"Responsible Employees" Are Required to Report Title IX Incidents

Who is a "Responsible Employee"?

All “Responsible Employees’ who become aware of a potential incident of sexual misconduct, sexual assault, sexual harassment under Title IX, relationship violence, stalking or other assault or harassment involving a student, staff, faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Amherst—either as victim[1] or perpetrator[2]—on or off campus, must promptly report the incident(s).  This is subject to exceptions that can apply to attorneys; licensed clinicians, certified rape crisis or domestic violence counselors, or clergy.

'Responsible Employees' include; 

• Faculty with administrative or supervisory responsibilities (deans and associate deans, heads and chairs, graduate and undergraduate program directors; faculty athletic representatives and directors of centers and institutes);

• All staff that are academic advisors;

• All coaches and trainers;

• All advisors to Registered Student Organizations, intramural sports, and other student groups;

• All supervising travel external to the university and any contractors doing the same;

• All personnel in Student Affairs with the exception of confidential employees;

• Staff in managerial and supervisory roles and

• Campus police officers (see exception noted below);

Exception: Although campus police officers are designated as Responsible Employees, if a student or employee reporting sexual assault or domestic violence requests confidentiality, the campus police officer must not disclose the name of the reporting party to the Title IX Coordinator.

Who to Report to:

 The Responsible Employee should immediately report the matter to:

• Directly to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, the Title IX Coordinator or a Deputy Title IX Coordinator. Individuals may report to their supervisor who will report to offices above.

How to Report: 

If this is an emergency, please call 9-1-1 from a landline. The UMass Police Department can be reached at (413) 545-2121 for non-emergencies. The Center for Women and Community has a Sexual Assault Support and Advocacy (SASA) Hotline available 24/7: at (413) 545-0800. 

Reports or complaints of sexual harassment under Title IX should be directed to the Title IX Coordinator, Kerri Thompson Tillett, Associate Vice Chancellor for Equal Opportunity and Access. Any person may report sex discrimination, sexual violence, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, and other sexual misconduct including sexual harassment (whether or not the person reporting is the person alleged to be the victim of conduct that could constitute sex discrimination or sexual harassment).

A report to the Title IX Coordinator may be made in person during Equal Opportunity and Access office hours, or at any time via email (titleixcoordinator@umass.edu), telephone, mail, or online using the Report A Concern form, which includes an option for anonymous submission. Please note that reporting a concern to the Title IX Coordinator does not constitute filing an official police report, you must contact the UMPD directly.         

Title IX Coordinator
Kerri Thompson Tillett 
Associate Vice Chancellor for Equal Opportunity and Access
225 Bartlett Hall
130 Hicks Way 
Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
Tel: (413) 545-3464
Email - TitleIXCoordinator@umass.edu
Online - Report A Concern

What Will Happen: If the report involves Title IX defined prohibited conduct, the Title IX Coordinator or designees will coordinate the university’s immediate response to the report, including implementing supportive measures. The Dean of Students Office will undertake supportive measures and the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access will conduct a formal complaint investigation if a complaint is filed.  The university’s response and follow up will take every precaution to ensure privacy. More details on what you can expect once a report is filed.

How to Help:

Encourage the victim/survivor to get support, share Title IX resources. 

The Center for Women & Community provides crisis intervention; advocacy and assistance in getting medical attention for victims/survivors of all genders.  The Center for Counseling and Psychological Health provides mental health crisis counseling for students. Both centers offer 24/7 support. The Employee Counseling and Consultation Office provides counseling for employees.  Victim/Survivors can also contact the University of Massachusetts Police Department (UMPD), the Dean of Students Office, Equal Opportunity and Access and/or the Title IX Coordinator on behalf of yourself or another. If seeking support for another, and have contact the Dean’s Office or Equal Opportunity and Access, please let the victim/survivor know that the office will reach out directly to them.

What Not to Do: Do not attempt to investigate the matter.

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[1] UMass recognizes that an individual may choose to self-identify as a victim or survivor. On this website, we may use victim, survivor, reporter, reporting party, complaining party.
[2] On this website, we may use perpetuator, accused, respondent, responding party.