Frequently Asked Questions
The Title IX Coordinator serves all students, staff and faculty at PennWest California.
Title IX Coordinators are not a confidential source of support. While they will address
matters reported with sensitivity and will keep your information as private as possible,
confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.
As a large institution with more than 700+ employees and more than 6,800 students,
the University does receive reports each year alleging unfair treatment based on race,
gender, disability, national origin and other protected class membership. An individual
alleging illegal discrimination has the responsibility to report the behavior and
to provide sufficient evidence of illegal conduct to sustain a complaint of discrimination
under either Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (employees) or Title IX of
the Education Amendments of 1972 (students). All complaints are taken seriously, and
wewill conduct an independent fact-finding investigation to determine if the complaint
has merit.
A hostile work environment is one in which certain behaviors may be occurring that
interfere with an individual's ability to work effectively. The behaviors may be verbal,
non-verbal and/or physical, which may be hurtful to someone on the basis of gender,
national origin, religion, race, disability and/or veteran status. All employees have
the right to work in an environment free from harassment. All supervisors and managers
have the responsibility to ensure that work environments are free from harassment
and therefore must take all complaints seriously.
As an employer, the University has an affirmative responsibility to ensure that all
employees are made aware of their right to work in an environment free from harassment
and recognize their responsibility to avoid engaging in verbal, non-verbal and/or
physical behaviors that may constitute sexual harassment. In addition, the U.S. Supreme
Court has ruled that an employer may be held strictly liable in cases in which a supervisor
did not properly respond to a report of possible harassment, or when a supervisor
or individual in a position of power (or authority over an employee or student) has
engaged in prohibited conduct. Sexual harassment is illegal and prohibited conduct
under State System and University policy.
Sexual harassment prevention workshops are offered upon request and are part of the
routine training schedule.
The ADA is a federal law that is designed to assist individuals with disabilities
obtain and retain employment. An employer must provide reasonable accommodations to
qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential functions
of their jobs. Most accommodations are easily arranged and are not expensive to provide.
As an equal opportunity employer, the University is required to comply with all regulations
implementing equal opportunity in the University's hiring practices. This requires
conducting good-faith professional searches and classified employee recruitments to
ensure that all qualified individuals are afforded equal opportunity to be considered
for employment at the University.
No. Equal opportunity requires that all hiring practices be conducted in a non-discriminatory
manner. Equal opportunity also means ensuring that women and minority employees are
afforded equal treatment in the workplace, including access to training and promotion
opportunities.
- Receiving and processing complaints of discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex/gender, age, disability, veteran status, and/or sexual orientation.
- Conducting campus-wide training programs on sexual harassment.
- Serving as a resource office in resolving employee-management conflict and providing information on University policies and procedures.
- Serving as liaison for the University with state and federal administrative agencies charged with responsibility for enforcing equal opportunity, and non-discrimination.