What is Report + Support? Report + Support is an online tool developed by Culture Shift where students and staff can report issues of sexual misconduct and assault, stalking, hate incidents, physical harm, verbal abuse, domestic abuse, spiking, harassment (non sexual), bullying and discrimination anonymously or providing a name so that an advisor can contact you to discuss. Report + Support is also home to information about internal and external support, policies and procedures and campaigns.
Who can make a report? University of Kent students and staff can make a report through Report + Support. Visitors are encouraged to report complaints through the public complaints process.
What happens when someone makes an anonymous report? The report will be viewed by one of the administrators of Report and Support who work within Student Services or Human Resources (for staff reports). The administrators will first review the report to identify any risks that relate to duty of care. If no immediate risk is identified, no further, direct action will be taken. The information kept will be for trend analysis and inform proactive prevention.
What is the difference between anonymous and advisor reports? The University of Kent does not know who has made an anonymous report, and therefore cannot reach out and provide support. Whereas if someone wants to receive support or consider informal or formal options to address a concern, they would make a named report and speak to an advisor.
What happens when someone wants to contact an advisor? An advisor may be either a member of the Specialist Wellbeing Team, or a Human Resources adviser, depending on the incident you reported. The administrators, assign a case to the most appropriate advisor. Each of the advisors are provided with a login and can only access cases that are assigned to them. The advisor receives an email notification that a case has been assigned to them – no identifiable information is provided within this email alert. The advisor then logs into Report + Support to access information provided using their personal login details. The advisor then makes contact with the person who has made the report and they arrange a meeting to discuss the report.
What action can you take from anonymous reports? Information provided within anonymous reports will be used as statistical data to understand what is happening and to inform proactive prevention work. Student Services/Human Resources will work with areas identified to address any concerning trends.
How will the University of Kent manage malicious complaints? If a report is found to be malicious or vexatious, such reports will be addressed under existing student procedures or staff ordinances (as applicable).
What do you do with the information gathered from anonymous reports? Information provided within anonymous reports will be used as statistical data to understand what is happening and to inform proactive prevention work. Student Services/Human Resources will work with areas identified to address any concerning trends.
What do you do with the data gathered from advisor reports? The data collected from Report + Support is used to produce anonymised annual reports. These reports would include the number of cases, most reported types of harassment and location.
How secure is the data and information sent through the system? Data held on Report + Support is GDPR compliant and further information about how data is collected and stored is outlined in the Privacy Notice. The system has been security tested by both the developer, Culture Shift, and by University of Kent.
How long is data sorted on the system? Personal data is kept, deleted or archived in accordance with the University Records Retention Schedule. Student requests to speak with an advisor and Student data relating to conduct and disciplinary proceedings are retained for 20 years after the date the incident / behaviour reported.
Is there a time limit for raising a report? Early reporting is encouraged to enable a thorough investigation to be conducted. However, the University recognises that there may be times when an individual does not want to or feel able to make a report soon after an alleged incident or incidents. Therefore, where applicable, the University is committed to undertaking thorough and diligent investigations regarding both current and historic reports of harassment. It is important to acknowledge that for historical reports, over time memories may wane, and the availability of evidence may become limited. For example, CCTV footage is retained for a 10-day window before being irretrievably deleted. Please note, if a member of staff or student is no longer a member of the University community then it may not be possible for an investigation to take place.