Faculty & Staff Resources
Project Safe’s services and programs are available to staff and faculty, in addition to students. If you need crisis support, advocacy, or assistance, please call our support hotline at (615) 322-7233.
Project Safe Center staff are available to answer your questions and offer presentations on any topic related to sexual assault, stalking, and intimate partner violence. Call us at (615) 875-0660 or email us at projectsafe@vanderbilt.edu to schedule a consultation.
Nearly all staff and faculty are mandatory reporters and should complete the Online Incident Report Form or call the Title IX office directly at (615) 343-9004 in order to report the information known to them. When advising a person who may wish to report a form of sexual misconduct that is or has happened to them or someone they know, you may share the link to the University’s Online Incident Reporting Form. To learn more about faculty reporting obligations, click here.
For guidance on identifying and supporting students in distress, click here. To submit a Student of Concern Report to relevant parties, click here.
A prior issue of Engage: The Newsletter of the Faculty Senate includes articles to increase faculty awareness of their mandated reporter status as responsible employees of Vanderbilt and resources available to faculty to help them address students who experience sexual misconduct.
Protection of Minors
Information regarding the Protection of Minors policy, registration of programs and individuals (faculty, staff, students, volunteers) working with minors, and education may be found by clicking here. You may contact the Risk Management Protection of Minors office directly at 615-936-5935 or protectionofminors@vanderbilt.edu.
Where can a faculty member turn for additional training and resources?
Project Safe has two types of quick reference cards, both of which are available to faculty upon request. The Project Safe wallet card has the hotline number and website for Project Safe. Many faculty and staff members choose to keep these resources by their desk. To request materials, please email us at projectsafe@vanderbilt.edu.
The Title IX Coordinator and Title IX investigators in that office offers a variety of trainings and are available for faculty and staff wishing to learn more about their mandatory reporting obligations. (615) 343-9004.
Mandatory Reporting Obligations
All faculty, many staff, and some students are “mandatory reporters” who are legally obligated to report any allegations of sexual misconduct (assault, harassment, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking and child abuse) and any suspected discrimination (about age, race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national or ethnic origin, sex/gender, sexual orientation, disability, genetic information, military status, familial status or other protected categories under local, state or federal law) to Vanderbilt’s Title IX Coordinator (615-322-4705). This means that students who discuss such things with their peers and faculty do not have confidentiality. Students should be aware of that fact so they, both have choice about reporting, and options for other, confidential resources on campus. The sample syllabi statements below are one way you can communicate your responsibilities as a mandatory reporter to students at the start of each semester/session.
Syllabus Statements
Faculty increasingly include statements on their syllabus that advise students of their responsibility to report sexual violence and to provide links and resources to campus services. For any course, but especially those that may touch on issues of sexual and gender, you might want to include a statement on sexual misconduct.
Sample Statement on Mandatory Reporting Responsibility:
University faculty, many staff member, and some student leaders are required to report incidents of sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, and child abuse, as well as any suspected discrimination (about age, race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national or ethnic origin, sex/gender, sexual orientation, disability, genetic information, military status, familial status or other protected categories under local, state or federal law) to the University’s Title IX Coordinator (615-322-4705), as required by University policy and state and federal law. If you disclose an experience of interpersonal violence and/or child abuse to classmates with mandatory reporting obligations or to the instructor, whether in class discussion or through a course assignment, your disclosure will be kept as private as possible but may not be able to be kept confidential.
Please consult with your instructor with any questions before sharing a personal experience of intimate partner violence or that of another Vanderbilt-affiliated person. If you disclose thoughts of harm to self or others, that information will also be disclosed to relevant parties charged with ensuring the health and safety of our campus community.
Sample Statement on Sexual Harassment and Violence Resources:
Vanderbilt is committed to providing a community built on trust and mutual respect, where all can feel secure and free from harassment. Sexual misconduct including sexual violence, sexual harassment, intimate partner violence, and stalking, violates a person’s rights, dignity and integrity and is contrary to our community principles and the mission of the college. The University is committed to fostering a community that promotes prompt reporting of sexual misconduct and timely and fair resolution of sexual misconduct reports. Creating a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment is the responsibility of everyone at Vanderbilt.
We encourage all members of our campus community to seek support from the Project Safe Center; 615-322-7233. We encourage community members to report all incidents of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct directly to the Title IX Coordinator (615-343-9004). Staff in these departments will assist in eliminating the misconduct, preventing its recurrence, and addressing its effects.
Let Us Help You! In-Class Presentations Available (including last minute requests!)
Project Safe staff are available to present to your students on a variety of topics connected to sexual health and safety, sexual violence and the law, compliance in the educational setting, contemporary prevalence of intimate partner violence (as criminal behavior and/or social problems), the language of violence, myths and misunderstandings about sexual violence, etc. We are often available to present with short notice, so please consider including us when relevant and/or reaching out to us rather than cancelling a class meeting. We regularly present to classes of all sizes, undergraduate, graduate, and professional, and are happy to tailor our presentation length, format, and topic to best suit your needs.
Invite us to your Department, Division, Staff, or Team Meetings
Project Safe staff are available to present to faculty and staff on a variety of topics, including (but not limited to) Project Safe services, responding to students in distress, how to best support survivors (whether students or colleagues), sexual harassment, dating or domestic violence, stalking, prevalence rates, University approaches to violence prevention, and more. We regularly present at departmental meetings and are happy to be on the agenda, whether you can allocate 10 minutes or an hour. Depending upon the content requested, we may collaborate with our campus partners such as VUPD, EAD, Student Accountability, or the Center for Student Wellbeing, among others, as appropriate.
Help us spread the word!
Please feel free to copy the images below (right click and copy or save) for use in your syllabus and/or on office doors. If you would like cards or stickers of these images, please email us at projectsafe@vanderbilt.edu to request as many as you would like.
Incorporate Awareness-Raising and Prevention Education into your Course Material
The Office for Victims of Crime offers a variety of resources for faculty members who might be interested in addressing criminal victimization in your class sessions. Free online resources on providing care for victims, understanding prevalence and impact of crime, the importance of victim impact statements, the victim’s journey through the criminal justice system, addressing the needs of the crime victim in medical practice, and more are available:
Instructor Materials | Resources | OVC TTAC
Curriculum Kits and Teaching Materials | OVC TTAC
Learn More
Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence: A National Resource Center provides free, online tools for supervisors to learn more about how to support those impacted by domestic and sexual violence:
Resources for Employers or Managers Archives – Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence