Faculty/Staff Support Resources

• Texas Southern University is committed to ensuring students attending Texas Southern University enjoy an inclusive and welcoming university environment and students are not negatively impacted when they must respond or be involved in Title IX matters. Students should be given equal opportunity to continue their educational experience while responding to incidents that fall under Title IX guidance (i.e., sexual harassment, sexual violence, partner violence and stalking).
• As Faculty members, you are uniquely positioned to assist students when they must respond to incidents. Academic support serves as a method that Faculty members can utilize to help students continue to meet essential course requirements, continue to actively participate in the course, feel safe on campus after traumatic event(s), and allow them to participate in ongoing investigative processes.
• Faculty members may receive notices that a student has requested academic support from the University. As a reminder to Faculty members, when students may need academic support due to a Title IX incident, Texas Southern University is obligated to provide academic support that is reasonably available so that the students’ education experience is not negatively impacted.  

• Do not ask the student for details or specifics about the Title IX incident they are involved in;
• Trust that the Office of Title IX has reviewed and verified that the request for academic support is related to a Title IX matter;
• Understand that a request for academic support does not trigger any University reporting obligations;
• Recognize that talking about the subject may be difficult or uncomfortable with students, so if Faculty Members have questions regarding academic support, feel free to contact the University’s Title IX Coordinator or Provost Office;
• If the academic support options seem reasonable to the Faculty member, please discuss details and specific expectations with the student;
• Faculty members should remember that academic support is an alternate method to utilize that may help students continue their education uninterrupted while responding to Title IX incidents.
• Guidance information to help Faculty members understand the importance of using academic support.

• Safety – Avoiding people or places on campus;
• Scheduling reasons – Students may need to attend meetings with University Officials and Law Enforcement regarding university and criminal investigations;
• Effects of Trauma – Students involved in and responding to Title IX incidents may have symptoms that can interfere with their ability to achieve their educational goals. Symptoms may include:
  • Changes in thinking, feeling, relating, and functioning;
  • Diminished capacity to cope with the demands of daily life;
  • Inability to concentrate and focus on tasks;
  • Lack of energy, depression, and anxiety;

• Amending attendance policy, excusing absences
• Make up assignments;
• Extended time to complete assignments;
• Testing alone or in a small group;
• Alternative test dates;
• Moving to online classes;
• Changing class sections;
• Withdrawing from school without penalty;

• Faculty members should communicate expectations about the specific academic support (i.e., guidelines for make up work, due dates);
• Faculty members should keep in mind that Undergraduate, Graduate and Professional Students may have very different types of requests, depending on the program. Make sure to speak with the student regarding what type of academic support they may need;
• Faculty members who are unsure or unable to provide specific academic support, contact the Title IX Coordinator or Provost Office;

• Faculty members must respect and uphold the privacy of the student regarding the Title IX matter.

If you have any questions about this document or attached guidance, please feel free to contact Texas Southern University’s Title IX Coordinator at 713.313.1371 or titleix@tsu.edu.

Thank you for your assistance and cooperation.

Texas Southern University is committed towards encouraging and supporting a welcome inclusive university community where all community members enjoy a community free from sex discrimination, harassment and violence. As a result, you should know that university faculty members and staff are required to notify the University Title IX Coordinator of any instances of sex discrimination and harassment, sexual violence, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking. Sharing this information ensures that those harmed are provided support resources. What this means is that as your professor, I am required to report any incidents that are directly disclosed to me, or of which I am somehow made aware. The University’s Counseling Center is available to you if you want to speak with someone confidentially. Please visit the University’s Counseling Center’s website www.tsu.edu/ucc for additional information.

• Texas Southern University is committed to fostering a safe learning environment. As professor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe learning environment in class. Texas Southern University and Federal Regulations (Title IX) policy prohibit discrimination based on sex and this includes sexual harassment, sexual violence and misconduct, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. Texas Southern University understands that these incidents can undermine a student’s academic success, so Texas Southern University encourages students who have experienced sexual conduct prohibited by university policy to report these incidents when they happen to the University’s Title IX Coordinator or University Confidential Resource so that the student can get the help they may need.
• It is my goal that you feel able to share information related to your life experiences in classroom discussions, in your written work, and in one-to-one meetings. I will seek to keep information you share private to the greatest extent possible. However, I also have a mandatory responsibility to notify the University’s Title IX Coordinator when I become aware of incidents of prohibited conduct that violate the university’s Title IX policy.
• Students may speak confidentially to the University Counseling Center. Please feel free to visit their website www.tsu.edu/ucc for more information about their services. Also, students may speak with the University’s Title IX Coordinator by calling 713.313.1371 or emailing titleix@tsu.edu.

In the event that you choose to share with me about having survived sexualized or intimate partner violence including rape, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence or stalking, Texas Southern University requires that as your professor, I share this information with the University’s Title IX Coordinator. Sharing this information with the University’s Title IX Coordinator does not initiate a university investigation, however a staff member from the Office of Title IX will contact you and let you know about support measures and options that are available that may help you. Keep in mind, you are not required to speak with University’s Title IX Coordinator if you do not want to.