Filing a Complaint

Please use the Section 9 Formal Complaint Form to file a Complaint against a faculty member for a violation of a Conduct Policy. Consider scheduling a meeting to learn more about informal and formal resolution options with the Institute Discrimination & Harassment Response Office (IDHR) for matters involving discrimination or discriminatory harassment, or with MIT Human Resources for all other inappropriate conduct.

The process described here applies to Respondents who are MIT Faculty, including:

• The President, the Provost, the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor, and the Associate Provosts of the Institute;
• All members of the instructing staff with rank of Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor; Associate Professor/Senior Coach, Associate Professor/Coach, and Assistant Professor/Coach;
• The Deans of the Schools of Architecture and Planning; Engineering; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Science; the Sloan School of Management; and the Schwartzman College of Computing.

This process also applies to Respondents who are Senior Research Scientists, Senior Research Engineers, and Senior Research Associates, as defined in Policies and Procedures Section 5.3.1.

Complaints against any other academic or research staff will follow the process outlined here.

The complaint process is described in detail in Section 9.8.

Intake and Assessment

This flowchart explains the process for incidents of Discrimination & Discriminatory Harassment excluding Title IX Sexual Harassment. A flowchart incorporating the Title IX Sexual Harassment intake and assessment is in development. If you have any questions, please email idhr@mit.edu.

Formal Complaint Process

This flowchart explains the process for incidents of Discrimination & Discriminatory Harassment excluding Title IX Sexual Harassment. A flowchart incorporating the Title IX Sexual Harassment formal complaint process is in development. If you have any questions, please email idhr@mit.edu.

Please note that upon completion of the investigation, the Investigator will prepare a Final Investigation Record and Report. The Investigation Report will summarize the information gathered and the Investigator will make a finding or recommendation as to responsibility (as described in P&P, Section 9.8), except in Formal Complaints of Title IX Sexual Harassment, where the Investigator will make an assessment limited to whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to a hearing to determine responsibility.

Faculty Complaint Review Panel

A pool of approximately 10 tenured faculty members are appointed by the President and the Provost to serve on panels for Section 9.8 Complaints against faculty members, senior research scientists, senior research engineers, or senior research associates. These faculty members are from each of MIT’s five Schools and will serve 1-3 year terms. 

In a given case, the Associate Provost will choose three impartial faculty members from this pool to serve as the Faculty Panel. The panel reviews the final investigation report and determines whether a violation of one or more Conduct Policies occurred. If so, the panel recommends disciplinary, remedial or other action that should be taken to address the violation.

In compliance with federal law, MIT has certain special procedures for resolving complaints of Title IX Sexual Harassment against MIT faculty and staff. In cases involving a respondent who is a faculty member, senior research scientist, senior research engineer, or senior research associate, after the IDHR investigator(s) issue a written fact-finding report, a Faculty Panel will be convened, and the Faculty Panel will hold a hearing.

The Faculty Panel will be staffed by a Chair and two faculty members chosen by the Associate Provost. The Chair of the Faculty Panel will be an outside professional engaged by MIT, who will be responsible for overseeing the hearing and will participate as a decision-maker in all issues before the relevant Panel.

The Faculty Panel receives training on discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, and other relevant issues, including MIT’s Conduct Policies. This training incorporates perspectives from stakeholders at various stages of their education and careers, such as undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs. When a Faculty Panel is chosen for a particular case, the members of that panel will receive refresher training prior to engaging in their work.

The Faculty Panel also receives training on adjudicating formal complaints including policy definitions (including the definition of Title IX sexual harassment, the scope of MIT’s education program or activity, how to conduct hearings, technology to be used at live hearings, issues of relevance of questions and evidence (including when questions and evidence about the complainant’s sexual predisposition or prior sexual behavior are not relevant), and how to serve impartially (including by avoiding prejudgment of the facts at issue, conflicts of interest, and bias). 

If you have further questions, please review the Frequently Asked Questions page.