Mandated Reporting
All employees, including staff, faculty, administrators, graduate assistants, and student employees, are required by University policy to report any incident of discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment and sexual misconduct, to the Title IX Coordinator/Equity Officer. Mandated Reporters must share the names of all involved parties and any details of the incident made available to the Mandated Reporter.
A Guide for Mandated Reporters (link)
This module provides important information for Mandated Reporters who are responding to a disclosure of sexual misconduct: Guiding Assumptions, Consent, Confidentiality, and Steps to Respond.
For more information on responding to disclosures:
- Brené Brown on Empathy vs Sympathy (link)
- Helping Others: Sexual Assault (link)
- Helping Others: Relationship Abuse (link)
- Self-Care for Family & Friends (link) [and Mandated Reporters]
Exemptions to Mandated Reporting
Employees with a legal obligation or privilege of confidentiality are not considered Mandated Reporters and are not required to report when the information is learned in the course of a confidential communication. At UMKC, these employees include the following:
- Counseling Services (link) – when information is learned as part of a confidential counseling session
- Student Health & Wellness (link) – when information is learned as part of a confidential medical appointment
For this exemption to apply, the employee must be employed by the University for the specific purpose and was acting in that capacity when the confidential disclosure was made. If the information is not learned in the course of confidential communication, then the employee has the same obligation as a mandated reporter.
Consistent with the law and upon approval from the Office of General Counsel, UMKC has also designated non-professional counselors or advocates as confidential for purposes of this policy, excluding these employees from the definition of mandated reporters. These employees include the following:
However, these individuals are required once per month to report to the Title IX Coordinator all aggregate, non-personally identifiable information regarding incidents of sex discrimination reported to them. The aggregate data report may contain general information about individual incidents of sexual violence such as the nature, date, time, and general location of the incident.
Confidentiality in this context is not the same as privilege under the law.