The College does not tolerate harassment in any circumstances, supports any individual in challenging such behaviour, respects each personal decision as to whether and how to report an issue, will address any reported incident without fear or favour, and will continue to offer personal support in all circumstances. The full statement of our zero-tolerance policy on harassment and misconduct includes further information on available support.
If you have experienced an incident of physical or sexual misconduct or abusive behaviour by a student of the College, you have a number of reporting options. You may request an informal or a formal procedure, and in either case you may make your complaint to the College, or to the University (through OSCCA, the Office of Student Conduct, Complaints and Appeals). You may alternatively or additionally report an incident to the Police, or you may decide to report the incident through the University’s anonymous reporting tool, or you may decide not to report at all. You may or may not wish to speak to the other party about the incident, or to discuss it with friends, family or others, or to seek personal support, for example from a counsellor or support group.
Reporting a Concern
If you wish to report an incident of physical or sexual misconduct or abusive behaviour to the College you can do so by completing a concern form. If preferred, you may in the first instance report your concern by sending an email to the Dean and Senior Tutor.
On receipt of your form, or another notification of a concern, the Dean or Senior Tutor will respond to
- discuss the next steps
- consult you about any choices you may need to make (for example, whether your concern should be investigated by the College or by the University’s Office of Student Conduct Complaints and Appeals (OSCCA))
- ask for any further information which may be required
- offer to meet if you wish to do so
- ensure you are aware of relevant sources of support
Informal procedure
In the informal procedures, the relevant decision-maker will not make a determination whether or not the harassment has taken place, but instead the focus will usually be on the establishment of arrangements to limit future interactions by mutual agreement of both parties. It is recommended that OSCCA’s Informal Complaint Procedure for Student Misconduct should normally be used if you seek an informal resolution of a complaint relating to sexual misconduct, or to conduct occurring in the context of University societies or sports clubs. A complaint against a student of another college may be made either to that college or to OSCCA; a complaint against students of more than one college should be made to OSCCA. An informal procedure cannot be followed if the complainant has already made a complaint about the same event(s) which has been dealt with under either the University’s or the College’s formal procedure. An informal procedure can only be initiated following a complaint made by a student.
In the case of a complaint to the College seeking informal resolution, the Senior Tutor will take the lead in accordance with the College’s Procedures for handling allegations of harassment or sexual misconduct.
Formal procedure
A complainant can choose whether to pursue the matter formally under the College’s Ordinance on Discipline or OSCCA’s Student Disciplinary Procedure. However, both the University and the College may take action in respect of a single formal complaint, as long as each takes into consideration any action taken by the other.
In the case of a complaint to the College seeking formal resolution, the Dean will take the lead in accordance with the College’s Ordinance on Discipline, and will:
- Perform an investigation to establish whether the facts disclose a relevant offence;
- Make a determination as to whether any offence is a ‘minor’ or a ‘major’ offence under the College Regulations;
- Where a minor offence is found, proceed to determine sanction.
Where the offence constitutes a major offence, the Dean will refer the matter to the Convenor of the Disciplinary Committee for the formation of a Disciplinary Tribunal. The operation of the Tribunal is explained in Appendix 1 to the College Regulations. Where the offence constitutes a minor offence, the Dean will impose a sanction according to their discretion. The Dean is able to impose a fine or alternative sanction or institute a further disciplinary process, which can result in sanctions including the temporary or permanent removal of a College member.