MIT is committed to maintaining a civil, diverse, and supportive community. While free expression allows a breadth of views that lead to some feeling uncomfortable, there are times when expression crosses into impermissible intimidation, discrimination, or harassment. Several reporting mechanisms exist for handling situations where expression becomes a violation of MIT policy.
While it is understandable to want to know what happened to a report you made, or a report that you are aware of that you think pertains to your identity group, that may not always be possible. But not knowing the outcome of a complaint does not mean it has not been addressed: as the Institute Discrimination & Harassment Response Office (IDHR) writes, “To the extent provided under applicable law, MIT will make all reasonable efforts to ensure preservation of privacy, restricting the sharing of information to those with a legitimate need to know.”
Allegations of community member or student organization policy violations
Students
The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (OSCCS) oversees all conduct and academic integrity complaints against students and student organizations and is an impartial resource for all parties in the complaint resolution process. In general, OSCCS is the starting point for all cases against students and student organizations. Complaints involving discrimination or discriminatory harassment may also be brought to the attention of IDHR, which works in close coordination with OSCCS.
While OSCCS handles the administrative aspects of complaints against students, the Committee on Discipline (COD), which is a standing committee of the faculty, is responsible for resolving complaints against students and student organizations and deciding the appropriate Institute response. See the COD’s process and learn what happens after a student receives an OSCCS letter. All cases are resolved using the COD Rules.
Get additional information on MIT’s student disciplinary process, including potential outcomes.
International students are required to maintain immigration status in order to remain in the United States. Sanctions that impact a student’s status involve those that require a leave of absence or withdrawal from MIT. International students are encouraged to contact their International Scholars Office advisor to discuss further.
Faculty and staff
In addition to IDHR, complaints or incident reports that allege MIT faculty or staff have violated Institute policy can be directed to MIT Human Resources.
Community members
As noted above, IDHR will be involved in any cases alleging discrimination or discriminatory harassment, including conducting impartial investigations in response to a formal complaint. The IDHR Investigation Guide is intended to provide MIT community members with greater detail about the IDHR process for investigating formal complaints involving discrimination or discriminatory harassment. See the policies relating to discrimination and discriminatory harassment that fall under IDHR’s purview.
The Ombuds Office is a confidential and independent resource for all members of the MIT community, including students, faculty, employees, alumni, and employees of Lincoln Laboratory, to constructively manage concerns and conflicts related to their experience at MIT. Raising concerns with the ombuds does not initiate any formal action or process, but the ombuds can assist with identifying campus resources and processes that may be available to help address a complicated situation.
MIT also has established an anonymous reporting hotline for whistleblower or other complaints about suspected wrongdoing, violations of Institute policy, or troubling practices on campus. The reporting system is hosted and maintained by a third-party vendor called Ethicspoint. Although the hotline is a useful tool, as described above there are many other ways to report issues around the Institute. In many cases, MIT is better able to respond to complaints that are not anonymous.
In most cases, the resources above will be sufficient to resolve concerns. However, if you feel at risk of imminent harm, you should contact the MIT Police by calling 617-253-1212 or dialing 100 from any MIT phone.