Reporting: Process
I’m nervous about reporting. What should I do?
We understand that sharing your concerns can be daunting, but we encourage you to make the report so that we can help with your problem. If you're comfortable, please include your contact details so that we can reach out and discuss your report with you, otherwise you are welcome to report anonymously, and consider using our anonymous two way messaging process.
What happens if I submit a report anonymously?
- You will not be asked for any form of contact details
- ARU will not have a record of who has made the report or who the report is against.
- No direct action can be taken as a result of your report. You will not be contacted about your report.
- Reporting anonymously helps the University to understand what is happening in our community and review preventative and support measures.
- Anonymous two-way messaging: You will be offered the opportunity to contact one of our advisors anonymously though our anonymous two-way messaging tool. This may be useful in future if you wish to ask questions, provide further detail about the incident, or decide to provide your contact details.
What happens if I submit a report with my contact details?
- Your report will be assigned to an advisor who will contact you within 5 working days of your report.
- Please be aware, submitting a report through the Report and Support portal does not automatically start the University Disciplinary process and investigation. You will be raising awareness of the incident to one of our advisors who can then take you through the options available to you.
- If you wish to report an emergency, you should always call 999 for emergency services.
- You will be able to choose which email address the advisor contacts you by, but if you choose a personal email please be sure to check your spam folder.
- Your advisor may ask some additional questions about the incident over email to make sure your incident is handled by the appropriate team. They will explain the next steps and the options available to you. They may offer an appointment to discuss the circumstances further and explore the best avenues of support.
- Your advisor can also explain the process for making a formal complaint to the University Disciplinary process, if this is something you are considering.
- If you submit a report but decide you do not want to proceed with a formal complaint, you are not under any obligation to do so. We would ask that you kindly reply to the initial email sent by the advisor to let them know your decision not to continue at this time. You can change your mind at any time.
How quickly will my report be seen and processed?
You report will be reviewed and you will be contacted by an adviser, by email, within 5 working days. To review the process following the submission of a report please visit our How ARU processes your report page.
If I submit a report on Report and Support, will it automatically trigger some kind of formal process?
In short, no.
Report and Support is a confidential online platform designed to help guide you through your options and has two options for confidential disclosure.
If someone chooses to submit with contact details, a trained advisor will be in contact within 5 working days.
If you’re 18 or over, your report won’t automatically be shared with the police or formally investigated by the university.
Our trained advisors will help guide you through both your reporting and support options, in complete confidence. Your advisor will help you decide how far you want your disclosure to go, and support you all the way, whatever your decision.
Or you can disclose incidents anonymously. No direct action will be taken by the university as a result of the anonymous disclosure, however, it will feed into our data and trend analysis.
Reporting: Subject
Who can I submit a report about?
You can submit a report about anyone. Report and Support is available to all staff, students and campus visitors.
Your report can be about a staff member, a student or a campus visitor regardless of which category you fall in to.
Your report can be about something that happened to you, or something that happened to someone you know or witnessed.
If your incident took place away from campus, you can still use this portal to report it and find out what support is available to you.
Can I report on behalf of someone else?
Yes. You can use the tool to report your concerns about someone, or an incident which happened involving someone else.
Can I report something that happened off campus?
Yes. You can report something, even if it happened off campus.
Report and Support is available to all staff, students and visitors who have experienced sexual misconduct, discrimination, harassment, bullying or violence.
The Team understand that this could happen to students and staff beyond the university campus and even overseas. Support is available regardless of where the individual is based in the world or where it happened. The Advisor will simply work to tailor the support and reporting options to the individual’s circumstances.
What if I'm not sure how to categorise my report?
It's always better to report any concerns or issues, even if you're not sure about the category. Your report will be directed to the appropriate person to handle it. Remember, your report doesn't have to be perfect or complete.
Reporting: Data Handling
How secure is my information?
Data held on Report and Support is GDPR compliant and further information about how data is collected and stored is outlined in the Privacy policy. The system has been security tested by both the developer, Culture Shift, and by the University.
Is there a time limit on reporting an incident?
In short, no. Report and Support offers a platform to report any incident that has impacted you or someone you know regardless of when the incident occurred.
If you report with contact details, our trained advisors will help guide you through both your reporting and support options, in complete confidence. Your advisor will help you decide how far you want your disclosure to go, and support you all the way, whatever your decision.
It is worth noting that, in some cases, the time passed may impact the formal reporting routes available to you, and our advisors will be able to guide you through this.
How will ARU manage malicious complaints?
If a report is found to be malicious or vexatious, such reports will be addressed under existing student and staff disciplinary procedures.
As a member of staff, will the responses I provide to the personal data questions change any of my personal data held on my HR record?
The responses you provide to the personal data questions on the Report and Support form do not change the personal data held on your HR record. The anonymised data feeds into high level statistical reporting, to help us gain a better understanding of whether certain groups of people within the University are experiencing problems with harassment, bullying, discrimination, hate crimes etc.
Further questions?
If you are a student and have any further questions please see our Harassment Support at ARU webpage
If you are a staff member and have any further questions please email hradvice@aru.ac.uk
If you are a campus visitor and have any further questions please see our Contact us webpage