Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3339 - Miami University › Chapter 3339-3 - In General › Section 3339-3-28 - Consensual amorous relationships

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A)
								What is
			 prohibited
Subject to the limited exceptions
				outlined in this policy, all Miami faculty members are prohibited from pursuing
				or engaging in an amorous relationship with any Miami undergraduate
				students.
Miami graduate assistants are
				prohibited from pursuing or engaging in an amorous relationship with any Miami
				undergraduate student enrolled in their courses or over whom they have other
				university responsibility or authority, wherein the graduate assistant has the
				power or authority to alter or influence the conditions of the student's
				participation in the university's educational programs or activities. This
				specifically includes supervision in a lab or tutoring site.
Staff are prohibited from pursuing or
				engaging in an amorous relationship with any Miami graduate or undergraduate
				student over whom they have university supervisory responsibility or authority,
				wherein the staff member has the power or authority to alter or influence the
				conditions of the student's participation in the university's educational
				programs or activities. This specifically includes student employment,
				coaching, athletic training, and advisors to student
				organizations.
"Pursuit" means seeking a date or
				romantic relationship, making romantic or sexual comments to a student that a
				reasonable person would perceive as having intent toward such a relationship,
				or to seek out an amorous personal relationship. Mere presence or activity on
				an online dating application is not evidence of pursuit of amorous
				relationships prohibited under this policy.
"Student" refers to persons who have
				been admitted to the university (beginning at their orientation) and continuing
				during academic terms for which they are enrolled, and during breaks between
				academic periods including university holidays and vacations, and during
				periods of suspension. A person is no longer deemed a student when they have
				completed their degree program and graduated, are not seeking reenrollment, or
				following one semester of having not been enrolled.
Relationships in violation of this
				policy should not be pursued or engaged in while the student is enrolled or the
				faculty or staff member is employed by Miami university.
Note that sexual harassment is covered
				by a different policy-the "Sexual Misconduct Protocol"-and is defined as
				unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex, including gender, gender identity, or
				expression, or sexual orientation, that is sufficiently severe and pervasive to
				adversely impact a term or condition of a person's ability to participate in
				the university's educational programs or activities. Sexual harassment includes
				conduct that unreasonably interferes with a person's work performance or
				creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working learning, or living
				environment.
(B)
								Exceptions
Relationships that exist prior to
				employment or enrollment at Miami will generally be exempted from this rule.
				This includes Miami employees whose partners enroll in classes at
				Miami.
(C)
								Process for reporting exceptions and violations and
			 enforcing consequences
(1)
									Requesting and reporting exceptions
Relationships that exist prior to
				employment or enrollment at Miami should be reported by the employee when
				employment or enrollment begins and on the required ethics questionnaire. When
				partners of Miami employees enroll in classes, this should be reported via the
				required ethics questionnaire.
If an employee begins a relationship
				that is allowed by the above policy (for example, a faculty member begins
				dating a graduate student outside their department over whom they have no
				supervisory responsibility) or is already in such an allowable relationship,
				they should report the relationship to their supervisor and the appropriate
				personnel office to ensure any conflicts in reporting or supervision can be
				addressed. These relationships, barring any unusual conflicts, will be exempted
				from this policy.
When existing or developing and
				allowable relationships are reported, a central purpose of the reporting is to
				ensure that no immediate conflicts exist or come to exist in teaching or other
				supervisory roles.
Employees should be aware for their own
				protection that what appears at the time to be consensual behavior may later be
				perceived by one of the parties to be sexual harassment. Thus, those disclosing
				pre-existing or allowable amorous relationships should be aware that disclosing
				a relationship does not change the power differential or protect from future
				accusations of sexual harassment or misconduct. In the event of a charge of
				sexual harassment arising from such circumstances, the university will in
				general be unsympathetic to a defense based upon consent when the facts
				establish that a faculty-student or staff-student power differential existed
				within the relationship.
(2)
									Reporting
			 potential violations of this rule
Anyone seeking to report a violation of
				this Rule may make an anonymous ethicspoint report, contact human resources or
				academic personnel services, use the office of equity and equal opportunity
				incident reporting form, and/ or contact a supervisor such as the department
				chair or area supervisor of the person who is believed to have violated this
				Rule.
All reports will initially be reviewed
				by the office of equity and equal opportunity to ensure that reported actions
				do not violate sexual misconduct policies. Sexual harassment or sexual
				misconduct will be handled as the policies and laws governing such violations
				dictate. If the sexual misconduct policies do not apply, the matter will be
				referred to the employee's department chair, dean, or supervisor.
Actions that violate this rule will be
				treated in the first instance as an opportunity for education, following the
				existing guidelines for disciplinary action for each category of employee, as
				linked below. Note that for faculty members, chairs are charged with initially
				advising their faculty regarding policy violations; "If problems identified by
				the department chair are not resolved following one or more personal meetings,
				and/or written communications, then the chair may issue a written summary,
				which will be placed in the faculty member's personnel file, along with any
				response from the faculty member." In combination with the first-line education
				described in this policy, the policies constitute, in effect, progressive
				disciplinary procedures intended to curtail the behavior and protect all
				involved.