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Title IX

As a member of the Northwood Technical College community, Title IX protects you from discrimination based on sex throughout your educational journey. Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that states:

 

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

 

This means while at Northwood Tech, you are protected from all forms of sex discrimination and harassment, whether you are a student, employee, contractor, guest or visitor. Northwood Tech is dedicated to providing an education and employment environment free from all forms of illegal harassment and discrimination. To further maintain our safe, inclusive and positive community, the College encourages students and staff to participate in the Sexual Violence Prevention online training program. Sexual Violence Prevention provides critical information about consent, bystander intervention, sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, stalking and much more. 

Policies & Procedures

Unlawful Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Sexual Violence Complaints Policy

Procedure

Grievance Procedure

Learn More About Becoming a Prosocial Bystander

We all have the ability to look out for each other’s safety. Learn more about your role in preventing sexual assault and being a prosocial bystander.

 

Resources

Title IX - Pregnant Students

  • Your Rights
    • We're here to support you and help you complete your education! Title IX provides students who are pregnant or experience a false pregnancy, have a child or adopt a child, terminate a pregnancy or have a miscarriage with special services as it provides to students with other temporary conditions. As a student with one of these conditions, you have the right to:
      • Not be told to drop out or change education plans
      • Be provided a comfortable space to pump milk
      • Be excused from class due to pregnancy-related appointments (pre-natal, give birth, have an abortion or be on doctor-ordered bed rest)
      • Not have excused absences count against your grades
      • Be provided the opportunity to make up missed work from excused absences
      • Not be harassed as the result of pregnancy
    • Title IX does not assist with childcare issues, bonding time or similar parenting situations and challenges. What is meant by the context of Title IX is the medical recovery from the above conditions listed.
    • Northwood Tech students who are single parents (including pregnant students) can find support and resources by contacting an Accommodation Specialist. Accommodation Support Services | Northwood Technical College
    • Northwood Tech has designed private rooms for personal use, including lactation (breast pumping). See the section below on Privacy Rooms for more information. 
    • New Federal Laws Expand Rights for Pregnant and Nursing Employees
    • Office for Civil Rights Pregnancy Resource
    • Supporting the Academic Success of Pregnant and Parenting Students
    • Northwood Tech has designed private rooms for personal use, including lactation (breast pumping). Under Wisconsin law, women may breastfeed their child in any area where the general public is allowed to go.
  • Privacy Rooms
    • Privacy rooms may be used for lactation/breastfeeding, minor medical administration (e.g. insulin shots), stretching, meditation, prayer, or simply as a quiet space for those who need rest and recharge. 
      • Ashland Campus: Room 309
      • New Richmond Campus: Library, Room 1304J (If library is closed, see Student Services for access)
      • Rice Lake Campus: College Health Nurse Office, Room 106C (If College Health Nurse office is closed, see Student Services for access)
      • Shell Lake Health Education Center: Room 213
      • Superior Campus: Student Services, Room 103I
  • The Rights of Fathers
    • As Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex, some of the same protections and accommodations apply to fathers as well. In some situations, fathers will not receive the same accommodations due to the nature of pregnancy and recovery. For example, a mother could receive a medical excuse from school for several weeks after birth to psychically recover from birthing. Fathers would not be eligible for the same accommodation.  
  • The Accommodation Process
    • Pregnant students are encouraged, but not required, to contact an Accommodation Specialist early in their pregnancy. Northwood Tech staff will guide the student in obtaining appropriate medical documentation of their condition and the medical basis for accommodations. Accommodations are implemented based on what is determined by the medical provider. The Accommodation Specialist will work with the student and his/her instructors to implement the accommodations. 
    • The student is ultimately responsible for obtaining the appropriate medical documentation. The Accommodation Specialist will help guide you through the process and answer all of your questions. 
    • Accommodation Services will provide students equal access to an education at Northwood Tech. To get you started, it is important to learn and become familiar with the process. 
    • Accommodation Services: Accommodation Services | Northwood Technical College
    • Make an accommodation request: Program Accommodation Requests | Northwood Technical College

 

Grievance Process Definitions

  • Incident
    • An allegation is made by the Complainant against a Respondent(s) which alleged a violation of our Equal Opportunity, Civil Rights, and Sexual Harassment policy, specifically, a claim of sexual harassment. Other civil rights allegations and allegations that do not meet the definition of sexual harassment under Title IX are addressed under a different procedure (G-113B - Unlawful Discrimination/Harassment/Sexual Harassment/Sexual Misconduct/Sexual Violence Complaints Grievance Procedure). All allegations that are dismissed under Title IX can be appealed if they meet certain requirements.
  • Notice
    • All parties receive a notice of the allegations with sufficient details, including the name of the Complainant and an overview of the allegation(s). This notice informs the Respondent(s) that they are presumed innocent until the completion of the Grievance Procedure.
  • Investigation and Report
    • A trained investigator or a team of two investigators will be assigned to investigate the allegations. Investigators are required to be free of bias and conflict of interest in how they conduct the investigation. The investigation includes interviews with witnesses, including those proffered by the parties, as well as those determined by the investigator(s). Evidence is also collected and may include social media posts, messages, and other forms of physical evidence. Upon completion of the investigation, a report is written. Each party reviewed the draft report and all evidence which is then incorporated into a final report.
  • Hearing
    • A live hearing is conducted by an administrative law judge (ALJ) who is an employee of the Wisconsin Division of Hearings and Appeals (DHA). During the hearing, the ALJ will ask questions of the parties and investigator(s) and the party’s advisors must conduct cross-examination of the other party and witnesses. The ALJ considers the relevance of all questions prior to them being asked and makes a ruling on the relevance of any evidence.
  • Appeal
    • Any party can appeal a final outcome if it meets the requirement for an appeal and is filed timely. An appeal is not a rehearing of the case or a disagreement with an outcome, but involves specific technical issues in how the case was managed, investigated, or resolved.

Behavior Definitions

  • Sex Discrimination
    • Sex discrimination is treating someone unfavorably because of that person's sex (“on the basis of sex)”. This includes excluding people from educational or employment programs or activities on the basis of sex. Sex, for the purposes of Northwood Tech’s policy, includes gender, gender identity, and transgender.
  • Sexual Harassment
    • Sexual harassment means conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following: quid pro quo, the Davis standard that defines hostile environment sexual harassment, and sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking.
    • Sex-based harassment is unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the recipient’s education program or activity.
    • Quid pro quo sexual harassment occurs when an employee of the recipient conditions the provision of aid, benefit, or service of the recipient on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct.
    • Sexual assault, defined as:
      • Sex Offenses, Forcible: Any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the Complainant including instances where the Complainant is incapable of giving consent.
      • Forcible Rape: Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the Complainant.
      • Forcible Sodomy: Oral or anal sexual intercourse with another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will or not forcibly or against the person’s will (non-consensually) in instances where the Complainant is incapable of giving consent because of age or because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
      • Sexual Assault With An Object: To use an object or instrument to penetrate, however slightly, the genital or anal opening of the body of another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will or not forcibly or against the person’s will (non-consensually) in instances where the Complainant is incapable of giving consent because of age or because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
      • Forcible Fondling: The touching of the private body parts of another person (buttocks, groin, breasts) for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against that person’s will (non-consensually) or not forcibly or against the person’s will in instances where the Complainant is incapable of giving consent because of age or because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
    • Sex Offenses, Nonforcible: Nonforcible sexual intercourse.  
      • Incest: Nonforcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by Wisconsin law.
      • Statutory Rape: Nonforcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent of 18
  • Dating Violence
    • Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the Complainant. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the Complainant’s statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship. For the purposes of this definition
      • Dating violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse.
      • Dating violence does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence.

  • Domestic Violence

    • A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed:

      • By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the Complainant;

      • By a person with whom the Complainant shares a child in common;

      • By a person who is cohabitating with, or has cohabitated with, the Complainant as a spouse or intimate partner;

      • By a person similarly situated to a spouse of the Complainant under the domestic or family violence laws Wisconsin;

      • By any other person against an adult or youth Complainant who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of Wisconsin

  • Stalking
    • Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to either
      • Fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or
      • Suffer substantial emotional distress.
  • Discrimination Against Pregnant Students
    • Taking adverse action against an individual or failing to accommodate a student or employee who has an accommodation in place due to their pregnancy status.
  • Retaliation
    • No recipient or other person may intimidate, threaten, coerce, or discriminate against any individual for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege secured by Title IX, or because the individual has made a report or complaint, testified, assisted, or participated or refused to participate in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under Title IX. Intimidation, threats, coercion, or discrimination, including charges against an individual for code of conduct violations that do not involve sex discrimination or sexual harassment, but arise out of the same facts or circumstances as a report or complaint of sex discrimination, or a report or formal complaint of sexual harassment, for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege secured by Title IX or this part, constitutes retaliation. The exercise of rights protected under the First Amendment does not constitute retaliation.

Rights of Complainant and Respondent

  1. The preponderance of evidence standard (more likely than not) is used to evaluate complaints.
  2. The reporting party and the responding party are entitled to the same opportunities to have others present during a campus disciplinary proceeding. All parties are permitted to have representatives in all stages of the process. Notice of representation should be made to the Title IX Coordinator.
  3. Both the reporting party and the responding party will be informed of the outcome of any campus disciplinary proceeding alleging sexual misconduct.
  4. Complaints will be investigated by a trained Title IX Investigator and designee.
  5. Northwood Tech will respond promptly, equitably and thoroughly to all incident reports following the written receipt of the complaint, barring any unusual circumstances.
  6. Any party can appeal a decision-maker’s determination regarding responsibility, or the College’s dismissal of a Formal Complaint for identified deficiencies, on any of the following bases:
  • Procedural irregularity that affected the outcome of the matter;
  • New evidence that was not reasonably available at the time the determination was made which could affect the outcome of the matter; or
  • Allegations of a conflict of interest or bias by the Title IX Coordinator, the investigator, or the decision-maker that affected the outcome of the matter. Such a conflict of interest or bias can be alleged to be against complainants or respondents generally or against the particular complainant or respondent in the matter.


Such appeal must be filed within five (5) business days following issuance of the decision-maker’s decision. Upon receipt of the appeal, the College shall appoint a reviewer to consider the appeal and shall notify the parties of its receipt of an appeal request. Such reviewer shall not be the decision-maker for the hearing, the investigator, or the Title IX Coordinator. The reviewer shall notify the parties of the appeal procedures and set a briefing schedule for the parties to submit written statements in support of, or challenging, the outcome. Such briefing schedule shall provide an opportunity for each party to respond to the arguments of the other party. The reviewer shall issue a written decision describing the result of the appeal and rationale to both parties. The reviewer’s decision shall be final and binding upon the parties and there shall be no further appeal within the College of the matter.

The College recognizes the right of all parties involved in a complaint to a fair and equitable resolution of complaints. Falsification, distortion or misrepresentation of information during the course of a complaint resolution process may be grounds for disciplinary action.

If you or someone you care about is a victim of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating/domestic violence, stalking, or discrimination, contact the Title IX Coordinator or file a report.

Take the Next Step

Are you ready to experience success? Northwood Tech staff are standing by to support you in reaching your educational and career goals, so do it. Take the leap.