The U.S. Department of Education released its final Title IX rules on April 19, which will come into effect on Aug. 1, 2024. This means that schools across the nation must update their policies and processes for addressing sex discrimination to align with the revised federal law.
Title IX and Colorado law are encompassed in Regent Law under the University of Colorado鈥檚 , which applies to all CU campuses. For the Boulder campus, the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) is responsible for preventing and addressing incidents under this policy and other university policies ensuring nondiscrimination.
Impact of the Title IX rules on CU Boulder
The revised Title IX rules will require a review of existing university policies to ensure compliance.听This includes:
Expanded protections
The federal rules strengthen protections against all forms of sex-based discrimination, which will reinforce CU鈥檚 existing policy prohibiting discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Safeguards to protect students from discrimination related to pregnancy and childbirth will need to be expanded.
Review of complaint processes
CU Boulder will review existing resolution processes to determine what, if any, changes are needed to ensure a timely, fair, transparent and reliable process based on the updated federal law.
Clear reporting guidelines
The rules outline a requirement for clear and consistent reporting guidelines for employees who are obligated to report alleged incidents. This will require additional education to ensure employees understand their obligation based on the expanded protections and how to refer students, faculty and staff to appropriate support resources.
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A commitment to systemwide policy changes
鈥淲e are committed to maintaining robust policies that ensure alignment with state and federal law and meeting the needs of our campus to foster a fair and inclusive environment for all members of the CU Boulder community,鈥� says Llen Pomeroy, associate vice chancellor and Title IX coordinator in OIEC.
CU has a systemwide working group led by Valerie Simons, vice president of compliance and equity and system Title IX coordinator, to ensure engagement with campus stakeholders and compliance with the new rules. All of the campus equity offices, including OIEC, and university legal counsel are part of this working group.
CU is also moving to a systemwide to ensure alignment with these changes and create consistency across all campuses. APS 5065 is expected to go into effect on Aug. 1, 2024.
