Title IX Policy, Procedures, and Resources

Title IX of the Education Opportunity Act of 1972

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

20 U.S.C. § 1681(a)

Note: The 2020 Department of Education federal regulations under Title IX, which went into effect August 14, 2020, present definitions of sexual harassment and misconduct that are substantially different than those defined under Whatcom Community College's own policies. WCC's Title IX team will work to address all allegations of misconduct and harassment, and when a report is received will determine whether the report is in violation of policy or Title IX Federal Law.

Title IX statement of support

We at Whatcom Community College are committed to providing a healthy and productive environment for our students to learn and our employees to work. The College does not tolerate violent, harassing, threatening, or intimidating behavior toward our students, staff, faculty or visitors. Students learn and employees work best when they know they have a supportive environment in which to do so.

The safety of our students, staff, faculty and visitors is our highest priority. Whatcom Community College offers our campus community professional staff, resources, training and policies that help ensure a safe environment on and off campus. With these people, tools and means in place, we are confident that we have created a college in which people can learn and work at their best.

Sex- and gender-based harassment, discrimination, or violence will be addressed through the College's Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy.

Policy Updates

On August 14, 2020 the Department of Education implemented significant updates to Title IX Rules that required edits to 2 campus policies, and the creation of a new policy. These policies have been approved by the Board of Trustees, but have finished the WAC process.

Title IX Coordinator

The Title IX Coordinator is the point of contact for issues of sexual violence or gender based discrimination. The Title IX Coordinator has the following functions:

Will accept all complaints and referrals from College employees, applicants, students, and visitors;
Will make determinations regarding how to handle requests by complainants for confidentiality;
Will keep accurate records of all complaints and referrals for the required time period;
May conduct investigations or delegate and oversee investigations conducted by a designee;
May impose interim remedial measures to protect parties during investigations of discrimination or harassment;
Will issue written findings and recommendations upon completion of an investigation; and
May recommend specific corrective measures to stop, remediate, and prevent the recurrence of inappropriate conduct.

KayCee Johnson, Executive Director for Human Resources, is the Deputy Title IX Coordinator, and is the secondary point of contact for issues of sexual violence or gender based discrimination.

Complaint Procedure

Whatcom Community College has enacted policies prohibiting discrimination against, and harassment of members of protected classes. Any individual found to be in violation of this policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal from the College or from employment.

Any employee, student, applicant, or visitor who believes that he or she has been the subject of discrimination or harassment should report the incident or incidents to the College’s Title IX / EEO Coordinator identified above. If the complaint is against that Coordinator, the complainant should report the matter to the president’s office for referral to an alternate designee.

The College encourages the timely reporting of any incidents of discrimination or harassment. Complaints may be submitted in writing or verbally. For complainants who wish to submit a written complaint, a formal complaint form is available here . Hardcopies of the complaint form are available in the Human Resource Office, Laidlaw Center (LDC) 235.

Whatcom's entire anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy can be found online, or paper copies are available in Laidlaw Center (LDC) 208.

Title IX Training

Starting August 14, 2020, the new 2020 Title IX Regulations (34 CFR Part 106.45(b)(10)) mandates the public sharing of materials used to train college Title IX staff. The following materials reflect the training of WCC's Title IX Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator.