How Title IX Coordinators Can Build Stronger Partnerships with Confidential Resources

Clear roles, informed referrals, and ongoing communication can help Confidential Resources foster trust and access without blurring the boundaries that make their role distinct.

Title IX Coordinators spend much of their time in the details: reviewing policy, responding to reports, arranging supportive measures, coordinating the grievance process, and keeping many people informed. But an effective Title IX program is also built through relationships. The work does not happen in isolation.

Confidential Resources are a particularly important example. They give students and employees a place to seek support, ask questions, and consider their options without necessarily initiating contact with the Title IX Office. When the relationship between the Title IX Office and Confidential Resources is clear and well maintained, community members are more likely to receive accurate information and find the support that fits their needs.

In the recent webinar Title IX Confidential Resources: Strategies for Building Trust, Title IX Solutions Executive Director Adrienne Mathis and attorney and Title IX practitioner Lin-Chi Wang, JD discussed how Coordinators can strengthen these partnerships while respecting the independence and boundaries of each role. Their larger point is worth emphasizing: this work is not about turning Confidential Resources into an extension of the Title IX Office. It is about giving two distinct parts of the institution enough shared understanding to serve the community well.

Start with role clarity

Before a Coordinator can strengthen the relationship, the institution needs a clear answer to a basic question: Who is confidential, and in what circumstances?

The answer may depend on legally recognized privilege, applicable federal and state law, professional licensing obligations, institutional policy, and the capacity in which a person is acting. A counselor, healthcare provider, clergy member, or another designated resource may have confidential responsibilities in one setting but different obligations in another. The same person may even hold more than one campus role.

That makes role clarity more than a policy exercise. Confidential Resources should be able to explain when they can receive information in confidence, when an exception may apply, and when another role changes their responsibilities. Other employees should understand the difference as well, so they do not describe themselves as confidential or make promises they cannot keep.

In Practice: One Person, Different Roles

Consider a person who serves both as a clergy member and a faculty member. A conversation held in a pastoral capacity may be treated differently from a disclosure made while that person is teaching a course. The useful question is not only, “Is this person a confidential resource?” but also, “Which role is this person performing right now?”

Coordinators need to make sure institutional materials accurately reflect the framework that applies, that those in the role of Confidential Resource understand the boundaries of their designation, and that legal counsel or the appropriate subject-matter expert is involved when questions remain.

Give Confidential Resources enough Title IX knowledge to be helpful

The goal is not to turn Confidential Resources into Title IX experts. It is to prepare them to explain options accurately, avoid overpromising, and connect someone with the right place for more information.

Annual employee Title IX training can give Confidential Resources the institutional knowledge they need to be helpful, particularly when the training is customized to the institution’s policy and resources. It should help them understand where to find the current policy; how someone can contact the Title IX Office; what generally happens after that contact; and what formal, informal, and supportive options may be available under institutional policy. Confidential Resources should also know that supportive measures may be available without a person pursuing a formal grievance process, while understanding that the Title IX Coordinator, not the Confidential Resource, determines and coordinates Title IX supportive measures under the institution’s policy.

Title IX Coordinators may consider providing additional, specific training for campus Confidential Resources. This can help them better understand the role of an advisor, reporting options outside the institution, evidence preservation, and the limits of what the Confidential Resource can and should promise to campus community members. The most important outcome is not memorization. It is confidence in a few accurate messages: help may be available; contacting the Title IX Office does not automatically answer every question or determine every next step; and the Confidential Resource can help the individual understand where to learn more.

Because the information provided in annual training can fade, Title IX Coordinators might also consider providing Confidential Resources with a guide, contact card, or infographic to reference throughout the year. This information can reinforce the correct contact information, policy location, general options, and referral pathways in the event that a Confidential Resource is communicating directly with a student or employee. These tools reduce the chance that a well-intentioned resource fills a gap in memory with an inaccurate assumption.

Coordinators looking to strengthen collaboration beyond this one relationship can explore the IX Institute’s Building Campus Partnerships course, which focuses on engaging partners, building buy-in, and creating more consistent processes.

Design the handoff before someone needs it

One of the most practical questions from the webinar was also one of the most nuanced: What happens when a Confidential Resource accompanies someone to the Title IX Office?

The Confidential Resource may be providing essential support by walking with the person, helping them reach the right office, or making an introduction. But if the Confidential Resource observes or participates in the Title IX conversation, their role may change. Information shared in that meeting may not carry the same confidentiality as an earlier conversation held within the Confidential Resource’s protected role, and continued participation could make the resource a witness to what is said.

The time to work through that boundary is before a real disclosure tests it. Coordinators and Confidential Resources should discuss what a warm handoff looks like at their institution: how the resource will explain the transition, where their participation ends, how the Title IX Office will receive the person, and what other support persons or advisors may be available if the person does not want to continue alone.

There may not be one script that fits every institution or every situation. Policy, staffing, available support, and the circumstances of the disclosure all matter. Questions like these illustrate the gap between knowing the rules and implementing them in the real world. For Coordinators who want an experienced partner available as those questions and other issues arise, Title IX Coordinator Mentorship provides hands-on, case-based guidance focused on implementation, communication, supportive measures, role coordination, and procedural decision-making.

Make the relationship ongoing

An annual training should begin the partnership, not define it.

Consider a quarterly or once-per-term conversation with Confidential Resources. The purpose is not to ask for information about individual confidential disclosures. It is to create space for broader questions: What are people confused about? Which parts of the Title IX process are difficult to explain? Are community members unsure about where to seek support? Are there recurring concerns that suggest a need for targeted education?

Those conversations can extend beyond Confidential Resources into the broader campus community, making the Title IX Office more informed about the community’s perceptions of Confidential Resources and Title IX. A pattern of questions from one residence hall, employee group, or student organization may point to an education gap. Repeated confusion about what happens after someone contacts the Title IX Office may reveal a communication problem. Feedback about a referral pathway may show that a process that looks clear on paper feels very different to the person trying to use it.

That insight connects partnership work to the Coordinator’s broader education and prevention responsibilities. Strong relationships help the office respond to the campus it actually serves, not only the campus described in policy. For additional ideas on visibility, transparency, and trust, read Breaking Down Barriers to Title IX Reporting.

Make confidential resources visible and understandable

Identifying Confidential Resources is not enough if students and employees cannot find them or do not understand what choosing a confidential resource means.

Review the places where community members encounter Title IX information: the policy, Title IX website, reporting forms, orientation and onboarding materials, student and employee Title IX training, intake materials, campus-safety resources, and printed materials in high-traffic locations. The name and contact information of each resource should be accurate and easy to find across those channels.

Just as important, explain the distinction between contacting a Confidential Resource and contacting the Title IX Office. A list of names without context does not help someone make an informed choice. Plain language should tell the reader what a Confidential Resource can offer, when confidentiality applies, any material limitations that must be disclosed, and how to reach the Title IX Office if the person wants information about institutional options.

If website clarity is part of the challenge, the free Reimagining Your Title IX Website webinar offers guidance on creating a functional, easy-to-navigate experience. Coordinators can also use the Title IX Back-to-School Checklist to review whether public-facing resource and reporting information is consistent across institutional materials.

Strong partnerships support both sides

A well-defined partnership benefits more than the Title IX Office. Confidential Resources gain a reliable point of contact for process questions and greater confidence that a referral will be handled thoughtfully. The Title IX Office gains trusted campus partners who can explain options accurately without compromising their distinct role. Students and employees gain clearer pathways to support and information.

For the Coordinator, this is one part of a role that extends far beyond policy administration. Training provides the foundation, but relationship-building and implementation require sound judgment, communication, and follow-through. Coordinators do not need to navigate every question in isolation. The right campus partnerships, and the right professional support, can make the work more consistent, more responsive, and easier for the community to access.

Please Note: The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. We recommend seeking independent legal advice concerning the issues presented in evaluating a particular incident.