Harassment/Violence Policy
Evidence:
Miller College is committed to providing an educational and work environment free from all forms of violence and harassment including sexual harassment. Therefore, the policy of Miller College is zero tolerance to all forms of violence, harassment, and other forms of abusive behavior, physical or verbal, by employees, students, or the public on its property, in its facilities, or elsewhere, when conducting its business. All claims will be investigated and appropriate action taken. The College will take all reasonable steps to prevent or eliminate harassment or violence within the College.
Harassment includes, but is not restricted to, harassment based on race, religion, gender, age, height, weight, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, handicap conditions, disability, or any condition covered under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination and Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1977. Harassment includes verbal or physical conduct that shows hostility, threat, or aversion toward an individual for any of the above stated reasons and that:
• has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
work or classroom environment;
• has the purpose or effect of reasonably interfering with an individual’s
work or classroom performance; or
• otherwise adversely affects an individual’s employment or
educational opportunities.
Harassing conduct includes, but is not limited to:
• epithets, slurs, negative stereotyping, or threatening, intimidating, or
hostile acts that relate to race, religion, gender, age, height, weight,
national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, handicap conditions,
or disability; and written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility toward an individual or group because of these reasons and that is placed
on walls, bulletin boards, a computer network, or elsewhere on
Miller College or KCC’s premises or circulated on the campus.
The standard for determining whether verbal or physical conduct relating to any of these factors is sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a hostile or abusive environment is whether a reasonable person in the same or similar circumstances would find the conduct intimidating, hostile, or abusive.
Sexual Harassment
Evidence:
Sexual harassment of Miller College employees and students is defined as any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:
• submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment or educational status or opportunity;
• submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for employment or educational decisions affecting that individual; • such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or educational experience, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or educational environment. Prohibited sexual harassment includes unsolicited and unwelcome contact that has sexual overtones. It is unwelcome behavior if the recipient did not initiate it and regards it as offensive.
This includes, but is not limited to:
• written contact, such as sexually suggestive or obscene letters or notes;
• verbal harassment, including making sexual comments about a person’s clothing, body, or sexual activities, telling sexual jokes or stories, sexual innuendos, whistling, asking or telling about sexual fantasies, obscene gestures, using demeaning or inappropriate terms such as “Babe,” or using crude and offensive language;
• physical contact, such as intentional touching, pinching, brushing against another’s body, impeding or blocking movement, assault, coercing, or touching oneself in a sexual manner in front of another person; • non-verbal harassment such as leering or staring at another’s body, gesturing or displaying sexually-suggestive objects, pictures, posters, or magazines;
• continuing to express sexual or social interest after being informed directly
that the interest is unwelcome;
• the use of sexual behavior to control, influence, or affect career, salary, classroom, or work environment of an individual in such a way as it would reasonably be and is perceived as hostile or abusive. Sexual harassment does not refer to occasional compliments. It refers to behavior of a sexual nature that interferes with the work or education of its victim(s) and their co-workers or fellow students.
Evidence:
Threat of Violence
Threat of violence is any overt or threatened abusive behavior, physical or verbal, by an employee, student, or member of the public on the campus or elsewhere
when conducting College business. It consists of physical contact, threats of physical contact, or harm and harassment for any reason.
Harassment/Violence Complaint Procedure
Miller College’s Vice President and Director of Enrollment Management serve as the College’s Violence/Harassment Officers. Either of them may be contacted and serve to carry out the procedures outlined below. Options available to the student complainant are:
1. If a threat of violence presents the chance of immediate danger to oneself or others, call the police department and/or report to Campus Security. If Security is the first contact, they will ask the complainant to complete an Incident Report form and will strongly encourage the student to report the violent incident to local law enforcement officials in order to initiate criminal proceedings. Also, Security will notify a Miller College Violence/Harassment Officer who will contact the complainant for an interview.
2.If the alleged aggressor poses a substantial threat to the physical or emotional safety of any member of the College community, that person may be suspended for an interim period pending investigation and/or College disciplinary proceedings. During this period, the student may be denied access to the campus (including being barred from classes). Either the Vice President or the Director of Enrollment Management is authorized to impose the interim suspension.
3.Report an incident of harassment to the faculty member or administrator of choice. That person then has the responsibility to report the incident to a Violence/Harassment Officer, who will contact the complainant for an interview.
4. File an informal concern with a Violence/ Harassment Officer, who will interview the student and promptly conduct an informal investigation of the complaint.
5. File a written formal grievance with a Violence/Harassment Officer, who will interview the student, promptly investigate the complaint, and take whatever action is necessary. A report concerning the action to be taken will be given to the complainant and the accused.
The Violence/Harassment Officer will promptly investigate complaints involving violations of the College harassment and violence policies and determine the appropriate action to be taken. The student may appeal to the President of the College by writing a request for review and reconsideration of the judgment of the Violence/Harassment Officer.
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