PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Rebecca Stewart
Telephone: 513-479-3335
Email: info@saveservices.org
Many Universities Not Compliant with New Title IX Requirement to Post Training Materials
WASHINGTON / September 8, 2020 – A review of the websites of 50 colleges and universities across the nation reveals that 65% are out of compliance with the Title IX regulation’s requirement to post all Title IX training materials. This past week, SAVE filed complaints with Office for Civil Rights against several of these non-compliant schools.
The Title IX implementing regulation, 34 CFR 106, has new provisions, which went into effect on August 14, 2020, that require the posting of Title IX training materials. The regulation calls on schools to post on their websites, “All materials used to train Title IX Coordinators, investigators, decision-makers, and any persons who facilitate an informal resolution process.” §106.45(b)(10)(D)
On May 18, the Office for Civil Rights issued detailed guidance on the topic: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/blog/20200518.html. The guidance states, “All materials used to train Title IX personnel…Must be publicly available on the school’s website.” [emphasis in the original].
The guidance goes on to explain:
“Section 106.45(b)(10)(D) does not permit a school to choose whether to post the training materials or offer a public inspection option. Rather, if a school has a website, the school must post the training materials on its website.
- A school must post on its website: “All materials used to train Title IX Coordinators, investigators, decision-makers, and any person who facilitates an informal resolution process.” Posting anything less than “all materials” on the website in insufficient. Accordingly, merely listing topics covered by the school’s training of Title IX personnel, or merely summarizing such training materials is not the same as posting “all materials.” [emphasis in the original]
Many institutions, such as Princeton University (1), posted training materials geared toward students and faculty, or webinars provided by the Department of Education, but did not post the training materials used for Title IX staff. The federal regulation states that all materials used to train Title IX personnel must be posted. Training materials that are protected by a student ID number or password are also out of compliance, as the federal regulation states the material must be made publicly available.
In contrast, many schools are in compliance with the federal regulation’s posting requirement. Examples of such schools are Amherst College (2) and the University of Colorado-Boulder (3). The University of Vermont even posted a YouTube video of the actual training program that their staff attended (4).
SAVE has filed complaints with the Office for Civil Rights against 10 schools that are out of compliance with the federal regulation. More OCR complaints will be filed as SAVE continues its review of school websites.
The SAVE Title IX Equity Project has found that Title IX violations are widespread at schools across the country. These violations pertain to sex-specific scholarships, sex-specific programs, and due process procedures in campus adjudications. The number of open OCR investigations of such violations currently exceeds 200 cases, and continues to increase (5).
Citations:
- https://sexualmisconduct.princeton.edu/reports
- https://www.amherst.edu/offices/title-ix/title-ix-policy
- https://www.colorado.edu/oiec/policies
- https://www.uvm.edu/aaeo/title-9-sexual-misconduct
- http://www.saveservices.org/equity/ocr-investigations/