Report an Incident
Gavilan College encourages everyone to report all forms of gender-based discrimination and sexual misconduct to the College and/or the police. Making a report means telling someone in a position of authority what happened – this can be in person, over the phone, or in an email.
Contact the Title IX Coordinator or submit a completed complaint form to report an incident now.
Who Can File a Report?
Anyone (students, faculty, or staff) can report gender-based discrimination or sexual misconduct to the college. It does not matter if you were personally involved in an incident or if you witnessed something happening to someone else. Gavilan College follows a See Something, Say Something, Do Something model. This means we expect community members to look out for each other and report misconduct that affects all members of our campus community.
When Should I File a Report?
You should report incidents of gender-based discrimination and sexual misconduct as soon as possible. While it is never too late to report sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, or dating or domestic violence, it is much easier to conduct a thorough investigation if a report is made in a timely manner. Reporting instances of sexual misconduct as soon as possible allows the college help you (and other affected parties) connect with valuable support services.
Where Should I File My Report?
You have the choice to report sexual misconduct to the College, or the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department. You can file a report with the College and still decline to file a report with local law enforcement agencies. If you are unsure of where to file your report, contact the College’s Title IX Coordinator to discuss your reporting options, and help you file a report with the Santa Clara County or San Benito County Sheriff's Department if you so desire. Report all instances of of gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment to the Title IX Coordinator.
Filing a Report with the College
To file a formal complaint with the College, fill out the complaint form here. You can also make an informal report by contacting any member of the Title IX Team. Any information you share with the Title IX Team will be kept private, and shared only on a need-to-know basis.
When you file a report with the College, the Title IX Coordinator will meet with you to review all of your options. The Title IX Coordinator may help with changes to your academics, work, and transportation conditions. They may also implement other interim protective measures to make sure participating in an investigation does not affect your access to education.
Filing a Report with the Sheriff's Department
You can report instances of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking to the Santa Clara County or San Benito County Sheriff’s Department in person or over the phone. If you choose not to report the incident immediately to the police, you can still make a report at a later date.
Filing a Report with the Chancellor Office
Students and Employees of a community college district may file complaints of unlawful discrimination with the Chancellor office by completing this complaint form and submitting it to the Chancellor Office. The district is required to assess the complaint, and in most cases must investigate and attempt to resolve the matter.
Filing a Report with the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights
Individuals experiencing harassment or discrimination also always have the right to file a formal grievance with the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights. Contact information for the San Francisco branch of the Office of Civil Rights is listed below:
San Francisco Office
Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
U.S. Department of Education
50 Beale Street, Suite 7200
San Francisco, CA 94105-1813
Telephone: (415)486-5555
Fax: (415)486-5570; TDD: (800)877-8339
Email: ocr.sanfrancisco@ed.gov
Web: http://www.ed.gov/ocr
Will My Report be Confidential?
Gavilan College recognizes that the desire for privacy can play a key role in deciding whether to report gender-based discrimination and sexual misconduct. While your information will always be kept private, meaning it will only ever be shared on a need-to-know basis, not all College employees can promise to keep the information you share with them confidential. All responsible Gavilan College employees are required to report information regarding sexual misconduct involving Gavilan students or employees. They share this information with the Title IX Coordinator so that the incident may be resolved in a prompt and equitable manner under Gavilan College’s resolution procedures.
When you file a report with the college, you may request confidentiality and/or that the Title IX coordinator provide you with remedies and resources without initiating a formal resolution process. The Title IX Coordinator will weigh requests for confidentiality against the institutional need to address and remedy discrimination under Title IX.
The College will be able to respect your wishes, unless it believes there is a threat to the community based on the use of weapons, violence, pattern, predation, or threatening conduct by the person being accused.