ºù«Ӱҵ

Violence

Acts of violence include:

• Intentionally causing physical injury to another, including sexual assault and domestic and dating violence.
• Intentionally damaging property.
• Using language or engaging in behavior that threatens physical injury to another or intentional damage to property and has the effect of intimidating, frightening, coercing or provoking others.
• Brandishing or using a weapon in a manner not required by the individual's position.
• Inciting or aiding any of the above.

Also see the Student Conduct Code, University Policy 3:1.

Types of Violence

While not a catch all, the types of situations listed and defined below are currently addressed through resources and training at the University.

• Harassment - The university defines harassment to include conduct that is sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive to threaten an individual or limit the ability of the individual to work, study or participate in university activities. Often, harassment takes the form of hostile words and actions that create an abusive living, learning or work environment. See University Policy 4:6 for further detail.
• Hate Crime - As set forth in University Policy 10:11, a criminal homicide, rape, fondling, incest, statutory rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny/theft, simple assault, intimidation, any other crime involving bodily injury to the victim, or destruction/damage/vandalism of property; in which the victim is intentionally selected, in whole or in part, because of the actual or perceived race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, or disability of the victim.
• Hazing - Hazing, as defined by the university, refers to any activity expected of someone joining a group (or to maintain full status in a group) that humiliates, degrades or risks emotional and/or physical harm, regardless of the person's willingness to participate (see University Policy 3:1). 
• Dating Violence - As set forth in University Policy 10:11, dating violence includes violence committed by a person- (1) who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim; and (2) where the existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration of the following factors: (i) the length of the relationship; (ii) the type of relationship; and (iii) the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship. Dating violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse.
• Domestic Violence - As defined in University Policy 10:11, domestic violence is a felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed by- (1) a current or former spouse of the victim; (2) a person with whom the victim shares a child in common; (3) a person who is cohabiting with, or has cohabited with, the victim as a spouse; (4) a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction; or (5) any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person's acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.
• Workplace Violence - Workplace violence is any physical assault, threatening behavior or verbal abuse occurring in the workplace by another employee or third party. A workplace may be any location where an employee performs any work including buildings, surrounding perimeters including parking lots, field locations and travel to/from work assignments. Simply put, workplace violence is any attempt or act that harasses, intimidates or injures an employee and is initiated by another employee or third party. Violence in the workplace is prohibited under .
• Sexual Harassment - As defined in University Policy 4:4, conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following: (1) an employee of the university conditioning the provision of education benefits on participation in unwelcome sexual contact (i.e., quid pro quo); or (2) unwelcome conduct that a reasonable person would determine is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the university's education program or activity; and (3) sexual assault as defined in the Clery Act, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking as defined in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the definitions of which are set forth in University Policy 10:11.
• Stalking - As set forth in University Policy 10:11, stalking means engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or the safety of others or suffer substantial emotional distress.

Violence Prevention

Preventing violence means intervening before any initial act of violence occurs. Instead of focusing solely on individual behavior, prevention efforts attempt to engage the community to promote environments where everyone can thrive. Violence prevention can also include efforts to stop or prevent individual acts of violence, while increasing the use of healthy behaviors and strategies. All of these efforts help to lessen the chances for violence to take place in a community. For prevention efforts to be successful, everyone in a community - faculty, students and staff - have to be invested and involved.

Emergency

An unplanned event that can disrupt business operations, cause physical or environmental damage, threaten the institution's financial standing or public image or can cause significant injuries or death to members of the university community.

Levels of Emergency

The ability to provide information to the community during an emergency is crucial to the management of the emergency. It is important to have a process that makes effective use of the university’s emergency notification system. The university strives to inform the community without causing widespread alarm. To accomplish this, the university has designated three levels of emergencies/threats.

• Potential Threat - An emergency where the conditions are favorable for the incident to occur, or for an event that happens off campus that is likely to have an impact on the university at some point in the near future. Examples of this are usually weather related such as predicted blizzard or ice storms or manmade incidents such as chemical spill or fire near campus.
• Imminent Threat - An event that is likely to affect the university within the next several hours but currently has not seriously affected the campus. Examples include a person with a gun on campus whose intent has not been established or railroad car overturned with a hazardous material release with the potential for contamination of the university.
• Active Threat - Usually a spontaneous event that comes without warning requiring immediate action to prevent the loss of life. Examples include a hazardous materials incident that poses an immediate threat to life or an incident with a firearm that has been used to cause injury.