Learn About Title IX Services and Other Information for Visitors
Title IX prohibits sex based discrimination in all educational programs and activities that occur in the United States. This applies to any person participating in, or attempting to participate in, any educational program or activity that the University of Maine System offers. Title IX sex based discrimination includes protection from sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating & domestic violence, stalking, pregnancy or parenting status and in athletics (visit the Title IX definitions page to see a comprehensive list of protections). Employees, students, athletes and community members participating (or attempting to participate) in educational programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance are all protected under Title IX. Title IX requires that all areas of these institutions must operate in a nondiscriminatory manner.
The University of Maine System (UMS) takes sex discrimination very seriously. As such, all faculty and staff are considered mandatory reporters, which means that faculty and staff must report any sex discrimination to the Deputy Title IX Coordinator or the Title IX Coordinator. This allows the University of Maine System to offer appropriate supportive measures and assistance to any individual who has or is experiencing an incident protected by Title IX.
The Deputy Title IX Coordinator or the Title IX Coordinator at each institution is responsible for investigating allegations of gender discrimination and serves as a resources point person for all who have been affected.
Understand How Title IX May Affect You as a Community Member or Visitor of the University of Maine System
How Title IX affects you or someone you know:
You may be affected by a Title IX situation or incident whether you are a community member, guest speaker, contract worker, attendee of an event on campus or a family member or friend of a student, staff member or faculty member.
Pages on this site that may prove helpful if you have been affected by a Title IX situation or incident include:
- what to do if you have been assaulted
- what to do if you have been accused
- student resources
- faculty and staff resources
- pregnancy and parenting resources.
Any person living in the State of Maine may file to be made part of the Address Confidentiality Program (External Site) to have their public information removed from the public record.
Please note that all University of Maine System employees are mandatory reporters with the exception of the licensed, clinical counselors and their clinical interns when acting in their counseling capacity, professional pastoral counselors, licensed health professionals working within their patient/provider capacity, researchers and off campus counselors and advocates. (Please note that some confidential resources may have external reporting obligations such as reporting child abuse to law enforcement, etc.)
If a community member or visitor discloses a Title IX situation or incident to a faculty or staff member, as a mandatory reporter the faculty or staff member must report this information by contacting a Deputy/Title IX Coordinator or filling out this form.
How to intervene as a bystander:
The Bystander Intervention Model can help you react when you witness an incident of relationship violence, sexual assault, harassment or stalking. Below are steps to help and precautions to take in a situation where someone may need to take action.
- Notice the incident – Be made aware when someone may be harming another person.
- Interpret the incident as an emergency – Determine if you are witnessing an incident that may be an emergency, or at least one in which someone needs assistance they cannot provide for themselves.
- Assume responsibility – Whether you are witnessing an incident alone or there are other bystanders nearby, assume that you need to take action to help.
- Attempt to help – Help the person leave the situation, confront a behavior, diffuse the situation or call for other support or security. Stay with the person who was being harmed until they are safe.
Here are some tips to remember when intervening:
- Approach everyone as a friend
- Do not be antagonistic
- Avoid using violence
- Be honest and direct whenever possible
- Recruit help if necessary
- Keep yourself safe
- If things get out of hand or become too serious, contact the police or your campus safety office immediately
Additional Resources and Links:
If you are unsure of what resources you need, what has happened to you or if you want to explore your options before reaching out to a Deputy/Title IX Coordinator, there are many pages on this site to help guide you through the process:
- Campus police and public safety offices on each campus
- Confidential resources across the University of Maine System
- Definitions of terms used in Title IX
- Form to fill out and submit a Title IX report (External Site)
- List of Deputy/Title IX Coordinators across the University of Maine System
- Non-confidential resources across the University of Maine System
- Title IX information for faculty and staff
- Title IX Information for students
- Title IX information for pregnancy and parenting
- University of Maine System Counseling Services
- “What to do if you have been assaulted” page
- “What to do if you have been accused” page