Campus Climate Reporting System

You should complete a form if you have experienced or witnessed a situation that is a campus climate concern. If the concern is connected to your or others’ inability to engage in campus activity without concern for your psychological or physical safety, then you should complete the campus climate concern form.

Examples of behaviors that may be campus climate concerns:

• An interpersonal interaction in a class or program; on campus or online;
• Written communications such as a comment, email, flyer, or graffiti; or
• Something that physically or otherwise enables or hinders access to the University or its programs or services.

The CCRS benefits from as many details as are possible to share. All information is optional, but key information includes who is involved in the concern, what occurred, where this situation occurred and when. It is also helpful if the reporting party shares their wish for level of involvement. While reports can be anonymous, there may be times CCRS team members cannot help remedy the concern because of lack of information or inability to follow up with a reporting party. Also of note to share in a form is any connected media; photos, videos, etc.

CCRS forms are submitted via a secure electronic system. Once submitted, the CCRS support team reviews the concern to provide best possible paths forward for the reporting party. If the reporting party has made the request, then a CCRS campus representative will reach out to offer support and share resources regarding the shared concern.

Anonymous reports are accepted. However, without the opportunity to ask follow-up questions or clarify the needs of the reporting party, the response to the campus climate concern being reported may have a less desirable and less effective response.

Information is kept confidential to the extent possible.  

If the reporting party wishes to pursue the path of formal investigation against the person or group who engaged in the campus climate concern conduct, certain information related to the report will be shared with that person. Witnesses may also be made aware of certain information, but confidentiality will be protected to the extent possible in order to gather information but not overshare details that are unnecessary. In addition, demographic information solicited on the campus climate form will not be shared unless relevant to the incident.

Every effort will be made to respect the reporting party’s decision about how to proceed after filing for a formal investigation.

General information about the report will be used for reporting purposes on the campus climate reporting dashboard, but no specific identifiers about the reporting parties will be shared.

Under Illinois law, communications with some types of individuals are considered privileged - meaning the communications are protected by law from disclosure, and can only be shared with anyone in extremely limited circumstances. This means that information shared by a person with a privileged recipient, can be reassured that what they share will not be used against them in court or shared with others, unless they pose an imminent threat of danger to themselves or others.  

If you wish to share information with someone, and are concerned about its disclosure, you should always confirm whether a privilege applies to your communication. Generally, a privilege applies when someone is communicating with the following persons:

• A therapist or mental health counselor, including counselors at SIUE Student Counseling Services;
• Health care providers, including medical professionals at SIUE Student Health Service;
• Personal attorneys;
• Religious/spiritual counselors

While reports made within the CCRS process are not considered privileged, they are considered confidential, and information is released on a need-to-know basis.