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STUDENT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Student Optional Disclosure of Private Mental Health Act

In accordance with the Illinois law, the Student Optional Disclosure of Private Mental Health Act (IGP 59.1), Illinois Central College will provide students with the option to authorize in writing that a designated person, defined as a parent, guardian, or adult over the age of 18, be contacted by a psychologist, counselor, or other qualified examiner employed by Illinois Central College during a mental health emergency. This is an optional form that students can complete but are not required to complete. Students that are interested in completing the Student Optional Disclosure of Private Mental Health form or updating this form can access it on the Student Services website at: http://icc.edu/students/files/ICC-Disclosure-of-Private-Mental-Health-Information.pdf

Discrimination and/or Harassment

It is the policy of this College that no person, on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or veteran’s status, shall be discriminated against in employment, in educational programs and activities, or in admission. Inquiries and complaints may be addressed to the Title IX/Civil Rights Equity Coordinator, Illinois Central College, 1 College Drive, East Peoria, Illinois 61635-0001, (309) 694-8460 or email Title9@icc.edu.

Discrimination Complaint Procedure

The complete description of the Discrimination Complaint Procedure can be found at https://icc.edu/civil-rights/. Students may contact the Title IX/Civil Rights Equity Coordinator at (309) 694-8460 or email Title9@icc.edu.

Sexual Harassment Definition
For purposes of this policy, sexual harassment is defined, as in the Equal Opportunity Commission Guidelines, as any unwelcome, unsolicited sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:

  1. submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment or educational status,

  2. submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment or academic decisions affecting such individual, or

  3. such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or educational experience or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or educational environment.

Sexual harassment may include a range of subtle and not so subtle behaviors and may involve individuals of the same or different gender. Depending on the circumstances, these behaviors may include:

  • Unwanted sexual advances

  • Subtle or overt pressure for sexual favors

  • Unwelcome sexual jokes, comments, innuendos, advances, propositions, or abusive personal remarks

  • Verbal abuse of a sexual nature

  • Graphic commentary about an individual’s body, sexual prowess, or sexual deficiencies

  • Sexually explicit displays or distribution of pictures, materials, or objects in the work area

  • Offering or implying a reward or threat concerning academic assignments, grades, discipline, or other terms or conditions of the academic situation in exchange for sexual favors

  • Demeaning behavior including but not limited to staring, leering, pinching, obscene gestures, touching and other physical conduct or blocking the movements of another person

  • Obscene, pornographic, discriminatory, or sexually explicit phone calls, emails, or other communications.

Harassment Definition
(Excluding sexual harassment or discrimination as defined above.)

Enrollment at Illinois Central College includes obligations with regard to conduct both in and out of the classroom. Employees and students are expected to conduct themselves appropriately within the academic community.

When employees or students fail to observe the general standards of conduct established by the College, they shall be liable to disciplinary action. Behaviors (excluding discrimination and sexual harassment as outlined above) that create a hostile environment for other individuals and disrupt the educational or work environment may be classified as harassment. Disruption of the educational process and violation of the rights of others constitutes irresponsible behavior and is subject to disciplinary action.

Some actions may include, but are not limited to, actions or threats endangering life and property; flagrant disruptiveness in the classroom, or on or about College property, or at College-sponsored functions; explicit use of profanity or obscenity; threatening others with bodily injury; bullying; or stalking.

Records
The College will maintain a written record of each formal complaint and how it was investigated and resolved. Written records will be maintained in confidence to the extent practical and appropriate. Written records will normally be maintained for at least the same period as other personnel records are maintained.

False and Malicious Accusations
False and malicious complaints of sexual or other forms of harassment, as opposed to complaints which, even if erroneous, are made in good faith, may be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.

Timeliness in Reporting Harassment
The College encourages the prompt reporting of complaints or concerns so that rapid, constructive action can be taken before relationships become irreparably strained. Therefore, while no fixed reporting period has been established, early reporting and intervention has proven to be the most effective method of resolving actual or perceived incidents of sexual or other forms of harassment.

The complaint procedures described above are the only internal procedures available for complaints of discrimination, sexual harassment or other types of harassment. Other available resources for information include:

The Illinois Department of Human Rights Chicago: (312) 814-6200 Springfield: (217) 785-5100
Equal Employment Opportunity Chicago: 1-800-669-4000

Sexual & Other Harassment Complaint Procedure

The complete description of the Title IX/Sexual Misconduct Complaint Procedure can be found at https://icc.edu/title-IX and the Harassment Complaint Procedure can be found at icc.edu/civil-rights. Students may contact the Title IX/Civil Rights Equity Coordinator at (309) 694-8460 for assistance with the procedures.

Privacy
At each step, these procedures seek to protect, insofar as practical and appropriate under the circumstances, the privacy of individuals involved in the complaint. Both in fact finding and in the final disposition of the complaint, reasonable efforts will be made to carry out the procedures confidentially.

Protection Against Retaliation
Retaliation against an individual for reporting sexual harassment or other forms of harassment or assisting in providing information relevant to a claim of harassment is a serious violation of this policy and will be treated with the same strict discipline as would the harassment itself. Acts of retaliation should be reported immediately and will be promptly investigated. Constructive criticism and supervisory actions regarding performance or other workplace issues are not retaliation.

Policy Statement on Sexual Assault

Illinois Central College will not tolerate sexual assault against students, staff, faculty, or visitors. Internal complaints of sexual assaults filed against students will be investigated pursuant to procedures established by the College and appropriate disciplinary action taken as determined by the college judicial system.

In an ongoing effort to prevent sexual assaults, and in addition to providing various security measures, the College is committed to making available, through a variety of channels, relevant educational information and programs. It is College policy to comply with all applicable federal and state statutes for reporting and publishing sexual assault statistics.

For additional information, students may access the Title IX/Sexual Misconduct page at icc.edu/title-ix/.

For Board of Trustees policy information access at https://icc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/By.Pol-Working-Master-Updated-4.21.22.pdf

Policy Statement on Domestic or Dating Violence and Stalking

Illinois Central College will not tolerate domestic or dating violence and stalking against students, staff, faculty, or visitors. Internal complaints of domestic or dating violence and stalking filed against students will be investigated pursuant to procedures established by the College and appropriate disciplinary action taken as determined by the College judicial system.

In an on-going effort to prevent domestic or dating violence and stalking, and in addition to providing various security measures, the College is committed to making available, through a variety of channels, relevant educational information and programs. It is College policy to comply with all applicable federal and state statutes for reporting and publishing domestic or dating violence and stalking statistics.

These policies are intended to comply with relevant parts of the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, as amended, 20 USC 1092(f), and the implementing federal regulations, 34. CFR 668.47(a)(12). It is also intended to comply with the federal Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 as amended. These policy statements and supporting procedures may be amended by the College as necessary to conform to future changes in state and federal law.

Full procedures and other relevant information can be found at the Title IX/Sexual Misconduct page at icc.edu/title-ix/.

For Board of Trustees policy information access at https://icc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/By.Pol-Working-Master-Updated-4.21.22.pdf

Sexual Assault Response Team (SART)

The Illinois Central College Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) is a team of professional faculty, staff, and community representatives from the Center for Prevention of Abuse that are trained and prepared to assist students who are survivors of an on-campus sexual assault. This team will provide survivors with information and resources in order to assist the student in making informed decisions regarding the sexual assault incident. SART members will also be instrumental in ensuring that Illinois Central College is in compliance with Title IX and the Illinois Law – Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act. More information on the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) can be found by clicking Internal Resources and Education at icc.edu/title-ix/.

Animal/Pet Policy

No pets or animals of any kind are permitted in any ICC building, satellite building or campus function. Exceptions to this policy are: Service Animals with written permission given by the Dean of Students or Access Services.

A Service Animal Shall Be Defined As

Any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not services animals for the purposes of this definition. The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the handler’s disability. Examples of work or tasks include, but are not limited to, assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and other tasks, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds, providing non-violent protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, assisting an individual during a seizure, alerting individuals to the presence of allergens, retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone, providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities, and helping persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors. The crime deterrent effects of an animal’s presence and the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship does not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition. (Title III/ADAAA) .

Service Animal Use on Campus

  • Visitors to campus with service animals may access all public facilities, with the exception of areas where service animals are specifically prohibited due to safety or health restrictions or where the service animal may be in danger.

  • Students with a disability who wish to utilize a service animal in the classroom are strongly encouraged to register with the Access Services Office.

  • Service animals on campus must comply with all state and local licensure and vaccination requirements.

  • The care and supervision of a service animal is the responsibility of the individual who uses the animal’s service. The individual must maintain control of the animal at all times. The animal should always be on a leash, harness or other tether, unless either the handler is unable because of a disability to use a harness, leash or other tether, or the use of a harness, leash or other tether would interfere with the service animal’s safe, effective performance of work or tasks, in which case the service animal must be otherwise under the handler’s control. The individual using the service animal is responsible for any damages caused by their service animal while on ICC.

  • The individual using the animal’s service is responsible for ensuring the cleanup of all animal waste. All service animals must be housebroken. College may designate animal toileting areas.

Removal of Service Animal

A service animal may be removed from College grounds or facilities if it is disruptive (e.g., barking, wandering, displaying aggressive behavior) and the behavior is outside the duties of the service animal. Ill, unhygienic, and/or unsanitary service animals are not permitted in public campus areas. The individual responsible for such an animal may be required to remove the animal.

Restricted Area

The College may prohibit the use of service animals in certain locations due to health or safety restrictions or where service animals may be in danger.

Interacting With Service Animals by General Public

Service animals work and perform tasks and are not pets. The general public should not:

  • touch or feed a service animal;

  • deliberately distract or startle a service animal;

  • separate or attempt to separate a service animal from the individual using the animal’s service.

Policy Exceptions

Individuals wishing to request a modification or exception to this policy as a reasonable accommodation should contact the Affirmative Action Compliance Officer.

Dispute Resolution

Disputes or disagreements about a disability determination, appropriateness of an accommodation, service quality, or an animal restriction should first be raised with the Access Services Office. If the matter cannot be resolved, a written complaint can be filed with the College’s ADA Compliance Officer.

Assessment

Assessment is the process of providing feedback in order to make improvements. Assessment is part of the ICC culture. Students are assessed by faculty to determine the level of learning that is occurring in the classroom, and students assess their faculty’s teaching and learning methods near the end of each course. In the classroom, assessment is classroom research to provide useful feedback for the improvement of teaching and learning. Assessment is feedback from the student to the instructor about the student’s learning, whereas evaluation uses methods and measures to judge student learning and understanding of the material for purposes of grading and reporting. Evaluation is feedback from the instructor to the student about the student’s learning.

Students may be asked to assess their level of engagement at the College via a survey known as the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, or CCSSE. Information regarding factors related to college satisfaction and issues/priorities that are important to students is provided by another survey, the Student Satisfaction Inventory, or SSI. Both the CCSSE and the SSI are randomly sampled surveys, so the likelihood of students being asked to complete both of those surveys on an annual basis is not great.

If you are asked to participate in any type of assessment at ICC, please do so. Your feedback is extremely important to the College’s efforts to make improvements for you and future ICC students.

Children on Campus

The College will not permit children left unattended in learning and support areas. If children are found to be unattended in these areas, the ICC Police Department will be notified immediately. Additionally, children will not be allowed in classrooms or other similar settings when the sole purpose is to provide childcare during the scheduled class or activity. If a student has extenuating circumstances regarding childcare arrangements, the student needs to contact the instructor or other appropriate College personnel in advance of the class/learning activity to discuss the situation and determine what options may be available to the student. The student will need to talk to their instructor for possible make-up options.

Chronic Communicable Diseases

Illinois Central College places a high priority on the need to prevent the spread of dangerous chronic communicable diseases on its campus. The policy is designed to promote the health and regular attendance of both students and employees. The College is committed to protecting the civil rights of individuals while preserving the health and safety of all employees and students; therefore, strict confidentiality must be maintained.

Students with Chronic Communicable Diseases

Students with identified chronic communicable diseases may not be excluded from the College as long as, through reasonable accommodation, the risk of transmission of the disease and/or the risk of further injury to the student is sufficiently remote in such setting so as to be outweighed by the detrimental effects resulting from the student’s exclusion from the College. Whenever possible, the College will attempt to assist students in continuing their pursuit of educational goals. Placement decisions will be made by using these objectives in conjunction with current, available public health guidelines concerning the particular disease in question. Individual cases will not be prejudged; rather, decisions will be based upon the facts of the particular case. The determination of whether a student with a chronic communicable disease may attend college shall be made in accordance with procedures implemented by the College.

The College shall respect the right to privacy of any student who has a chronic communicable disease. The student’s medical condition shall be disclosed only to the extent necessary to minimize the health risks to the student and to others. The number of personnel aware of the student’s condition will be kept at the minimum needed to assure proper care of the student and to detect situations in which the potential for transmission of the disease may increase. Persons deemed to have “a direct need to know” would be provided with appropriate information; however, these persons shall not further disclose such information.

Procedure for Handling an Identifiable Case of a Chronic Communicable Disease

The Manager of Risk, Safety and Benefits shall investigate, as the situation warrants, the health status of any student or employee know to have a chronic communicable disease. In addition, the health status of any student or employee identified to the Manager of Risk, Safety and Benefits by public health officials as being strongly suspected of having a chronic communicable disease will be investigated under proper guidelines identified by the public health officials. The Manager of Risk, Safety and Benefits shall investigate and then refer the case to the Vice President for Administration and Finance. As the situation warrants, a task force shall be formed, and may include the following individuals: the Vice President for Administration and Finance, the Manager of Risk, Safety and Benefits, the Dean of Students, and the Vice President of Marketing and Institutional Advancement.

After reviewing the case and guidelines set forth by public health officials, the task force shall determine the appropriate action to be taken for the particular case based upon the following criteria:

  • The nature of risk

  • The duration of risk

  • The potential harm to other parties

  • Possibility of transmission of the disease

The recommendation will include a summary of the findings relative to each of the above criteria, a description of the recommended attendance or employment accommodations and a specific description of the notifications suggested.

After a recommendation is made by the task force and action set forth, the Vice President for Administration and Finance will inform appropriate College officials of that recommendation and action. During the notification procedure, all efforts shall be made to keep confidential the name of the person/persons involved.

Whenever a decision is made that might have an adverse effect on the employment or educational placement or a person and that person disagrees with the decision, an appeal may be made to the President of the College for a review of that decision. The decision of the President shall be final.

Romantic Relationships

Romantic Relationships Between Employees and Students
Employees of Illinois Central College shall not be romantically or sexually involved with a student whom he or she teaches, advises, coaches, mentors, or supervises in any way.

This policy will be supported by guidance regarding employee-student relationships such as appropriate language, suggested behaviors to avoid, and steps for modifying a present or potential situation, i.e., reporting the conflict, changing advisors, instructors, etc. Adopted by the Board of Trustees on October 16, 2014.