{"id":152,"date":"2021-03-11T16:26:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T16:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stmarytx.edu\/policies\/?post_type=hrp&#038;p=152"},"modified":"2025-10-09T22:27:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T22:27:14","slug":"consensual-relationships","status":"publish","type":"human-resources","link":"https:\/\/www.stmarytx.edu\/policies\/human-resources\/consensual-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"Consensual Relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The University <strong>prohibits<\/strong> sexual or romantic relationships under the following situations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Relationship with a student<\/strong> \u2013 it is prohibited for a member of the faculty, staff, advisory or alumni board members or for members of the Board of Trustees (non-students) to have a relationship with a student.<\/li><li><strong>Relationship with a supervisor<\/strong> \u2013 it is prohibited for a supervisor and subordinate to have a sexual or romantic relationship.<\/li><li><strong>Relationship with a university employee<\/strong>&#8211; it is prohibited for a member of an advisory or alumni board or for members of the Board of Trustees to have a relationship with a university employee. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The University strongly <strong>discourages<\/strong> sexual or romantic relationships under the following situations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Relationship where there is or may be an institutional power difference<\/strong> <\/li><li><strong>Relationships between faculty and staff with no power difference or supervisory authority but where employees are working within the same department or division.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Individuals who enter into relationships that\nare strongly discouraged must presume that if a charge of sexual harassment is\nlodged, it will be exceedingly difficult to prove mutual consent. &nbsp;Thus, parties involved in these type of relationships\nassume all associated risks, and the University will hold both parties\naccountable if such a relationship creates any safety or security concerns or\nif it warrants an investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is the responsibility of the individuals\ninvolved in discouraged and prohibited types of relationships to disclose in\nwriting the nature of involvement to the Human Resources department. If a\nremedy is available, then one will be discussed at the time of disclosure.\nOtherwise, all employees of the university as covered by the Personnel Manual\nwho engage in a relationship that is prohibited or discouraged by this policy\nmay be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of\nemployment. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the discretion of the University,\none or both parties to the relationship may be subject to transfer or\ntermination of employment. If transfer or termination is appropriate, the\nparties involved will be given the opportunity to determine which party will be\nsubject to the change in employment status, to the extent possible. If the\nparties are unable to agree, the University will make the determination in its\nsole discretion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This policy does not apply where the spouse of\nan employee is a student at the University provided that the employee has\ndisclosed this information to the Human Resources Department<\/strong>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-152","human-resources","type-human-resources","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Consensual Relationships - Policy Library<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stmarytx.edu\/policies\/human-resources\/consensual-relationships\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Consensual Relationships - Policy Library\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The University prohibits sexual or romantic relationships under the following situations: Relationship with a student \u2013 it is prohibited for a member of the faculty, staff, advisory or alumni board members or for members of the Board of Trustees (non-students) to have a relationship with a student. 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