Who can file a report?
Anyone can file a report. Just provide your name and contact information.
What types of things should I report?
Whether you are a student or a faculty/staff member, if you think that someone needs to know about a situation that has occurred or is occurring, you should make a report. Even when you have called for the police or the police were involved, you may be asked to submit a report. The need to have the report directly from you is especially true if there is behavior that is a safety risk for the individual or others.
A few examples of things to report might be:
- a friend’s depression
- a student’s financial emergency
- someone who is being harassed and needs advice
- a student who is threatening and angry in class
- student conflicts
- any type of sexual harassment including sexual assault
- Counseling services is the only place to report completely confidentially on campus.
- All campus staff members, except Counselors, are mandated to report sexual misconduct
- relationship violence or stalking
- substance abuse issues
Where do the reports go?
All reports are routed to professional staff in Counseling Services, Student Conduct and the VPESA/Dean of Students. They are then routed to the appropriate department for follow-up. Referrals for follow-up depends on the issue reported but often referrals are made to counseling, housing, student conduct, student success, or the police. If you have questions, please call 205-665-6020.
How is information in a report used?
It depends on the information submitted. For example, reports can be used to identify students who need someone to reach out to them regarding particular services, such as food pantry help, counseling or student success. Other reports may identify individual who may need to speak with the conduct officer about changing their behavior. Issues that include a situations that could lead to danger for campus may be referred to the campus Threat Assessment Team and the police.
Reports don’t mean a person is “in trouble”, many reports submitted by instructors can be handled just by speaking with the students involved. When allegations are made that a student has broken the code of conduct, an investigation will take place which usually includes speaking with the person who made the report.
How do I know that my reported incident or concern is being addressed?
You will usually receive an email message from the Director of Student Conduct, who administers the reporting system or from the Director of Counseling Service. Responses may take more time on the weekends. If there are questions regarding your report, you will receive a call or email.
Why make a report ?
Reports are kept in a central database for different types of information regarding students. By looking at various reports about a student, a more complete picture of the person emerges. Information about a student may come from variety of sources:
- Incident reports made by faculty, staff and students
- Police incidents and reports
- Academic dishonesty forms
- Housing incident reports
- Direct reports and emails to the members of the CARE Team or VPESA/DOS
- Emergency Duty reports
Note: You should call Campus Police (911 or 205-665-6500) if an immediate response is needed to ensure safety or if a crime has been committed. This is not a police reporting tool.