Bullying, Harassment, Discrimination Guide

Bullying, Harassment & Discrimination Guide

Contents Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination

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What to do if you think you are being bullied

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How to deal with unwanted behaviour

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What if the matter still isn’t resolved?

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What can the Advice Centre do to help?

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Important Links

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Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination The University has a policy on Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment called the Equality and Diversity in Teaching and Learning policy which all registered students are able to use if they feel that they are experiencing bullying, harassment or discrimination by any other individual within the University including students or staff. The University will not tolerate bullying, harassment or discrimination and will take action to protect its students and staff from any such offense.

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If a student feels that bullying, discrimination and/or harassment has occurred on a placement involving placement staff or their clients, they need to follow the relevant procedures and policies of that host institution or organisation.

Please get in touch with an Adviser at the Students’ Union for more information on this.

Harassment Harassment is unwanted conduct which may create the effect (intentionally or unintentionally) of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment which interferes with an individual’s learning, working or social environment or induces stress, anxiety or sickness on the part of the harassed person.

Discrimination Discrimination takes place when an individual or a group of people is treated less favourably than others because of their race, gender, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation or other factors unrelated to their ability or potential.

Bullying Bullying can be defined as repeated or persistent actions, criticism or personal abuse, either in public or private, verbally or written, which (intentionally or unintentionally) humiliates, denigrates, undermines, intimidates or injures the recipient. It should be borne in mind that much bullying occurs in the context of a power imbalance between victims and alleged perpetrators.

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What to do if you think you are being bullied In considering what may or may not be bullying, discrimination and/or harassment the University uses the test of ‘reasonableness’: would a reasonable person in possession of the same information feel that the alleged conduct or behaviour constituted harassment?

Bullying & harassment could include: • Threats, written, verbal (by face or telephone) or electronic.

• Behaviour that causes distress to a victim e.g. silent phone calls, the giving of unwanted or inappropriate gifts.

• Verbal and / or written abuse, innuendoes or insults.

• Damaging a victim’s property.

• Display of offensive material (posters, signs, graffiti, flags etc).

• Using offensive language or obscene gestures.

• Use of physical violence.

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• Invasion of personal space, recognising that the definition of personal space can differ with different cultures.

• Unwarranted or invalid criticism.

• Setting unrealistic or unfair goals, which the bully knows are unreasonable and/or unachievable.

• Constant undervaluing of the recipient’s contribution.

• Belittling, demeaning, humiliating or patronising the recipient in front of others.

• Blaming the recipient for another’s mistake.

• Constantly reminding the recipient of any failures in the past.

• The bully not talking to the recipient; refusing to acknowledge them.

• Treating someone differently from others for no reason.

• Excessive supervision; making the recipient feel undervalued and inadequate.

What to do if you think you are being bullied?

If you feel that you, or someone you know, is being bullied, discriminated against or harassed then it’s important to take action quickly.

You can contact the Students’ Union Advice Centre using the contact details at the end of this guide and an Adviser can talk your situation through with you and discuss some of the options available.

Any discussion will be confidential and you won’t be placed under any pressure to take any action that you’re not comfortable with.

If possible, it is wise to keep any evidence of the incident/s occurring and this can be kept in the form of a journal, within this you should note; • • • • • • •

Date/s Time/s Brief description of the incident/s How the incident/s made you feel Names of any witnesses Your response to the incident/s Your actions after the incident/s

You should also, if possible, keep copies of any emails, social networking messages/postings, screen shots of Facebook chat or tweets, voicemails, text messages etc.

Harassment Adviser You can also speak to one of the University’s Harassment Advisers.

A Harassment Adviser can offer support and information relating to harassment and bullying, explain the informal and formal procedures under the Equality and Diversity in Teaching and Learning policy and discuss what options are available to you. A Harassment Awdviser can also make a referral to the University Conciliation Service.

Speak to the Students’ Union advice centre for information on how to contact a Harassment Adviser 6

How to deal with unwanted behaviour Under the Equality and Diversity in Teaching and Learning policy there are a number of options available to students with regards to dealing with unwanted behaviour and these are detailed in full below.

Informal Procedure You may wish to communicate with the respondent directly to help them understand how their behaviour is making you feel, this could be in person or via letter. Sometimes, this is enough to stop an individual as they may not realise the hurt that they are causing. This is often very difficult to do, but you may wish to utilise the help and support of an Adviser to accompany you and/or help to write your letter.

If you do not feel able to approach the individual personally you may want your tutor to do it on your behalf. If the respondent is your tutor; a Students’ Union Adviser, Academic Adviser, or Harassment Adviser can converse with the tutor for you. If you have decided to follow this option and have not met with the individual in person, the University understands that this is not an acceptance of the behaviour and will not affect any future complaint.

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Conciliation Conciliation can be offered as an alternative to the informal stage or can be used as the next step if you have tried and not been successful at the initial stage. It can also be recommended later on in the process as an alternative to formal procedures. Conciliation is not a compulsory measure but is highly recommended as it can speed up procedures.

Conciliation is an informal process that can help both parties reach an agreed solution and will be attended by you; the complainant, the respondent and a trained Conciliator. Conciliation is a confidential process where no official decisions are made but options for both parties can be explored and results in a mutually beneficial agreement.

To begin mediation procedures, the complainant must contact a Conciliator who will, in turn, contact the student/staff member involved through the relevant channels. * Conciliation can only occur if both parties consent to the process and both must agree on the mediator assigned.

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The respondent may also request support and representation from the Advice Centre, and an Adviser independent of the case will be happy to help explain any procedures and information and support you throughout all stages.

Formal Complaints and Investigation If, having tried the informal and/or conciliation stages, you are not satisfied or could not reach an agreement with conciliation; you may decide to initiate the formal procedure. This involves a written formal complaint (Stage 1) to be submitted to the Dean of your School who is responsible for student matters. The Dean or their nominee will identify who will investigate the complaint.

The Investigating Officer (IO) involved in the formal aspect of the complaint, will be completely independent of the complainant and respondent. Investigations are to be conducted in confidence and as quickly as possible and will normally be resolved within 20 working days of the complaint being received.

You may be asked to attend a meeting with the IO where they will explain the upcoming procedures in full and all allegations and details of the complaint will be discussed.

The IO may at this stage decide that there is no substance to the complaint and end the procedure at that point.

If the student is dissatisfied with this result, they may take the complaint further (Stage 2) and refer it to the Head of Registry, detailing why it is necessary for the issue to be taken to Stage 2 and what has been done by the student to make a serious attempt at resolving the matter with the School/Service.

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However, if the IO decides to progress the complaint at this stage, an interview with the respondent will usually take place, any witnesses will also be invited to interview and all involved must sign comprehensive notes of the meetings as a true and accurate reflection.

Upon compiling all evidence of the complaint with those involved, the IO will via the Dean of School inform both parties of an outcome, normally within 20 working days of the formal complaint being received. If the misconduct is proven, the matter will be referred to the appropriate disciplinary procedures.

If, once the final outcome has been conveyed, the student does not consider the complaint to have been resolved by the response to Stage 1, they may take the complaint further (Stage 2) and refer it to the Head of Registry, detailing why it is necessary for the issue to be taken to Stage 2 and what has been done by the student to make a serious attempt at resolving the matter with the School/Service.

The Head of Registry will attempt resolution at this stage either by correspondence between the parties, or facilitation of a conciliation or mediation meeting between the student and the respondent.

The circumstances of the complaint will dictate which of these methods is considered most likely to result in a resolution of the complaint.

It is anticipated that Stage 2 would normally be completed, with the outcome in writing from the Head of Registry, within 2 calendar months of the receipt date of the completed Student Complaint Form. The Head of Registry will keep all parties informed of any delay in proceedings, if applicable.

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Should a complaint hearing be appropriate, it will be chaired by the Pro Vice Chancellor for Teaching and Learning (or nominee). A Complaints Panel will be convened, consisting of one other member of academic or support staff, drawn from academic or service departments unrelated to the complaint and a representative from the Students’ Union. The Head of Registry (or nominee) will act as technical adviser and note-taker to the Panel.

The Complaints Panel shall meet, normally within 20 working days (excluding University vacations) of the referral from Stage 1, and communicate its conclusions to the student and the Department within 20 working days. The Head of

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Registry will explain reasons for any necessary extension of the timescale, for example, if an adjournment in the proceedings is necessary.

Finally, if the student does not consider the complaint to have been resolved by the response to Stage 2, he/she may apply to invoke Stage 3 for a review of the decision. The request should be made in writing, within 10 working days from the date of the notification of the outcome of the correspondence, negotiation or meeting referred to in Stage 2. The request should be addressed to the Head of Registry outlining why the outcome of Stage 2 does not resolve the complaint. New evidence cannot be introduced at this point.

What if the matter still isn’t resolved?

Once all stages of complaint have been exhausted, the student should be in receipt of a ‘Completion of Procedures’ letter. If you do not automatically receive this, we suggest that you chase it up with your School/Registry.

This deems the University to have exhausted all procedures within the University and allows the student to take up the complaint with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA).

What can the Advice Centre do to help?

There are a range of ways that we can support you through the process. An adviser can: • Explain the full process to you and guide you through the stages.

• Review any draft statements that you prepare and offer suggestions.

• Accompany you to any meetings to provide support.

• Monitor the progress of your complaint.

• Advise you on how to collate appropriate evidence to support your case.

If you are unsure what you want to do the Advice Centre can talk through what options are available to you in a confidential and impartial environment.

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Important Links Equality and Diversity in Teaching and Learning policy www.hud.ac.uk/media/universityofhuddersfield/content/files/hr/downloads/ Equality_in_TL_Updated_Jan_2016.pdf

Find out more about the regulations www.hud.ac.uk/media/universityofhuddersfield/content/documents/registry/ regulationsandpolicies/studentregulations/2016%20Section%209.pdf

Download the 2016 Complaints Form www.hud.ac.uk/media/universityofhuddersfield/content/documents/registry/ regulationsandpolicies/studentregulations/2016%20Complaints%20Form.pdf

SU Advice Centre The Students’ Union runs a full service Advice Centre, located on Floor 5 of Students Central. The service is completely free for students, and is entirely independent from the University. Our Advisers will take the time to talk you through your options on any given subject, and help you explore what your next steps might be!

We can help you with: • Academic information advice and representation on University procedures including appeals, cheating and resits.

• Student Finance related support including fees and funding and advice on budgeting.

• Independent housing advice on deposits, disputes, evictions and repairs.

• Student Life information to help with other struggles you may have including Mental Health, Sexual Health and Safety.

Contact us: Opening Tel: Email: Twitter:

hours: 9.00am – 5.00pm, Monday to Friday 01484 473446 advice-centre@hud.ac.uk @HudSUAdvice

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University of Huddersfield Students’ Union Queensgate Huddersfield HD1 3DH

www.huddersfield.su/advice @HudSuAdvice 01484 47 3446