A UMass Lowell Title IX lawyer can help you identify the procedure in your notice, organize evidence, and prepare for meetings and hearings.
If you are a UMass Lowell student named as a respondent, start by confirming which office and procedure your case sits in. Concerns involving only students go through the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities, while matters involving employees, vendors, or visitors go through Equal Opportunity and Outreach, which oversees all Title IX matters. Only conduct meeting the federal Title IX definition follows the formal Sexual Harassment Grievance Procedure. Other sexual misconduct uses separate campus procedures, so confirm your track in writing before answering anything.
For background, see Title IX investigation and due process rights in Title IX cases.
Intake: from report to formal complaint
You may bring an advisor from the very first conversation about your concerns. Reporting opens the door to support resources, but only a formal written complaint starts the grievance process. The person filing a complaint meets with a Title IX investigator and supplies supporting documents. As a respondent, you receive written notice of the allegations, your right to an advisor, the ban on false statements, and the presumption that you are not responsible unless a determination says otherwise at the end of the process.
Supportive measures such as counseling, schedule changes, housing or dining moves, or no contact directives can be ordered without a formal complaint and are not sanctions. Preserve evidence, avoid discussing the case with the other party, and bring your advisor to meetings. If UMass Lowell police or city police contact you separately, treat that as its own matter.
Investigation: evidence review and the investigative report
A neutral trained investigator reviews accounts and documents from both sides, interviews the parties separately, and may contact other witnesses. Both sides get periodic status updates and written notice of the date, time, location, and participants of every interview and meeting, with enough time to prepare.
You get two structured chances to respond in writing. First, the investigator sends you and your advisor the gathered evidence, and you have ten calendar days to respond. Second, the investigator writes a report fairly summarizing the relevant evidence on both sides and sends it to you and your advisor, and you have ten days to respond. The live hearing is then scheduled at least ten days after the report reaches you. During the investigation your advisor counsels you quietly and may not speak for you, though you may pause to confer. The typical sequence is described at Title IX investigations timeline.
Hearing and advisor: who asks the questions
A trained hearing officer or panel holds a live hearing where both parties may present their positions and the hearing officer questions parties and witnesses. Then each party’s advisor must be allowed to ask the other party and all witnesses every relevant question, including questions testing credibility, directly, orally, and in real time, never party to party personally.
You may choose any advisor, and both sides are urged to keep one through the whole process. If you do not select one for the hearing, the university provides an advisor for the limited purpose of asking questions for you. At either party’s request the hearing can use separate rooms with technology. The hearing is recorded or transcribed for both sides, all gathered evidence is available for reference during it, and either side may request a break at any time to confer with an advisor or examine evidence. More on preparation is at Title IX advisor and Title IX disciplinary hearings.
Sanctions and appeal
The hearing officer decides by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning whether a violation more likely than not occurred. The procedure text gives two timings for the written report. One passage says the hearing officers will provide the final report within seven days after the hearing, while the passage on delivery to the parties says simultaneously within seven business days after the conclusion of the live hearing. Use the date in your notice and confirm the timing with the Title IX office, since your ten calendar day appeal period runs from the determination. For students the published sanctions include required training or workshops, exclusion from specified programs or activities, probation, suspension, and expulsion. The broader Student Conduct Code adds that expulsion is recorded on the transcript and sanctions remain in the file for years.
Either side may appeal within ten calendar days on three grounds: a procedural problem that affected the outcome, new evidence that was not reasonably available earlier and could affect the outcome, or a conflict of interest or bias that affected the outcome. The side that did not appeal gets ten calendar days to respond in writing, and the appeal officer issues a written decision with reasons to both sides together. See also Title IX appeals and Title IX defense strategies.
Cases can also be dismissed before the end: if the allegations even if true could not support a sexual harassment finding, if the complainant withdraws in writing, if the respondent is no longer enrolled or employed, or if evidence cannot be gathered. A dismissed Title IX complaint may be referred to another office such as student conduct for review under a different policy, so ask in writing where yours goes. Informal resolution needs both sides’ written agreement plus the Coordinator’s approval, is not available in cases where an employee is alleged to have engaged in sexual misconduct affecting a student, and ordinarily concludes within ten calendar days of assignment.
Speak with a UMass Lowell Title IX lawyer
If you face a UMass Lowell Title IX matter, the calendar day deadlines run fast. Contact us to discuss your notice, your track, and what comes next.
FAQ
Which office handles my UMass Lowell case?
Student only matters run through Student Rights and Responsibilities. Matters involving employees, vendors, or visitors go through Equal Opportunity and Outreach.
Do I need a formal complaint for anything to happen?
No. Supportive measures are available without one. Investigation and hearing require a completed formal written complaint.
Can I bring a lawyer?
You may bring an advisor of your choice to every stage. The advisor counsels you quietly during investigation and asks questions for you at the hearing. The university supplies one for the hearing if you choose none.
What does the school have to prove?
That a violation more likely than not occurred, on the evidence from both sides.
How long do I get on the evidence?
Ten calendar days on the gathered evidence and ten days on the investigative report, under the current procedure text.
How do I appeal?
File a signed written appeal within ten calendar days of the determination. The other side gets ten calendar days to respond, and the appeal officer decides in writing to both sides together.
Sources (checked 2026-09-22)
- Process page: office roles, formal complaint intake, and the Title IX versus other misconduct split
- Nondiscrimination Guidelines with Sexual Harassment Grievance Procedure: investigation, evidence review, live hearing, sanctions, informal resolution, appeal
- Student Conduct Code: separate conduct process, Title IX referrals, progressive sanctions with transcript notation for expulsion
- Sexual Misconduct Policy contacts: investigation, hearing, and appeal reporting paths
Disclaimer
This page is general information only, not legal advice, and reading it creates no attorney-client relationship. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Policies change. Confirm the current procedure text before acting.
