” and that’s why he said the university is always looking to direct more resources to diminishing it.
“I think if you look across the country, I’ve seen similar statistics,” Hardie said. “Without even using my experience, the statistics aren’t going to lie. If one in five females are going to be sexual assaulted, that’s a problem that people need to address and take seriously.”