SKC defines sex discrimination and sexual harassment broadly to include any of three types of misconduct on the basis of sex (or gender), all of which jeopardize the equal access to education that Title IX is designed to protect: Any instance of quid pro quo harassment by a school’s employee; any unwelcome conduct that a reasonable person would find so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it denies a person equal educational access; any instance of sexual assault (as defined in the Clery Act), dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking as defined in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

Offenses prohibited under SKC’s policy include, but are not limited to sex discrimination (including sexual orientation discrimination and gender identity or gender expression discrimination), sexual harassment, sexual violence to include non‐consensual sexual contact, non‐consensual sexual intercourse, sexual coercion, domestic/dating violence, stalking, and sexual exploitation.

1. Sex Discrimination: includes sexual harassment and is defined as conduct directed at a specific individual or a group of identifiable individuals that subjects the individual or group to treatment that adversely affects their employment or education, or institutional benefits, on account of sex or gender (including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression discrimination). It may include acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical aggression, intimidation, or hostility based on sex or sex-stereotyping, even if those acts do not involve conduct of a sexual nature.
2. Sexual Harassment: is unwelcome and discriminatory speech or conduct undertaken because of an individual’s gender or is sexual in nature and is so severe, pervasive, or persistent, objectively and subjectively offensive that it has the systematic effect of unreasonably interfering with or depriving someone of educational, institutional, or employment access, benefits, activities, or opportunities. Students and visitors who are subject to or who witness unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature are encouraged to report the incident(s) to the Title IX Coordinator or any SKC employee. Employees who are subject to unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature are encouraged to report the incident(s) to the Title IX Coordinator or any SKC employee.  Employees who witness or receive reports of unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature are required to report the incident(s) or reports received to the Title IX Coordinator. 
   1. Hostile Environment: Sexual Harassment includes conduct that is sufficiently severe, pervasive, or persistent, objectively and subjectively offensive that it alters the conditions of education or employment or institutional benefits of a reasonable person with the same characteristics of the victim of the harassing conduct. Whether conduct is harassing is based upon examining a totality of circumstances, including but not limited to:
      • The frequency of the conduct;
      • The nature and severity of the conduct;
      • Whether the conduct was physically threatening;
      • Whether the conduct was deliberate, repeated humiliation based upon sex;  ● The effect of the conduct on the alleged victim’s mental or emotional state from the perspective of a reasonable person;
      • Whether the conduct was directed at more than one person;
      • Whether the conduct arose in the context of other discriminatory conduct;
      • Continued or repeated verbal abuse of a sexual nature, such as gratuitous suggestive comments and sexually explicit jokes; and
      • Whether the speech or conduct deserves constitutional protections.
   2. Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment exists when individuals in positions of authority over the complainant:
      • Make unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature; and
      • Indicate, explicitly or implicitly, that failure to submit to or the rejection of such conduct will result in adverse educational or employment action or where participation in an educational program or institutional activity or benefit is conditioned upon the complainant’s submission to such activity.
      • Examples of Harassment:  
        • An instructor insists that a student have sex with him/her in exchange for a good grade. This is harassment regardless of whether the student agrees to the request.
        • A student repeatedly sends sexually oriented jokes around in an email list he or she created, even when asked to stop, causing one recipient to avoid the sender on campus and in the dorms in which they both live.
        • The instructor probes for explicit details, and demands that students respond to him or her, though they are clearly uncomfortable and hesitant.
        • An ex-girlfriend widely spreads false stories about her sex life with her former boyfriend to his clear discomfort.
3. Sexual Violence refers to physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person’s will or where a person is incapable of giving consent (e.g., due to the student’s age or use of drugs or alcohol, or because an intellectual or other disability prevents the student from having the capacity to give consent). A number of different acts fall into the category of sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, sexual abuse, and sexual coercion. Sexual violence can be carried out by school employees, other students, or third parties.
   1. Non-Consensual Sexual Contact is any intentional touching, however slight, whether clothed or unclothed, of the victim’s intimate body parts (primarily genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttock or breast) with any object or body part, without consent and/or by force. It also includes the touching of any part of a victim’s body using the perpetrator’s genitalia and/or forcing the victim to touch the intimate areas of the perpetrator or any contact in a sexual manner even if not involving contact of or by breasts, buttocks, groin, genitals, mouth or other orifice. This definition includes sexual battery and sexual misconduct.
   2. Non-Consensual Sexual Intercourse is defined as any sexual intercourse or penetration of the anal, oral, vaginal, genital opening of the victim, including sexual intercourse or penetration by any part of a person’s body or by the use of an object, however slight, by one person to another without consent or against the victim’s will. This definition includes rape and sexual assault, sexual misconduct, and sexual violence.
      • a) Rape: Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim. This definition includes any gender of victim or perpetrator.  Sexual penetration means the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person. This definition also includes instances in which the victim is incapable of giving consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (including due to the influence of drugs or alcohol) or because of age. Physical resistance is not required on the part of the victim to demonstrate lack of consent.
   3. Sexual Coercion is the act of using pressure (including physical pressure, verbal pressure or emotional pressure), alcohol, medications, drugs, or force to have sexual contact against someone’s will or with someone who has already refused. This includes rape, sexual assault, sexual exploitation and sexual misconduct.
   4. Dating violence is violence between individuals in the following circumstances: The party is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim; and
      • The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration of the following factors:
      • Length of the relationship
      • Type of relationship
      • Frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship
   5. Domestic Violence under SKC policy means violence committed by a current or former spouse of the victim;
      • A person with whom the victim shares a child in common;
      • A person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse;
      • A person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under Montana domestic or family violence laws;
      • Any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under Montana domestic or family violence laws.
4. Advisor: A person who has agreed to assist a complainant or respondent during the Title IX process.  The advisor may be a person of the student’s choosing, including but not limited to a SKC faculty or staff member, a friend or an attorney. 
5. Complainant: an individual who is alleged to be the victim of conduct that could constitute sexual harassment.
6. Respondent: an individual who has been reported to be the perpetrator of conduct that could constitute sex discrimination or sexual harassment.
7. Formal complaint: a document filed by a complainant or signed by the Title IX Coordinator alleging sexual harassment against a respondent and requesting that the school investigate the allegation of sexual harassment and stating the date, time, place, name(s) of person(s) involved (e.g. the accused, witnesses) and sufficient detail to make a determination regarding basic elements of the formal complaint process. 
8. At the time of filing a formal complaint, a complainant must be participating in or attempting to participate in the education program or activity of the school with which the formal complaint is filed.
9. Supportive measures – individualized services reasonably available that are non-punitive, non-disciplinary, and not unreasonably burdensome to the other party while designed to ensure equal educational access, protect safety, or deter sexual harassment.