Who is required to report?

The purpose of mandatory reporting is for our office to understand the scope of the concern, ensure the safety of our community members, provide involved parties support and safety measures regardless of if they want to make a report, and to ultimately get the behaviors to stop.

The requirement to report is to:

Ensure that the person alleging the misconduct (complainant) is safe and receives support. Even if the complainant does not want to move forward with an investigation, the OE is able to provide supportive measures, such as changes to academic and working situations through partnerships we have with various on/off campus resources. 

Understand the true nature and scope of the complainant's concerns. Often, complainants only tell a responsible employee a fraction of what has been happening. The OE provides a safe environment for the person(s) to discuss their concerns. The OE can address those concerns by learning who is involved what has been occurring, and why the complainant believes the conduct is occurring.

Help the complainant explore the range of options for resolving concerns. Generally, the person impacted has the choice to pursue an educational resolution, a formal resolution, or not proceed with any action. On rare occasions, the OE must consider community safety factors that may override an individual's choice in the matter. This typically is limited to cases involving physical violence or use of a weapon(s). 

Get the behaviors to stop. In order to enforce the policies, the OE must be aware of the concerns. It is the job of the OE to make sure everyone in the CU community is following University policies and to promptly and consistently address concerns, provide education, and bring about changes to improve the social environment across campus.

Responsible employees must report even if:

• They do not know the identity of the person who caused the harm.
• They are unsure whether it is something the University could investigate or address.
• They think it might not be serious enough.
• The person disclosing does not want it to be reported.

It is not up to the responsible employee to determine the validity of a concern when reporting. The OE is responsible for assessing the situation. The OE asks that responsible employees only obtain and share the information that you have been told/have witnessed; you do not need to do any further investigation.

The OE may find that a reported incident does not rise to the level of a policy violation. People can contact the OE even if they are not sure whether a situation is serious enough or covered by our policies. There are no punishments for reporting a concern to the OE in good faith. The report does not need to be considered a policy violation and it will not affect a person's academic, employment, or visa status.

The University has a policy against false reporting, and that applies only when the person making the allegations knows that those allegations are not truthful. False reporting of complaints (such as knowingly or recklessly making a false claim) or providing false information during the investigative process is prohibited.

All individuals, even those not considered responsible employees, are highly encouraged to promptly report such information to a responsible employee or directly to the OE.