Glossary of Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct Terms

A person chosen by a party or provided by the institution who
accompanies the Complainant or Respondent throughout the duration of a
Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct claim to provide them with support
and advice.

The Advisor’s role is to support and advise the
party, and the Advisor cannot actively participate in the process on
their advisee’s behalf, except at a hearing for a Title IX Complaint. In
a Title IX hearing, the Advisor’s role is limited to cross-examination
of the other Party and witnesses only.

The Advisor cannot make
opening or closing statements, ask questions of their own advisees,
object to questions, or engage in advocacy other than to cross-examine
the other Party or Witnesses.

In a non-Title IX hearing, the
Advisor’s role is limited to providing support and advice to their
advisee only, and the Advisor may not actively participate in the
hearing.

The improper use of pressure to compel another individual to initiate or
continue sexual activity against the individual’s will. Coercion may
include intimidation, manipulation, threats, and blackmail. Words or
conduct may constitute coercion if they wrongfully impair another
individual’s freedom of will and ability to choose whether to engage in
sexual activity.

A person allegedly subjected to either Covered Behavior or Retaliation or an individual who is alleged
to be the victim of conduct that could constitute sexual harassment.

A written statement endorsed by a Complainant or the Title IX Coordinator alleging sexual
harassment or other Covered Behavior against a Respondent requesting an investigation of the alleged behavior.

An affirmative, conscious decision by a participant to engage in
sexual activity. Consent must be freely and voluntarily given with
knowledge of the nature of the act or transaction involved and can be
revoked at anytime. CMU will consider the following when evaluating
whether the Complainant has given Consent:

• Level of mutual
  understanding of the nature and scope of the act to which the individual
  Consented and a willingness to do the same thing, at the same time, in
  the same way;
• Whether Consent was obtained through the use of
  force, coercion, threats, or intimidation or by taking advantage of the
  Incapacitation of another individual;
• Whether communication
  regarding Consent used mutually understandable words and/or actions that
  indicated an unambiguous willingness to engage in sexual activity. If
  there is no evidence of clear communication or outward demonstration,
  CMU will find that Consent was not given;
• Whether Complainant withdrew Consent; and/or
• Whether,
  once withdrawn, the sexual activity ceased immediately and/or all
  parties received mutually expressed or clearly stated Consent before
  continuing further sexual activity.
• CMU will not consider
  Consent to one form of sexual contact as Consent to all forms of sexual
  contact; nor will it consider Consent to sexual activity with one person
  as Consent to activity with any other person. Each participant in a
  sexual encounter must Consent to each form of sexual contact with each
  participant.
• Even in the context of a current or previous
  intimate relationship, CMU will evaluate whether each party Consented to
  each instance of sexual contact each time.
• Complainant need not
  resist the sexual advance or request to demonstrate a lack of Consent;
  however, CMU will view Complainant’s resistance as a clear demonstration
  of non-consent.

Violence, or threat of violence, by a person who has been in a romantic
or intimate relationship with the Complainant. Whether there was such a
relationship will be gauged by the length, type, and frequency of
interaction.

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,
by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the Complainant under the
domestic or family violence laws of the applicable jurisdiction or by
any other person against a Complainant who is protected from that
person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the
applicable jurisdiction. To constitute Domestic Violence or Intimate
Partner Violence under this Policy, the relationship between the
Respondent and the Complainant must be more than just two people living
together as roommates.

The Michigan law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of
"religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight,
familial status, or marital status" in employment, housing, education,
and access to public accommodations.

The use of threat or physical violence, restraint, or intimidation to
overcome an individual’s choice of whether to participate in sexual
activity.

A state in which an individual cannot make the informed and rational
decision to engage in Sexual Activity because the individual lacks
conscious knowledge of the nature of the act (e.g., cannot understand
the who, what, when, where, why, or how of the sexual interaction)
and/or is physically helpless.

• An Incapacitated person is
  unable to give Consent. An individual is Incapacitated when asleep,
  unconscious, or otherwise unaware that sexual activity is occurring.
  This includes an individual incapable of giving consent because of their
  age or their temporary or permanent mental incapacity. Incapacitation
  may result from the use of alcohol and/or other drugs.
• Because
  the impact of alcohol and drugs varies from person to person, CMU will
  not find an individual Incapacitated solely based on that person’s
  consumption of alcohol or other drugs, impairment, inebriation, or
  intoxication. Instead, it will conduct a case-by-case evaluation to
  assess how the consumption of alcohol and/or drugs impacts an
  individual’s decision-making ability, awareness of consequences, ability
  to make informed judgments, or capacity to appreciate the nature and
  the quality of the behavior.
• In any claim, CMU will evaluate
  whether Respondent knew or should have known that Complainant was
  Incapacitated when viewed from the position of a sober, reasonable
  person.
• CMU will not accept being intoxicated or impaired by
  drugs or alcohol as an excuse for Covered Behavior; nor will it consider
  intoxication or such impairment to diminish a Respondent’s
  responsibility to obtain Consent.

A person who is, or has been involved in, a sexual, dating, domestic, or
other intimate relationship with the initiating individual within the
past twelve (12) months.

To unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm
through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without
displaying a weapon or subjecting the person to actual physical attack.

An individual designated by the Michigan Child Protection Law as one who must report
suspected child abuse or neglect.

Retaliation means acts, words, or attempts to take adverse action
against the Complainant, Respondent, or any individual or group of
individuals because of their good faith Complaint or participation in an
investigation and/or resolution of a Complaint. Retaliation may be
committed by any individual or group of individuals.

• retaliation
  may take many forms, including threats, intimidation, coercion, or
  discrimination, pressuring, continued abuse, violence, other forms of
  harm to others.
• retaliation may also occur by
  moving someone to a less desirable workspace, altering work hours,
  removing or limiting privileges. All forms of Retaliation are prohibited
  under this Policy as well as under state and federal law.

Sex and Gender-Based Misconduct or Covered Behavior means the following
activities, as defined herein and in the Definition section of this
Policy: Dating Violence; Domestic or Intimate Partner Violence;
Gender-Based Harassment; Sexual Assault; Sexual Exploitation; Sexual
Harassment; Stalking; Retaliation; and other covered behaviors and
actions where such behavior is based on an individual’s sex, gender, or
gender identity.

Touching of a sexual nature without Consent, including, but not limited to, any of the following acts:

• penetration, no matter how slight, of a person’s vagina or anus with any body part or object without the Complainant’s Consent;
• penetration, no matter how slight, of a person’s mouth by another person’s sex organ without the Complainant’s Consent;
• intentional
  touching, without the Complainant’s Consent, of a person’s intimate
  body parts, or any material, such as clothing, covering the immediate
  area of a person’s intimate body parts, including, but not limited to,
  that person’s breasts, buttock, groin, or mouth, for the purposes of
  sexual arousal or gratification, a sexual purpose, or in a sexual
  manner.

Conduct involving a person taking, or attempting to take,
non-consensual or abusive sexual advantage of a Complainant when such
conduct would not otherwise be defined as sexual harassment or sexual
assault including, but not limited to:

• benefiting, promoting, or earning money from the prostitution of another individual;
• producing,
  distributing, receiving, or possessing an image of child pornography,
  regardless of whether or not the image is physical or digital;
• engaging
  in sexual voyeurism or knowingly allowing another individual to engage
  in sexual voyeurism, either in person or through electronic means;
• producing,
  distributing, receiving, possessing, or taking pictures or otherwise
  creating a record or recording of a sexual nature without the
  Complainant’s Consent or exceeding the boundaries of that Consent;
• distributing,
  or otherwise making available, materials, whether physical or digital,
  of a sexual nature beyond the Consent of all of the individuals depicted
  in the materials;
• exposing one's genitals or inducing another to expose their own genitals in non- consensual circumstances;
• knowingly exposing another individual to a sexually transmitted disease or virus without their knowledge;
• sex-based bullying; or
• inducing incapacitation for the purpose of making another person vulnerable to non-consensual sexual activity.

Any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favors, or other
unwelcome verbal, electronic or physical conduct of a sexual nature,
including on the basis gender, gender identity. sex, sex stereotypes,
sex characteristics, sexual orientation, or pregnancy or related
conditions when:

• submission to or rejection of such
  conduct is made, either explicitly or implicitly, a term or condition of
  an individual's employment, evaluation of academic work, or
  participation in any aspect of a University program or activity (e.g.,
  quid pro quo);
• submission to or rejection of such conduct by an
  individual is used as the basis for decisions affecting the individual
  (e.g., quid pro quo);or
• such conduct has the purpose or effect
  of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work or academic
  performance; i.e. it is sufficiently serious, pervasive or persistent as
  to create an intimidating, hostile, humiliating, demanding, or sexually
  offensive working, academic, residential, or social environment under
  both a subjective and an objective standard.
  
• A single
  isolated incident of Sexual Harassment may jeopardize equal access to a
  program or activity if it is sufficiently severe. The more severe the
  conduct, the less need there is to show a repetitive series of incidents
  to be found responsible for a Policy violation, particularly if the
  Behavior is physical.

A course of conduct, typically two or more incidents, directed at a
specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for that
person’s own or someone else’s safety, or to suffer substantial
emotional distress. Substantial emotional distress means significant
mental suffering or anguish that may, but does not necessarily, require
medical or other professional treatment or counseling.

Means those support services, accommodations, and interventions
available to a Complainant, a Respondent, or University Community
Members experiencing the effects of Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct
that aim to mitigate the effects of the alleged misconduct and otherwise
promote the safety of University Community Members.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that
protects people from sex-based discrimination in educational programs
and activities that receive federal funding. It applies to all people,
regardless of their sex, gender identity, or gender expression, and
protects students, employees, and applicants.

The person designated by CMU to receive all Reports of Sexual and
Gender-Based Misconduct and oversee CMU’s centralized review and
resolution of those Reports in compliance with the law and this Policy
and who advises the CMU Community about the Grievance Procedures and
courses of action in the broader community. The Title IX Coordinator has
the responsibility for taking steps to ensure compliance with CMU’s
policies regarding allegations of Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct.
The Title IX Coordinator may designate someone (Designee) to assist with
carrying out these responsibilities.

CMU’s Title IX Coordinator is:

Mary Martinez |Assistant to the President for Institutional Equity

Physical and Mailing Address:

103 W. Preston St.

Bovee University Center, 306

Mount Pleasant, Michigan 48859

Phone:

989-774-3253

Title IX Sexual Harassment means conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following:

1.
A CMU employee conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or
service of the University on an individual’s participation in unwelcome
sexual conduct;

2. 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; or

3. "Sexual assault" as defined in 20
U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)(v), "dating violence" as defined in 34 U.S.C.
12291(a)(10), "domestic violence" as defined in 34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(8),
or ‘‘stalking’’ as defined in 34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(30). The University’s
definition of Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct is broader than the
behavior covered solely by Title IX. For Title IX to apply, the incident
must be reported while the Parties are all associated with the
University (as current students or employees) and must have occurred on
property owned or operated by the University, in the United States.