Inclusive Classrooms & Resources
Syllabus resources for faculty
Every student has a right to feel safe and supported while pursuing a degree at CMU. What can we do in our classrooms to create a space in which all students feel included, supported, respected and empowered to be themselves?
Syllabus resource on harassment, discrimination and sexual misconduct
How can we start a conversation on the first day of classes that empowers students to find the resources they need if they encounter or witness harassment, discrimination or sexual misconduct? Faculty in the women and gender studies program have developed a one-page resource that any instructor can attach to a syllabus. The guide is intended to give students access to resources and help us all to understand our options and responsibilities. How much safer and more inclusive would our campus start to feel if students got this message of support in every classroom?
Please feel welcome to include this page with your syllabus and share it with colleagues!
Syllabus statement
While the full-page guide is a more valuable resource, you may prefer to include a paragraph in the body of your syllabus instead:
Harassment and discrimination: You have a right to feel safe and supported while pursuing your degree at CMU. If any professor, student or staff member makes you feel that you have been discriminated against, disrespected or stuck in a hostile environment, the Office of Civil Rights and Institutional Equity (OCRIE) is here to help: Bovee UC 306, 989-774-3253.
Sexual misconduct policy: With the exception of the confidential resources named explicitly within the Sexual Misconduct Policy, all CMU staff and faculty are responsible employees and are required to report any information they know about possible sexual misconduct to the Title IX coordinator in OCRIE: Mary Martinez, 989-774-3253. This means that any information you may divulge about such an incident in the classroom or with a faculty member cannot be confidential. Reports to OCRIE are intended to provide options and resources to survivors. Please keep these reporting obligations in mind as you seek support from staff and faculty you trust, and know that there are also support centers on campus that will maintain confidentiality, which include Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates (989-774-2255) and the CMU Counseling Center (989-774-3381). For resources and more information, please visit the Office of Civil Rights and Institutional Equity.
Mandatory reporting: a note about exceptions
With the exception of the confidential resources named explicitly within the Sexual Misconduct Policy, all CMU staff and faculty are responsible employees and are required to report any information they know about possible sexual misconduct to the Title IX coordinator in the Office of Civil Rights and Institutional Equity, 989-774-3253.
If you teach a course, unit or topic in which the discussion is intended to give students a space to talk about experiences that fall under the Sexual Misconduct Policy, you may contact the Title IX coordinator to seek an exception to your usual mandatory reporting obligations for the purposes of that discussion. Since exceptions come with limitations as well as obligations to inform students properly, you are encouraged to contact the Title IX coordinator in advance to obtain the information that you need.
Resources on campus
- Office of Diversity Education
- Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- Office of LGBTQ Services
- Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates