WPI’s Interim Title IX & Sexual Misconduct Policy

This message was emailed to the WPI community from the Title IX Office.

WPI’s Interim Title IX & Sexual Misconduct Policy is now available online here: https://www.wpi.edu/offices/title-ix/title-ix-and-sexual-misconduct-policy

Sexual misconduct is a significant concern facing every college and university in the nation. WPI takes such incidents seriously, and the university proactively works to provide ongoing education and training to students, faculty, and staff in order to help prevent, identify, and report instances of sexual misconduct. WPI continually works to foster an environment in which students and employees can feel safe in reporting misconduct, and when instances do occur, WPI is committed to providing care and support to members of the WPI community through numerous programs and resources.

Earlier this year the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed, “An Act Relative To Sexual Violence On Higher Education Campuses,” a state law that requires colleges to take certain steps to respond to sexual misconduct.

As a result, and with the support of the Administrative Policy Group, faculty, staff, and student leaders from SGA and SPARC, WPI has made the following changes to our policy:

• Merged the interim Title IX Policy and the interim WPI Sexual Misconduct Policy into one policy, with a separate grievance process for sexual misconduct that falls under Title IX.
• Updated the policy website to make it easier to read and understand.
• Clarified the list of prohibited conduct to comply with state and federal law, as well as WPI policy.

We still have more work to do!  Because this policy is “interim,” we look forwards to further engaging the WPI community through a public comment period and discussions. 

WPI strongly encourages any student, faculty member, or staff member who has concerns about sexual misconduct to seek the assistance from the Title IX Office.