On the morning of August 1, 2024, Title IX experts from TNG Consulting and ATIXA participated in a webinar hosted by the Department of Education (ED) regarding the 2024 Title IX Rule. During the session, U.S. Secretary of...more
8/2/2024
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Colleges ,
Department of Education ,
Discrimination ,
Educational Institutions ,
LGBTQ ,
New Regulations ,
OCR ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities
Oh no, not another blog about the Title IX Regulations! I know, how many summaries of the same thing can you read? But here’s the thing: ATIXA’s compliance series is not another summary. It is designed to highlight topics you...more
The world is blessed and cursed by nuance. Most issues are complicated, and truly understanding them requires expertise, depth of insight, familiarity, and an appreciation for how nuances impact the issue and its context....more
A client recently asked The FAIR Center to staff a hearing panel on a complex set of allegations against a tenured faculty member. I chaired the panel along with two of the client’s panelists from their own internal pool, so...more
3/19/2024
/ Client Services ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Educational Institutions ,
Internal Investigations ,
Race Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Student Employees ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Title VII
The “single investigator model” describes a practice by which a single individual investigates allegations of misconduct and the same person also makes the final determination of whether policy was violated. This model became...more
More and more schools are publishing Title IX annual reports (a great idea!), and as I was looking at a bunch of them recently, I saw an outlier that prompted this Tip of the Week....more
If you’re a Latin pedant, you’ll want to use the traditional ‘see-nay de-ay,’ but the common American English pronunciation used in legislative machinations is ‘sigh-neh dye.’ Perhaps it ought to be “sign or die” to be more...more
[Revised and updated from my previous blog post in August].
As you know, the Department of Education is empowered to craft regulations to fulfill Congress’ mandate for sex equity under Title IX. The Department (ED),...more
12/12/2023
/ Department of Education ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
OCR ,
OIRA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
If you’re like most of us in the Title IX field, the deeply technocratic nuances of federal regulation bore you to tears. I share your ennui. Please consider this your least complicated primer on how and when we may get the...more
8/30/2023
/ Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
OCR ,
OIRA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
Now that we have examined the benefits of barrier analysis, let’s dive deeply into preparing your community to understand that an increase in reporting is not notably correlated with an increase in incidents....more
The new Title IX regulations are delayed until at least October 2023. What should your campus do proactively to prepare?
Starting with the new regulations, barrier analysis will likely become a formal part of a Title IX...more
The walls of Hogwarts don’t move, just the staircases. The walls – the superstructure – is immutable and remained (mostly) intact after Voldemort’s attack in Deathly Hallows. Liken that to the many lawsuits attacking Title IX...more
On behalf of the 11,000+ members of the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA), we thank you for the opportunity to comment on the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on...more
A senior administrator at one of our client college campuses is a 77-year-old man. We’ve received several complaints over the last couple of years because he tends to call all of the women who report to him by the reportedly...more
You’re investigating a Title IX complaint and discover evidence of other misconduct involving the respondent. Should the Title IX Coordinator charge them with it? You’ve received a complaint that alleges both stalking and...more
Personally, perhaps you are. Legally, you are not. Neither am I. Why? The reasonable person (RP) does not exist. The reasonable person isn’t a person at all, but rather an idea. And it’s a fascinating idea, though...more
The inclusion of statutory rape as a form of sexual assault in the 2020 Title IX regulations can be confusing with respect to appropriate application of this rule to sex between minors, especially in jurisdictions with...more
Another scourge is upon the education field … someone is bringing Yik Yak back. The Chronicle of Higher Education just did a nice analysis on the reinvigorated app, here, for background....more
Introduction -
Those who are familiar with the 2020 Title IX regulations will know that the regulations distinguish between relevant evidence and directly related evidence (DRE). The regulations view this distinction as...more
Q: Is there any guidance or best practices concerning sharing information about reports that involve the same respondent? For example, two students have reported being sexually assaulted by the same respondent. Would it be...more
Increasing Pressure on Schools to Address Off-Campus Conduct -
K-12 administrators seek our counsel frequently on the issues of off-campus jurisdiction over student misconduct. Conversations about addressing out-of-school...more
Race is always important, even when sex discrimination is the main focus of a complaint. To effectively implement a Title IX resolution process, Title IX administrators must be cognizant of the intersectionality of race and...more
The field is awash in investigators of all kinds. I assume many of them are expert investigators, but who knows? What’s rare, though, is an investigator who’s also a subject matter expert (SME) on the topic they’re...more
The following Q&A is reprised from a recent conversation with a client.
Q: Dear Brett, I have a Title IX complaint where the complainant has produced evidence, in the form of text messages, in which the respondent admits...more
Since the 2020 Title IX regulations have taken effect, colleges all across the U.S. are scrambling to find advisors to accompany the parties through the formal resolution process. While many colleges and universities elect to...more
1/25/2021
/ Administrative Hearings ,
Colleges ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Evidence ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities