What happens if you make a report
What happens if you choose to report harassment or sexual misconduct?
Overview
If you choose to disclose an incident of harassment or sexual misconduct, you'll be listened to, supported and made aware of the options available to you.
Disclosing an incident doesn’t mean that you have to decide to take forward a report. Your decision to report or not will be respected.
If you choose not to report, you can change your mind and bring forward a report at a later date, however you should bear in mind that the University can only take action in relation to a report while the reported party is a registered student at the University.
Making a report
Reporting another student to the University
If you’re a student and you choose to make a report about another student, your report will be considered by staff from Student Conduct and Appeals, Student Experience, Diversity and Inclusion and, where there is a connection to the residences, Residence Life. They’ll review your report and contact you to advise on what they believe to be the best route for resolution.
This could be:
- an investigation under the Student Discipline Regulations, or;
- one of the alternative resolution options we have available.
They will also advise if the University is unable to take any further action under these procedures, and will explain why.
You will typically be invited to meet with a member of staff so that they can explain the process that they are recommending and provide an opportunity for you to ask any questions you have. They will usually email you following this meeting and ask you to confirm whether or not you would like to proceed.
More information about these processes can be found below.
Reporting a member of University staff to the University
If you would like to make a report against a member of University staff, your report will be shared with Human Resources (HR). The report will be assigned to an HR adviser, who will contact you directly to discuss your report and advise you on the options available. Any investigation would likely be conducted under the University’s Staff Disciplinary Procedures.
Reporting to the police
If it is an emergency and you are off campus, call 999 immediately.
If you are on campus call Security Services on +44 114 222 4444 who will liaise with emergency services for you. On campus you can also use the Safezone app to seek help.
If it’s not an emergency, you can make a report to the police online or by calling 101.
You can report an incident to both the police and the University. If you do this, the University will normally pause any internal investigation while a police case is ongoing.
South Yorkshire Police: What happens after you report a crime?
University resolution options
After you make your report, there are a number of resolution options that may be offered to you.
Further information about these can be found at the page below:
Fitness to practise
There are a number of programmes at the University that are regulated by professional bodies.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that students are fit to practise in a relevant profession. Therefore, for students studying some courses, concerns relating to allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct may also raise concerns in relation to their fitness to practise.
Fitness to practise procedures
Managing risk and precautionary measures
The Risk Assessment Panel convenes where a risk to students, the University community, members of the public and/or the interests of the University has been identified, relating specifically to statutory safeguarding, the Prevent Duty and/or student conduct.
The Risk Assessment Panel will normally meet when a report of serious misconduct has been made in order to assess any risk associated with the report.