How does the investigative process work?
After your application is received by the Unit, the members of the Committee will inform you within 7 working days at the latest, make the necessary preliminary evaluation, and reach you as soon as possible. The Unit schedules an appointment to meet you in person when deemed necessary. The members of the Committee will inform you about the options and process that best suit your demands and needs.
What are the counseling and response mechanisms within the Unit?
In accordance with the applicant’s request and the METU Gender Equality Principles and Strategies Document, the Unit may introduce the following support mechanisms:
- Providing guidance to the Complainant
- Providing necessary guidance and information to the Campus Disciplinary Board, if deemed necessary, with regard to the applicant’s complaint and on the evaluation of the Executive Committee of the Unit
- Referring the applicant to the Medico and health care institutions and providing relevant information
- Providing necessary guidance for information about the legal process
- Providing necessary guidance and information in cases where legal instituions and institutions of public security should be consulted
TOCED-CİTÖB’s Working Process and Scope of Authority
- Applications submitted to TOCED-CİTÖB by students and staff of the University who have concerns or inquiries about sexual assault or sexual harassment, or by the relevant authorities of the University, are evaluated.
- Within the scope of the evaluation, first of all, the register is initiated by one of the full members of the Unit’s Executive Board. The registration form does not include the applicant’s identity information. A registration number is provided by the Unit for each application and the following processes are performed using this registration number. The registration form contains the date, subject and claims of the applicant. All other information and documents accompanying the registration form are subject to the applicant’s approval.
- In compliance with the request of the applicant to inform the Unit, the necessary consultation process is initiated. In this case, the Unit of METU NCC Legal Counsellor, Medico, Student Development and Counseling Center, and other related organizations provide support, if necessary.
- In line with the applicant’s complaint, the Executive Committee establishes a Committee of Inquiry for each case it evaluates.The review and evaluation process is conducted by this committee. The Committee sends the evaluation report on the complaint to the Board.
- If the Board, who evaluates the report prepared by the Committee of Inquiry, considers that the issue constitutes a disciplinary offence, it shall forward its evaluation based on this report and the attached file stamped as “Confidential”, to the Campus President. It also proposes a member of TOCED-CİTÖB to participate in the disciplinary investigation commission.
- The aforementioned TOCED-CİTÖB Executive Committee member brief the investigators, who were appointed in the disciplinary proceedings initiated by the Campus President’s Advisor, on the issue and inform them of the need to take into account the points in the “Middle East Technical University Gender Equality Principles and Strategies Document” during the investigation process.
- The Disciplinary Committee appointed by the Campus President’s Advisor upon the Complainant’s application makes the necessary evaluation based on the investigation and the METU NCC Student Disciplinary Committee makes the necessary decision. In other words, TOCED-CİTÖB is not a decision-making body, it is a support Unit.