106 Chabot College 2024-2026 STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES ROLE OF ADVISOR The role of the Advisor is to provide support and assistance in understanding and navigating the investigation process. The Advisor may not testify in or obstruct an interview or disrupt the process. The Title IX Coordinator has the right to determine what constitutes appropriate behavior of an Advisor and take reasonable steps to ensure compliance with this procedure. A Party does not have a right to self-representation at the hearing; an Advisor must conduct any cross-examination. The District must provide an Advisor of its choice, free of charge to any Party without an Advisor in order to conduct cross-examination. If an Advisor fails to appear at the hearing, the District will provide an Advisor to appear on behalf of the non-appearing Advisor. To limit the number of individuals with confidential information about the issues, each Party may identify one Advisor. CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS To protect the privacy of those involved, the Parties and Advisors are required to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to attending an interview or otherwise participating in the District’s grievance process. The confidentiality agreement restricts dissemination of any of the evidence subject to inspection and review or use of this evidence for any purpose unrelated to the Title IX grievance process. The confidentiality agreement will not restrict the ability of either Party to discuss the allegations under investigation. USE OF PRIVILEGED INFORMATION The District’s formal complaint procedure does not require, allow, rely upon, or otherwise use questions or evidence that constitute, or seek disclosure of, information protected under a legally-recognized privilege (e.g., attorney-client privilege, doctor-patient privilege, spousal privilege, etc.), unless the person holding the privilege provides voluntary, written consent to waive the privilege. INVESTIGATIONS The Title IX Coordinator is responsible to oversee investigations to ensure timely resolution and compliance with Title IX and this procedure. Both Parties have the right to have an Advisor present at every meeting described in this section. TRAINED INVESTIGATORS The District will investigate Title IX formal complaints fairly and objectively. Individuals serving as investigators under this procedure will have adequate training on what constitutes sexual harassment and how the District’s grievance procedures operate. The District will also ensure that investigators receive training on issues of relevance to create an investigative report that fairly summarizes relevant evidence and complies with this procedure. GATHERING EVIDENCE AND BURDEN OF PROOF The District, not the Parties, has the responsibility to gather information and interview witnesses. When the investigator evaluates the evidence, he/she/they will do so using the preponderance of the evidence standard. After considering all the evidence gathered, the investigator will decide whether it is more likely than not that reported conduct occurred. NOTICE OF INVESTIGATIVE INTERVIEW The District will provide written notice of the date, time, location, participants, and purpose of all investigative interviews to a Party whose participation is invited or expected, with sufficient time for the Party to prepare to participate. EVIDENCE REVIEW Both Parties have an equal opportunity to inspect and review any evidence obtained as part of the investigation that is directly related to the allegations raised in the formal complaint, including the evidence upon which the District does not intend to rely in reaching a determination regarding responsibility and inculpatory or exculpatory evidence whether obtained from a Party or other source. Prior to the investigator preparing an investigative report, the District will send to each Party and the Party’s Advisor, if any, the evidence subject to inspection and review in an electronic format or a hard copy. The Parties will have at least ten days to submit a written response. The investigator must consider this written response prior to completing the investigative report. INVESTIGATIVE REPORT The results of the investigation of a formal complaint will be set forth in a written report that will include at least all of the following information: • A description of the circumstances giving rise to the formal complaint; • A description of the procedural steps taken during the investigation, including all individuals contacted and interviewed; • A summary of the testimony of each witness the investigator interviewed; • An analysis of relevant evidence collected during the investigation, including a list of relevant documents; • A specific finding as to whether the allegations occurred using a preponderance of the evidence standard; • A table of contents if the report exceeds ten pages; and • Any other information deemed appropriate by the District.
