All CIA and CWRU employees, except designated confidential resources (University Health and Counseling Services), are considered Mandatory Reports/Responsible Employees and must report all Title IX violations to the Title IX Coordinator. This includes incidents such as sexual assault/harassment and sex discrimination. Reports must be made within 24 hours of learning of the incident via CARE Report or direct communication with the Assistant Dean of Students and/or the Title IX Coordinator.

Ohio law requires that any person learning of a felony report the crime to the police. All university employees (with the exception of designated confidential resources) must report a felony which they are aware of to either University Circle Police Department or the CWRU Police Department. For a list of reportable offenses, please refer to the sexual misconduct section.

The Clery Act is a consumer protection law that aims to provide transparency around campus crime policy and statistics. In order to comply with Clery Act requirements, colleges and universities must understand what the law entails, where their responsibilities lie, and what they can do to actively foster campus safety.

The Clery Act requires colleges and universities that receive federal funding to disseminate a public annual security report (ASR) to employees and students every October 1st. This ASR must include statistics of campus crime for the preceding 3 calendar years, plus details about efforts taken to improve campus safety. ASRs must also include policy statements regarding (but not limited to) crime reporting, campus facility security and access, law enforcement authority, incidence of alcohol and drug use, and the prevention of/response to sexual assault, domestic or dating violence, and stalking.

Institutions of higher education must include four distinct categories of crime in their ASR crime data:

Criminal Offenses

●     Criminal homicide: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, manslaughter by negligence

●     Sexual assault: rape, fondling, incest, statutory rape

●     Robbery

●     Aggravated assault

●     Burglary

●     Motor vehicle theft

●     Arson

Hate Crimes (any of the above mentioned offenses, and any incidents of)

●     Larceny-theft

●     Simple assault

●     Intimidation

●     Destruction/damage/vandalism of property

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Offenses

●     Domestic violence

●     Dating violence

●     Stalking

Arrests and Referrals for Disciplinary Action

●     Weapons law violations

●     Drug abuse violations

●     Liquor law violations

The Clery Act is named after Jeanne Clery- a student who was raped and murdered in her dorm room in 1986.

More information about the Clery Act can be found here:

The Clery Act (clerycenter.org)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that affords parents the right to have access to their children’s education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records. When a student turns 18 years old, or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student (“eligible student”).

As CIA Staff, we are not permitted to disclose any information about a student to anyone who attempts to ask– including parents/legal guardians. This includes:

●      Email/Phone Number

●      Building and Room Number

●      Class Schedule/Grades

●      Any wellness/check up information

○      If asked to perform a wellness check, follow the Wellness Check protocol included in this document. The student does not have to contact the requester of the wellness check and CIA staff may not follow up about a wellness check past being inquired about its completion.

More information about FERPA can be found here:

What is FERPA? | Protecting Student Privacy (ed.gov)

Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA)

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law that required the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued the HIPAA Privacy Rule to implement the requirements of HIPAA.

For any student, CIA staff is not permitted to disclose medical information about an individual to any who inquire, including (but not limited to) friends, roommates, parents, legal guardians, professors, etc. All disclosed information must come directly from the student or their designated Power of Attorney.

More information about HIPAA can be found here:

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) | CDC

The Cleveland Institute of Art is committed to providing a learning, working and living environment that promotes personal integrity, civility, and mutual respect in an environment free of sexual misconduct and discrimination. Title IX of the Education Act Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs or activities operated by recipients of Federal financial assistance. This includes sexual harassment, discrimination based on pregnancy, parental status, sex stereotypes (such as treating persons differently because they do not conform to sex-role expectations or because they are attracted to or are in relationships with persons of the same sex), and gender identity or transgender status. The Institute does not discriminate on the basis of gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation in its educational programs or in any other activities sponsored by the Institute. Through its policies on sexual discrimination, the Institute supports everyone: male, female, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning individuals. This non-discrimination policy extends to all visitors; applicants for admission to the Institute; and all students who are full- or part-time, matriculated for a degree or not.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment (which includes sexual violence and assault) is a form of sex discrimination and is therefore a violation of Title IX.  Specific behaviors that are prohibited by Title IX include rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of non-consensual sexual activity; stalking; and relationship violence that is gender-based.  Many behaviors that meet the definition of Title IX sexual harassment also constitute crimes.

Any of the following conduct on the basis of sex constitutes Title IX sexual harassment:

A school employee conditioning an educational benefit or service upon a person’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct (“quid pro quo” harassment);

Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the school’s education program or activity; or

Sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking (as those offenses are defined in the Clery Act and the Violence Against Women Act.

Pregnant and Parenting Students

Title IX also prohibits discrimination against pregnant and parenting students. Under Title IX, it is illegal for schools to exclude a pregnant student from participating in any part of an educational program. In addition, a school must excuse a student’s absences because of pregnancy or childbirth for as long as the student’s doctor deems the absences medically necessary. When a student returns to school, she must be allowed to return to the same academic and extracurricular status as before her medical leave began. Any special services provided to students who have temporary medical conditions must also be provided to a pregnant student. A school may require a pregnant student or student who has given birth to submit medical certification for school participation only if the school also requires such certification from all students with physical or emotional conditions requiring the attention of a physician.

Sex Stereotypes, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation or Transgender Status

Discrimination on the basis of sex also includes: (1) discrimination based on sexual orientation; and (2) discrimination based on gender identity. It is impossible to discriminate against a person based on their sexual orientation or gender identity without discriminating against that person based on sex. For example, prohibiting a transgender person from dressing or presenting consistent with that person’s gender identity would constitute sex discrimination.

If You or Someone You Know Has Experienced Gender-Based Discrimination:

Any member of the CIA community who is consulted about, observes, and/or witnesses behavior involving a potential Title IX violation has the responsibility to report it to the Title IX Coordinator.  This requirement excludes persons identified as Confidential Resources, such as mental health counselors and medical professionals.  In addition, to the extent possible, members of the CIA community should also encourage those directly involved to promptly make a report to a Title IX Coordinator:

April Woodward

Director, Title IX Compliance & Title IX Coordinator

Phone: 216.421.7476

Email: [email protected]

You may also file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) using OCR’s electronic complaint form at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro.html