I’m a graduate nursing student in Washington and I’m looking for perspective from anyone familiar with university conduct processes.

I recently found out my boyfriend had been having an affair with a married coworker. I informed her husband because I believed he deserved to know. We all used to work together but now only the husband and my boyfriend work there. Now, the woman my boyfriend cheated on me with is angry that knowledge of this eventually got out, and is threatening to report to my university for a violation in their code of ethics and and said that if I am lucky, I will not get kicked out of school. Furthermore, that she will also escalate it to defamation per se per WA law.

She claims I spread rumors about her having / spreading an STD. Which is absolutely not true. I do not live in the same state anymore nor have we worked at the same place since this happened. I've only confided in a couple close friends and never made any claims about her health. While upset, however, I did tell my boyfriend he should get an STD test via a text message. Although this was a private conversation, he was secretly still communicating with her and told her this.

I did not make social media posts, publicly accuse anyone, nor intentionally spread any information about this event.

This is all so crazy. I'm still reeling from being cheated on, and now I'm worried this girl is going to sue me and try to get me kicked out of my program that I worked hard to be a part of.

My questions are:
1.)How seriously do universities generally take complaints arising from off-campus personal relationship disputes?
2.) is a threat like this typically something to worry about, or is it more often viewed as a private interpersonal conflict?
3.) Would private text messages that were never shared publicly generally become relevant if someone filed a complaint?
4.) Do I need to be worried?
5.) Should I reach out to an advisor in advance or wait to hear any notification?

I am not seeking relationship advice—just trying to understand what a graduate program would realistically do if someone made a complaint based on these circumstances. And if I'm in any danger legally otherwise.

Thanks :)

Location - Washington

If a PhD student leaves their lab and applies to another department/university (US), do you reach out to their professor or their references? It seems unusual for a PhD student to transfer mid-degree. Is that something that is weighed based on the letters of rec/interviews?

Random question (and im not sure if this is the right sub to ask) but I’m curious to know how professor salaries are determined/calculated. At my school, you can look up employee salaries (I have for all my professors because it’s public info and they also have said they don’t get paid enough which I was shocked to hear). Something I found interesting was that some faculty members who have more experience in teaching + research and have other roles besides being a professor get paid significantly less than those who have less experience/responsibilities. I know it differs from field to field and can depend on a combination of funding, research, and experience, but do you think other things are at play here, like gender or just being liked more ? That was also another thing I noticed, and it’s shocking to see

Hello everyone,

I'm from Nepal, and I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering last year. I have two research publications, and during the last fall application cycle, I emailed professors from various universities. Unfortunately, most of my emails were either ignored, received automated replies, or were met with responses saying that there were no available RA positions.

I have always been interested in research, particularly in structural engineering and earthquake engineering. I have also learned Python and its key libraries, including NumPy, Pandas, Seaborn, and Matplotlib. Recently, I completed my journey into machine learning as well.

Could someone provide me with career advice on how to secure a Research Assistant (RA) position at a reputed university?