If you have experienced misconduct
After a sexual assault, it’s important to remember that you have many resources on and off campus to help you recover physically, emotionally and academically. There is no single right way to ensure your recovery, but here are options to help you meet your safety and emotional needs, obtain medical attention and pursue formal complaints at Skidmore and/or legal action off-campus.
- Know that what happened was not your fault. Know that there are resources to help you now and going forward.
- Go to a safe place. This could be your room, a friend's room or anywhere you will feel safe.
- Call Campus Safety at 518-580-5566 to ensure your safety and the safety of the campus community. Please note that contacting Campus Safety will initiate a report to Title IX.
- Call someone you trust. Consider calling a close friend or family member. Legally confidential and anonymous resources include Health Services, the Counseling Center or Wellspring. Click here for contact information for key resources.
- Preserve evidence of the attack. Do not bathe, wash your hands, brush your teeth, eat or smoke. If you are still in the location where the attack occurred, do not clean up or change the environment in any way. If you do change clothing, package all evidence in a paper—not plastic—bag. Even if you are not sure about reporting the assault, it makes sense to preserve the evidence until you make a final decision.
- Secure medical consultation. Go to the emergency department at Saratoga Springs Hospital, to the college's Health Center or another health professional. Medical staff can evaluate any injuries you may have suffered, screen and treat for sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy and prescribe emergency contraception.
- Strongly consider securing your medical consultation from a specially trained sexual assault forensic examination nurse (often referred to as a “SAFE nurse”). SAFE nurses provide free medical care for victims of sexual assault and can collect forensic evidence of the assault for possible prosecution of the assailant. The gathering of this evidence does not commit you to pursuing legal action against the assailant but does preserve your options. The closest SAFE nurse is at Saratoga Springs Hospital.
Recovering from sexual assault takes time and help. The following offices and people can offer medical, psychological and practical support to you. These resources are all confidential or anonymous.
Skidmore College Health Services: Jonsson Tower, first floor, 518-580-5550. Health Services, a confidential resource, can help students address immediate and longer term medical concerns following assault. Health Services staff can provide testing and treatment for sexual transmitted infections as well as women’s health services, including pregnancy testing and emergency contraception. Health Services can help arrange for housing and academic accommodations (with appropriate releases of information). During Fall and Spring semesters, there is always someone from Health Services on call after hours. Contact Campus Safety at 518-580-5566 and ask to speak with the on-call provider. You do not need to leave your name or any identifying information with Campus Safety.
Skidmore College Counseling Center: Jonsson Tower, first floor, 518-580-5555. The Counseling Center, a confidential resource, provides a range of professional mental health services to all students, including same-day emergency appointments, short-term individual therapy, group therapy and psychiatric and referral consultations. The Counseling Center staff can help arrange for academic and housing accommodations (with appropriate releases of information). During the academic year, there is always a mental health clinician available for crisis consultation after hours. Call the Counseling Center main number (518-580-5555) and follow the prompts to be connected to the crisis service.
Skidmore College Victim Advocates : Located in the Health Promotion office in Wiecking Hall. Jen McDonald (518-580-5684)
and Kim Golemboski (518-580-5484) are designated victim advocates at Skidmore College.
This designation means they are able to offer information, assistance and support
for all victims of sexual and gender-based misconduct without having to file a report
with Campus Safety. They are able to help students understand their resources, rights
and options. Victim advocates help students make informed decisions about how to proceed
following an assault, and they offer help and support throughout a student’s time
at Skidmore. Victim advocates can help arrange for housing and academic accommodations. While
maintaining a victim’s anonymity, victim advocates must report the nature, date, time
and general location of an incident to the Title IX coordinator or designee
Skidmore College Student Wellness Center: The Student Wellness Center, located on the third floor of Case Center, is a student-run, administratively affiliated safe space for reporting incidents of sexual and gender-based misconduct and obtaining support after incidents of sexual and gender-based misconduct. Trained peer health educators can help students get help from on- and off-campus resources. Hours, which vary by semester, are posted on the door to the Wellness Center.
Wellspring: Located at 480 Broadway in the Collamer Building, next to City Hall. Office phone number is 518-583-0280. Wellspring operates a 24-hour hotline (518-584-8188) and offers crisis intervention and support services including case management, counseling, legal advocacy, accompaniment and safety planning to all victims of sexual assault or domestic violence.
A victim advocate from Wellspring is also on campus and accessible to individuals during set times (see https://www.skidmore.edu/sgbm/contacts.php for exact times and contact information).
You have three options for reporting an assault on campus:
- Confidential sources: Confidential sources include Health Services, the Counseling Center, and Wellspring. Confidentiality is protected in these locations by law and college policy. Confidential sources cannot share information with anyone without written permission. There are rare, legally mandated exemptions to confidentiality, which usually involve concerns about someone’s imminent safety.
- Anonymous sources: Anonymous support sources include Victim Advocates and Peer Health Educators. Anonymous sources have been deemed confidential by the college but are still required to report statistical information to the Title IX coordinator. Reports are forwarded to the college’s Title IX coordinator, but the names of those involved are not included. The reports include only date and location of the incident. Any report to a Peer Health Educator from the Student Wellness Center will be handled in this way.
- Non-confidential sources: As required by Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972, reports are forwarded to the college’s Title IX coordinator to be investigated. Every effort will be made to protect the privacy of the reporting individual. Next steps are determined by the findings or results of the investigation. Any report you make to a Skidmore staff or faculty member, a student in authority (such as a Resident Assistant), or Campus Safety will be handled in the manner as the law requires.
When you report an incident of sexual and gender-based misconduct, the Title IX coordinator will offer you the assistance of a sexual and gender-based misconduct (SGBM) advisor. The SGBM advisor is a Skidmore community staff or faculty member, appointed by the dean of students and vice president for student affairs, who is trained to support either the reporting individual or the responding student. The SGBM advisor may assist a student throughout the campus conduct process, including being present at the conduct hearing, but may not speak at the conduct hearing. In consultation with other college officials or faculty members where appropriate, an SGBM advisor may assist in arranging any of the following accommodations:
- Change of on-campus student housing to different on-campus location
- Exam (paper, assignment) rescheduling
- Taking an incomplete in a class
- Transferring of sections
- Alternative course-completion options
Contact information for confidential/anonymous support
*Indicates availability 24 hours a day/7 days a week during the academic session.
- *Counseling Center
518-580-5555
Regular hours: 9 a.m.–noon and 1–4:30 p.m. Monday–Friday during Fall and Spring Terms. Check website for summer session hours. To access the emergency services, call the main number and follow the prompts. - *Health Services
518-580-5555
Regular hours: 9 a.m.–noon and 1–4:30 p.m. Monday–Friday and noon–5 p.m. Sunday during Fall and Spring Terms. Check website for summer session hours. To access the on-call clinician during Fall and Spring Term, contact Campus Safety at 518-580-5567. - Important: You may confidentially contact both the Counseling Center and Health Services after hours by calling Campus Safety at 518-580-5566 and asking for the on-call clinician. There is no need to leave your name. Just leave your phone number, and the clinician will call you back.
- Victim Advocates
Kristen Corcoran
Health Educator
kcorcora@skidmore.edu
518-580-5684
Kim Golemboski
Director of Health Promotions
kgolembo@skidmore.edu
518-580-5484
Wendy Walker
Prevention Specialist
hwalker@skidmore.edu
518-580-8256
Click here for contact information for key resources.
If the responding student is a currently enrolled student, any person who has experienced an incident of sexual or gender-based misconduct may file a formal complaint with the Title IX coordinator, Joel Aure at 518-580-5708 or jaure@skidmore.edu. The reporting individual works with the Title IX coordinator or designee to complete a formal complaint form, which contains information about the reporting individual, accused student (responding student), and the alleged policy violation(s) of the sexual and gender-based misconduct policy that form the basis for the complaint. The complaint form will be presented to the responding student during the initial intake meeting with the Title IX coordinator or a designee.
You will want to familiarize yourself with the college’s entire sexual and gender-based misconduct policy. As the policy stipulates, you will be strongly encouraged to choose and to work with a trained sexual and gender-based misconduct (SGBM) advisor.
SGBM advisors provide information and support regarding the college’s sexual and gender-based misconduct policy and the campus conduct process. The SGBM advisor may assist you throughout the campus conduct process, including being present at the conduct hearing (though SGBM advisors may not speak at the conduct hearing).
In consultation with other college officials or faculty members where appropriate, a SGBM advisor may assist in arranging any of the following accommodations:
- Change of on-campus student housing to different on-campus location
- Exam (paper, assignment) rescheduling
- Taking an incomplete in a class
- Transferring of sections
- Alternative course-completion options
It is your decision whether or not to file a criminal report. We encourage you to seek out the support system that feels most appropriate and helpful to you. It is the policy of Skidmore College and the Saratoga Springs Police Department to not issue citations or take disciplinary action against victims who are under the legal drinking age or under the influence of illegal substances who report an assault.
When the police arrive, they will ensure you are physically safe and take a statement from you about what happened. The police may also subsequently interview you about what happened. The interview will be conducted in private, and can often take place on campus. You may ask to have a friend or another supportive person accompany you if you wish. The police will get as much information as possible about the incident and investigate the case further.
Once an investigation is completed, the police refer the case to the District Attorney’s
Office. The District Attorney’s Office decides whether or not your case will be prosecuted
by considering factors such as the amount of evidence available to prove the charge(s)
in court. If the district attorney decides not to prosecute, this does not mean that
the district attorney does not believe that you were assaulted. It means that, based
on past experience, the district attorney does not believe that there is sufficient
evidence to successfully prosecute the case.
To report a sexual assault to the New York State Police:
Contact the State Police 24-hour hotline: 1-844-845-7269
New York State Police Campus Sexual Assault Victims Unit (CSAVU)
NYS Police Headquarters, Albany
Senior Investigator Rodger Kirsopp
518-464-7137
The government agencies listed below can provide additional resources and information about gender discrimination and the application of Title IX and its implementing regulations:
U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights
Office for Civil Rights
New York Office
U.S. Department of Education
32 Old Slip, 26th floor
New York, NY 10005-2500
Telephone: 646-428-3900
FAX: 646-428-3843
TDD: 800-877-8339
Email: OCR.NewYork@ed.gov
U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women
145 N Street, NE, Suite 10W.121, Washington, DC 20530
Telephone: 202-307-6026
FAX: 202-305-2589
TTY: 202-307-227
Email: ovw.info@usdoj.gov