Formal vs. Informal Complaint

Informal Complaint:

Making an informal complaint involves the complainant disclosing an incident of sexual misconduct to the Title IX office either in person or via the online reporting form. The Title IX coordinator will reach out to the complainant with support resources and options to move forward with making a formal complaint if they wish.

Formal Complaint:

Making a formal Title IX complaint means the complainant submits a signed document to the Title IX office alleging sexual misconduct against a respondent within Eastern’s education program or activity and requesting that the University investigate these allegations. This is an administrative process that will investigate if university policy has been violated. The Title IX process will not investigate if a criminal law has been violated.

The key difference between an informal and formal complaint is the complainant's signed request to the university to investigate the alleged misconduct.