Home > II. Community Policies > Ch.14 - Anti-Harassment

14.5 Informal Resolution of Complaints

(Amended 5/15; 7/15; 1/20; 6/16/22)
  1. A complaint may be brought informally to any academic or administrative officer of the university (as defined above in II-14.2g(1)). If the complaint alleges harassment based on a protected classification as defined by II-3 Human Rights (race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), disability, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, service in the U.S. military, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preferences), the complaint should be brought to the Office of Institutional Equity (319-335-0705).
  2. The academic or administrative officer will:
    1. counsel the impacted or reporting party as to the options available under this policy and, at the impacted party's request, will help the impacted party resolve the complaint informally and/or refer the impacted party to the appropriate office as described below in II-14.6a so that the impacted party may bring a formal complaint; and
    2. take appropriate interim action, which may include those actions described below in II-14.10, to address the alleged behavior and protect the health or safety of the impacted party, reporting party, and/or witnesses.
  3. The following assistance is available to the academic or administrative officer:
    1. The Office of Institutional Equity will assist in determining whether there is a potential policy violation related to a protected classification, and whether reporting pursuant to paragraph e below is required.
    2. The Threat Assessment Team is available to assist with assessing situations and risk, planning the actions needed, and carrying out those actions. This team may be accessed by contacting Organizational Effectiveness, 121-50 University Services Building. (See also VI-32 University of Iowa Threat Assessment Program or https://hr.uiowa.edu/tat.)
    3. For situations involving students, contact the Dean of Students, 135 Iowa Memorial Union.
  4. Substantial weight will be given to the wishes of the impacted party when determining how to respond to a complaint. When a complaint is brought informally, the person(s) charged in the complaint will not ordinarily be informed of the complaint without the consent of the impacted party unless circumstances require (such as when there are multiple complaints against the same person or allegations are particularly egregious). No disciplinary action can be taken against a person, and there will be no record of the allegations in the person's employment or student disciplinary file, unless the person is notified of the allegations and given an opportunity to respond.
  5. Any academic or administrative officer of the university who becomes aware of allegations of harassment based on a protected classification (race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), disability, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, service in the U.S. military, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preferences), whether through the report of an impacted  or a reporting party (including a third-party reporter) or otherwise, shall report the allegations promptly to the Office of Institutional Equity for assistance in evaluating the situation and determining an appropriate course of action, even if the impacted party has requested that no action be taken.

    If there is a supervisory relationship between the reporting party and/or impacted party and the responding party, the appropriate course of action will include development of a plan to avoid any perceived or actual conflict of interest until the complaint is resolved.

    The initial report may be verbal, but a written report also must be made after the complaint is resolved using the Office of Institutional Equity Informal Harassment Complaint Resolution form, which requires disclosure of the employment or student status of the impacted party(ies), the reporting party(ies) (if other than the impacted party), and the person(s) charged; the department(s) with which those persons are affiliated; a summary of the allegations; and a description of the steps taken to resolve the complaint.

    If the person alleged to have engaged in harassment was notified of the existence of the informal complaint and given an opportunity to respond, the names of the parties must be provided to the Office of Institutional Equity. If the person was not informed of the allegations or was not given an opportunity to respond, then the names of the parties shall not be provided to the Office of Institutional Equity.
  6. Reasonable efforts will be made to process complaints within 21 days, giving consideration to the nature of the allegations and the circumstances surrounding the complaint process.
  7. It is the responsibility of the academic or administrative officer who facilitates the informal resolution of the complaint to monitor compliance with the terms of the informal resolution. Sanctions up to and including termination of employment or separation from the university may be imposed in the event that an individual fails to comply with the terms of the informal resolution.