# data[].attributes.body
As a future administrator in a student services department in higher education, knowing and understanding the laws and policies protecting victims of sexual harassment and misconduct is vital. When students fall victim to this heinous crime, their mental, emotional, and physical health is affected. Not only are their personal and social relationships injured, their academic performance suffers as well. Understanding the proper measures and actions to take when these complaints come forward will aide me in directing the students properly.

Although I am not naïve to prevalent incidents of sexual assault acts, I never thought of the affect it had on students, mainly because I never experienced it personally. Researching this topic and understanding how I can help and the laws and policies protecting the victims, and rectifying the cases is one small step I can take to help students.

# data[].attributes.body
Mikiba Morehead, M.A. is Baylor College of Medicine's Title IX Coordinator and Director of Student Disabilities Coordinator. Mikiba is currently working on her Doctor of Education degree where she is researching victims of revenge porn’s academic success in higher education. After speaking with Mikiba about her dissertation topic, my interest in sexual harassment and misconduct in higher education peaked. I never thought of how impactful these assaults can affect students.

Mikiba provided her insight of her experience and other stories she has listened to over the years and how Title IX and campus actions have evolved. Social movements like Me Too, have given the courage to individuals voice their experiences. With more reports of assaults and misconduct, Mikiba explained, a better grasp and understanding of the federal, state, and institutional law is pertinent. The assaults have a great effect on students’ ability to perform well academically. It is the administrator’s responsibility to help their mental state by completing investigations of complaints efficiently (M. Morehead, personal communication, September 24, 2019).

There has been a rise in respondent driven lawsuits since the Obama administration, Mikiba explains.  Many counter lawsuits have been brought forth under the gender bias. The majority of accused are male. The accused men are attempting justice by claiming discrimination of sex (M. Morehead, personal communication, September 24, 2019).

Best practices:

1-    Continue to make the policy available and easy to understand

2-    Rid of all biases

3-    Use all available resources when investigating (personal communication, references, or laws) (M. Morehead, personal communication, September 24, 2019).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Positions

Title IX Coordinator & Director of Student Disability Services

Office of the Provost

Baylor College of Medicine

Houston, TX, US

Education

BA from University of Louisville

Communication

MA from University of Louisville

Higher Education Administration

Memberships

Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA)

Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science and Medical Education

Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators (TACUSPA)

Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA)

Skills

Compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Alternative Dispute Resolution through Mediation

Due Process, Student Conduct and Discipline

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Title IX Coordinator & Director of Student Disability Services Office of the Provost Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX, US BA from University of Louisville Communication MA from University of Louisville Higher Education Administration Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA) Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science and Medical Education

# data[].attributes.body
Buzuvis, E. & Newhall, K. (2019, April 26). OCR is still enforcing Title IX, and noncompliance still abounds [Web log post] Retrieved from https://title-ix.blogspot.com/2019/04/ocr-is-still-enforcing-title-ix-and.html

Title IX Blog, a blog published through the Association of Title IX Administrators, discusses current events related to Title IX and legislation in higher education. In the provided post, the blog discusses how the Office of Civil Rights has discovered many flaws in the Title IX policies set in place by many institutions. Because of the flawed institutional policy and procedure, the Office of Civil Rights has independently solved more than 70 cases. The posts continues to argue the importance of Title IX in sexual misconduct cases (Buzuvis & Newhall, 2019). .

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Investigating the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights Title IX enforcement records, journalist Tyler Kingkade discovered that the agency has a resolved at least 70 cases and found many problems with the sexual misconduct policies and practices of school districts, colleges and universities. In higher education, examples of violations included things like unjustifiable delay and other impairment of the complainants' rights, but even more alarming problems were discovered in the agency's investigations into institutions at the K-12 level. Kingkade found that six school districts didn't even investigate sexual misconduct at all. One major metropolitan school district, in District of Columbia, simply files incident reports with local law enforcement. Elsewhere in the country are examples of school districts whose Title IX coordinators haven't worked on any sexual misconduct issues in the last 11 years, and another whose principal only calls the Title IX coordinator for complaints about equity in sports. Kingkade reports several examples of egregious sexual misconduct -- some perpetrated by teachers, others by students -- that school districts knew about but failed to investigate or provide help to the victims.

These findings are important to highlight for a couple of reasons. First, they remind us that we shouldn't leave school districts out of the public and political scrutiny that colleges and universities already receive on these issues. Second, it's proof that Title IX continues to be necessary to challenge the lack of attention that school and university administrators give to sexual misconduct cases. This disconnect was noted in the article by former OCR Director Catherine Lhamon, who said, "The department is still documenting very serious sexual violence and unbelievable harm to students today in school, [but] its policy arm is telling schools to stop looking for that...The need is exponentially higher, and OCR is turning in the other direction." If the agency follows through on its proposed regulations focused campus hearing due process and narrowing the scope of misconduct that falls under Title IX, it will be hard to reconcile those changes with the pattern of problems that its own enforcement efforts continue to reveal.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
OCR Is Still Enforcing Title IX, and Noncompliance Still Abounds

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Investigating the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights Title IX enforcement records, journalist Tyler Kingkade discovered that the agency has a resolved at least 70 cases and found many problems with the sexual misconduct policies and practices of school districts, colleges and universities.

# data[].attributes.body
Anderson, G. (2019). More Title IX lawsuits by accusers and accused. InsideHigherEd. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/10/03/students-look-federal-courts-challenge-title-ix-proceedings

- 25% of 2015's reported Title IX claims escalated to lawsuits or challenged through the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.

- Due process for students from public, federally funded institutions differ form students from private institutions.

- Some argue having the institution determine the "winner" or "loser" of complaints may lead to further implications of Title IX infringement.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Universities and colleges are increasingly experiencing legal challenges to their institutions' Title IX enforcement processes, a trend that higher education law experts say is a natural reaction to proceedings that declare "winners" and "losers."

The societal pressures from the Me Too movement and repercussions from the Obama administration's 2011 guidance for how colleges should adjudicate sex assault cases have led to more civil complaints from both alleged victims and accused perpetrators of sexual misconduct who feel they were treated unfairly during Title IX hearing processes. Legal challenges in federal courts exploded following the guidance, which called on universities and colleges to vigorously root out campus sexual assault and harassment with a preponderance of evidence standard, leaving officials to determine if "it is more likely than not that sexual harassment or violence occurred."

More than one-fourth of 305 Title IX claims analyzed in a 2015 study by United Educators (UE) were challenged by students who either filed lawsuits in the federal courts or lodged complaints through the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). There's a consensus among higher education and legal experts that students are increasingly claiming flawed hearings or unfair disciplinary sanctions as a result of procedural failings at their universities, said Jake Sapp, Title IX coordinator and institutional compliance officer at Austin College in Sherman, Tex.

UE, one of the largest insurance providers for postsecondary institutions, also reported that sexual assault was the top liability for colleges and universities in 2018. Payouts resulting from Title IX procedural challenges, which went primarily to victims of sexual assault, surpassed the legal costs of large risks such as wrongful death or negligence and wrongful termination, according to the report.

"Across the board, you have to think that it's in the back of every administrator's mind," Sapp said. "It would be negligent to not be thinking, 'Am I following the law?' Especially in such a gray area ... If they're not thinking about lawsuits, they ought to be."
Civil Claims
Accused students in particular are more frequently turning to federal courts to claim due process violations during Title IX proceedings at public institutions, Sapp said. He noted that while students at publicly funded universities have due process rights in Title IX proceedings and can sue the institutions for violations, students at private institutions don't have much chance of success at making such claims.

Other accused students have filed suit because of an "erroneous outcome" in their hearing because a disciplinary panel was allegedly biased against them. The students sometimes cite the Obama-era guidance itself, or societal pressures from the Me Too movement as the bases of the bias. Some students file what Laura Dunn, a renowned attorney for campus sexual assault survivors, called a "reverse Title IX" gender-discrimination claim, where male students will argue their university's process is biased against men. Nearly all accused students in the 2015 UE report were male.

Language in Education Secretary Betsy DeVos's proposed Title IX rule changes, which were published in November 2018 and are awaiting release, would allow for more of these types of civil lawsuits brought by accused students, said B. Ever Hanna, policy director for End Rape on Campus, an advocacy organization for survivors of sexual violence.

The proposed regulations say that Title IX administrators' "treatment of both complainant and respondent could constitute discrimination on the basis of sex" and "a respondent can be unjustifiably separated from his or her education on the basis of sex, in violation of Title IX, if the recipient does not investigate and adjudicate using fair procedures before imposing discipline."

Josh Richards, an attorney who represents colleges and universities in Title IX matters, said legal challenges are inevitable in such emotionally fraught proceedings.

"When you make a campus responsible for adjudicating a dispute between two students, you set up a system where there's a winner and loser ... the loser seeks to vindicate the rights that they feel the school did not vindicate in court," he said.

In the wake of the shifting Title IX rhetoric of the Trump administration, which rescinded the Obama-era guidance in 2017, more students are aware of Title IX and the ways it can be enforced, said Michael Dolce, a Florida-based attorney who represents victims of sex crimes. With more accused students looking to turn to the courts, there's also been increased demand for attorneys to defend them, Dolce said.

"A lot of criminal defense lawyers are specifically advertising that they represent the accused in Title IX cases," he said. "Pick any university in the country and go five miles from there, and you will find lawyers who advertise defending the accused. That wasn't the case 10 years ago."

Settling complaints from alleged victims in court cost colleges and universities an average of $350,000 in the years following the Obama guidance, and some settlements reached $1 million, UE reported in an analysis of Title IX claims from 2011 to 2015 at 1,600 institutions. This does not include legal defense expenses, which can cost colleges and universities millions before settlements are even reached, according to UE's 2015 report.

Claims settled with a student accused of sexual misconduct cost universities less in damages on average -- around $20,000 to $30,000, Dunn said. These settlements typically cover the accused student's losses in tuition and housing from periods when they were suspended or expelled from the institution, whereas a sexual assault victim could claim more monetary relief for the loss of educational access and post-traumatic stress, she said.

The high cost of addressing sexual misconduct on campus has become a lose-lose situation for universities and can even possibly put some institutions out of business, said Peter Lake, director of Stetson University's Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy.

"If you don't deal with sexual violence, you're going to get sued. If you deal with sexual violence, you're going to be sued," Lake said.

Richards said most of these lawsuits are dismissed by federal judges early on in the process if a judge concludes that the university did follow Title IX procedures under its own written rules and Department of Education regulations, and they very rarely proceed to trial.

Some lawsuits challenging Title IX procedure result in a "redo" of the hearing process led by the university if a judge finds that there was gender discrimination against either student, Dunn said.

But fewer cases brought by the accused are being dismissed due to the "judicial activism" of some judges, Lake said.

"Federal courts are being very activist now in asserting themselves as the courts of appeal over the college court -- whether they want to admit it or not," he said.
Undisclosed Settlements
A consequence of this new legal landscape is that universities are settling civil lawsuits filed by students accused of sexual harassment. The settlements are not typically publicized. The identities of students involved in Title IX proceedings are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The federal law, commonly known as FERPA, also prevents students' disciplinary records from being shared without their consent, but Title IX requires that the victims of sexual violence and harassment are made aware of sanctions against the perpetrators.

One lawsuit filed against Yale University by a student accused of sexual misconduct was dismissed by a judge in the U.S. District Court of Connecticut on April 25, 2018, after the two sides reached an undisclosed agreement. The student, who was identified in news reports as Daniel Tenreiro-Braschi, was suspended for two semesters after being accused of sexual assault. Yale's University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct determined he groped two female students in 2016 and was "creating a hostile academic environment," according to the 53-page complaint.

Tenreiro-Braschi claimed an unfair hearing and bias on the part of the committee. He maintained that members of the committee had professional connections to the accusers' parents, who were Yale faculty and notable alumni. His suit also claimed the independent fact finder assigned to his case included "unrelated hearsay and derogatory character statements" in her investigation and that the two accusers had listened to each other's testimony and coordinated responses to the committees' questions.

Tenreiro-Braschi, a junior at the time, demanded to be "reinstated as a student in good standing and permitted to begin classes during the spring 2018 semester ... [and his] disciplinary record be expunged; the record of expulsion be removed from his education file; and any record of the complaint be permanently destroyed," the complaint states.

Tenreiro-Braschi was listed in the Yale College 2019 graduation ceremony program, the New Haven Register reported.

"Yale doesn't comment on or acknowledge the existence of sexual misconduct cases," wrote Yale director of media relations Karen Peart in an email. "All decisions regarding discipline are based on the facts known at the time."

While the terms of any settlement Tenreiro-Braschi may have reached with Yale are unknown, lawsuits that end in private settlements do occur, Hanna said. And despite guilt or innocence, an accused student could be reinstated at the university without the knowledge of their accuser, Hanna said.

"When there are settlements, the hoarding and sealing of that information makes it hard for victims," Hanna said. "The community can't be informed about what happened. Anecdotally, we've heard from people who are survivors [that] the person who harmed them does go through this process and is permitted to come back on campus and permitted to graduate, and the survivor doesn't even know about it."

The Title IX procedures in place on campuses that attempt to provide victims an alternative to the often slow-moving and strenuous criminal justice system are leading to an even more strenuous process for all parties involved in the federal courts, Lake said.

"The pressure now is to avoid getting in situations where [institutions] go before the court," Lake said. "If colleges get into too many situations where they have to litigate, they'll go out of business."

Some institutions offer "alternative" or "early" resolution models for victims of harassment, which could entail the accused student and accuser mediating the issues or incident that caused the Title IX complaint, Sapp said. These are informal procedures for violations that fall short of sexual violence and could provide a "learning experience" rather than sanctions for the accused, he said. There is a consensus that resolution models should not be used in cases of sexual assault, Hanna said.

In some cases, restorative justice works with certain students, Dolce said.

"It could be immaturity or bad cultural upbringing that leads to harassment," he said. "There's a world of difference between that and the ability to lay hands on somebody."

RAINN's position is that "restorative justice" options are an easy out for universities and allow perpetrators to avoid actual consequences for their actions, said Camille Cooper, vice president of public policy for RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network and sexual assault hotline. End Rape on Campus argues that the process can work for students who were harassed but not assaulted, Hanna said. Both organizations agree that universities should tread carefully when offering alternative resolution methods so as not to coerce victims to accept a process they are not comfortable with, or that could retraumatize them.

"Resolutions are one thing that can work," Hanna said. "They don't always, and we have seen and heard many times about survivors feeling pushed into mediation or resolution. We've heard stories of Title IX coordinators or advocates saying, 'This is going to be the only way to get what you want.'"

These methods provide a way for colleges and universities to avoid civil litigation challenging Title IX proceedings and could end up being positive for all parties, Richards said.

"Many schools are setting up these models ... because they've had the time to see how these adversarial models play out," he said. "They're agreed upon by the parties and don't result in these sorts of winners and losers scenarios."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Students look to federal courts to challenge Title IX proceedings

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Universities and colleges are increasingly experiencing legal challenges to their institutions' Title IX enforcement processes, a trend that higher education law experts say is a natural reaction to proceedings that declare "winners" and "losers."

# data[].attributes.body
Bauer-Wolf, J. (2019). An overcorrection? Inside HigherEd. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/09/16/former-baylor-professor-sues-accusing-university-biased-title-ix-investigation

- Baylor University professor loses job after student accuses him of sexual assault. Professor claims the relationship was consensual.

- The professor is suing the university on grounds of gender bias.

- The anonymous professor argues "men are automatically presumed to be perpetrators" (Bauer-Wold, 2019, para. 2).

- The professor was advised of certain rules and acts to follow to prevent him from coming across as "predatory". These same rules were not given to his female counterparts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A former Baylor University professor is alleging he was forced out his job after a student with whom he said he had a consensual relationship accused him of sexual assault.

The former economics professor, who is suing the Baptist institution anonymously in federal court, said Baylor's historically poor handling of sexual misconduct led to an environment where men were automatically presumed to be perpetrators. John Doe, as he is known in court filings, alleges administrators were biased in investigating and adjudicating the accusations against him, ignoring evidence Doe said disproves his accuser's case against him.

"Baylor University will vigorously defend the inaccurate claims made by the plaintiff in this lawsuit," Lori Fogleman, a Baylor spokeswoman, said in a written statement. "Baylor is not aware of any evidence to substantiate the claims being made regarding anti-male bias at the university. Baylor strives to provide an impartial and fair process to all participants regardless of their sex."

The university's high-profile sexual assault scandal goes back to 2012, after a student went public with rape allegations against a football player, who eventually was found guilty of sexual assault and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2014. Another student said a soccer player raped her, and he also received jail time.

After the university in 2015 commissioned a law firm, Pepper Hamilton LLP, to investigate administrators' response to sexual assaults, Baylor fired head football coach Art Briles for ignoring allegations. Ken Starr, the university's president, resigned.

More allegations surfaced later, with students claiming they had been gang-raped by members of the football team.

The controversy is widely considered to be one of the most extreme cases of a botched response to campus sexual assaults.

Doe was employed at Baylor in 2015 at the time Pepper Hamilton was investigating, he said in the lawsuit he filed last month in U.S. District Court.

Doe's supervisor told him he needed to make sure he wasn't viewed as predatory. He advised Doe not to cover the glass window in his office and not to meet with female students with the door closed or past 5 p.m.

Female professors did not follow these same unofficial rules, the lawsuit alleges.

Doe began dating a student who would eventually accuse him of sexual assault in November 2017. The lawsuit does not state whether he taught the student.

Between then and January 2018, the student and Doe went on three dates and engaged in at least one consensual sexual encounter, according to the lawsuit.

The student and Doe temporarily ended their relationship, but resumed it again in April 2018. They vacationed together in Utah, but Doe ultimately decided to end the relationship after he said the student had lied to him.

However, Doe allowed her to stay in his home through part of June while she was waiting to move into a new apartment. That month, Doe reiterated he no longer wanted to be in a relationship, and the student was upset, the lawsuit states.

The student then filed a complaint with Baylor's office that handles sexual assault allegations. The university began investigating in July under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the federal law banning sex discrimination and sexual violence on college campuses, ultimately concluding that several sexual encounters they had in May weren't consensual.

Baylor also said Doe violated its policy forbidding relationships between professors and undergraduate students.

"The plaintiff resigned from the university prior to the completion of the Title IX process, which ultimately resulted in a finding that the plaintiff violated Baylor's Title IX policy," Fogleman said. (Note: The previous two paragraphs have been added to an earlier version of this article to include information from Baylor.)

Doe alleges Baylor wouldn't provide him evidence, including statements the student made to the Title IX office. He said investigators ignored inconsistencies in the student's story. For example, the student told officials she had purchased Plan B on May 7 after the professor had unprotected intercourse with her without her consent. Bank statements allegedly show she purchased the pill on May 1, days before she alleged the incident occurred. An administrator also allegedly found Doe responsible for one instance of nonconsensual sex even though the student couldn't provide details about the encounter or a precise date when it occurred.

An official also purportedly said during Doe's Title IX hearing date in November that she used "her personal opinion" when investigating the allegations.

Doe also said that because English is not his native language, he requested to be able to respond to the investigator's questions in writing, which Baylor denied.

Doe resigned from the university because he felt he was going to be fired. He is asking for an unspecified amount of money because of harm to his reputation and prospects for finding another position, and for Baylor to vacate the sex assault findings against him.

"As part of its quest for redemption, Baylor enacted a university-wide culture of anti-male bias and intimidation inconsistent with its stated Christian principles that ensnared plaintiff, besmirched his character, and destroyed his career," the lawsuit states.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Former Baylor professor sues, accusing university of biased Title IX investigation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A former Baylor University professor is alleging he was forced out his job after a student with whom he said he had a consensual relationship accused him of sexual assault. The former economics professor, who is suing the Baptist institution anonymously in federal court, said Baylor's historically poor handling of sexual misconduct led to an environment where men were automatically presumed to be perpetrators.

# data[].attributes.body
Federal Law (Statutory): Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 20 U.S.C. § 1681- 1688

Title IX protects people from exclusion of any educational program or activity receiving federal funding in the United States based on sex (20 U.S.C. § 1681). Students of both genders fall victim to sexual assault, Title IX protects the discrimination of victims attending institutions of sexual assault and misconduct.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(b) Preferential or disparate treatment because of imbalance in participation or receipt of Federal benefits; statistical evidence of imbalance

Nothing contained in subsection (a) of this section shall be interpreted to require any educational institution to grant preferential or disparate treatment to the members of one sex on account of an imbalance which may exist with respect to the total number or percentage of persons of that sex participating in or receiving the benefits of any federally supported program or activity, in comparison with the total number or percentage of persons of that sex in any community, State, section, or other area: Provided, That this subsection shall not be construed to prevent the consideration in any hearing or proceeding under this chapter of statistical evidence tending to show that such an imbalance exists with respect to the participation in, or receipt of the benefits of, any such program or activity by the members of one sex.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(b) Preferential or disparate treatment because of imbalance in participation or receipt of Federal benefits; statistical evidence of imbalance Nothing contained in subsection (a) of this section shall be interpreted to require any educational institution to grant preferential or disparate treatment to the members of one sex on account of

# data[].attributes.body
Federal Law (Statutory):  Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1990, 20 U.S.C. § 1092

Any institution in the United States receiving federal funding must provide crime statistics on campus of the last three years. Crimes to be reported include sexual harassment. The public report must also include the actions the institution is taking to resolve and prevent crime on campus (20 U.S.C. § 1092).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
20 U.S. Code § 1092 - Institutional and financial assistance information for students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
US Code - Title 20 > CHAPTER 28 > SUBCHAPTER IV > Part G > § 1092

# data[].attributes.body
Administrative Law: Texas Education Code § 51.9363, Sexual Assault Policy

This Texas Education Code requires schools to adopt policies of reporting, investigating, and resolution of sexual assault reporting on higher education campuses (TEC § 51.9363).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Note: This policy addresses complaints of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and retaliation targeting students. For additional legally referenced material relating to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, see FA(LEGAL). For sex discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and retaliation targeting employees, see DIAA.

Title IX

Grievance Procedures

A recipient of federal financial assistance, directly or indirectly, shall adopt and publish grievance procedures providing for prompt and equitable resolution of student complaints alleging any action prohibited by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. 34 C.F.R. 106.8(a)

Coordinator

Each recipient shall designate at least one employee to coordinate its efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under this part, including any investigation of any complaint communicated to such recipient alleging its noncompliance with this part or alleging any actions that would be prohibited by this part. The recipient shall notify all its students and employees of the name, office address, and telephone number of the appointed employee or employees. 34 C.F.R. 106.8(b)

State Law Requiring a Sexual Assault Policy

Each postsecondary educational institution, including each college district, shall adopt a policy on sexual assault applicable to each student enrolled at and each employee of the institution. The policy must:

1. Include:

1. Definitions of prohibited behavior;

2. Sanctions for violations; and

3. The protocol for reporting and responding to reports of sexual assault; and

2. Be approved by the institution's governing board before final adoption by the institution.

As part of the protocol for responding to reports of sexual assault adopted under this section, each postsecondary educational institution shall:

1. To the greatest extent practicable based on the number of counselors employed by the institution, ensure that each alleged victim or alleged perpetrator of an incident of sexual assault and any other person who reports such an incident are offered counseling provided by a counselor who does not provide counseling to any other person involved in the incident; and

2. Notwithstanding any other law, allow an alleged victim or alleged perpetrator of an incident of sexual assault to drop a course in which both parties are enrolled without any academic penalty.

Each biennium, each postsecondary educational institution shall review the institution's sexual assault policy and, with approval of the institution's governing board, revise the policy as necessary.
Education Code 51.9363(b), (f)-(g)
Distribution

Each postsecondary educational institution shall make the institution's sexual assault policy available to students, faculty, and staff members by:

1. Including the policy in the institution's student handbook and personnel handbook; and

2. Creating and maintaining a web page on the institution's Internet website dedicated solely to the policy.

Education Code 51.9363(c)
Training

Each postsecondary educational institution shall require each entering freshman or undergraduate transfer student to attend an orientation on the institution's sexual assault policy before or during the first semester or term in which the student is enrolled at the institution. The institution shall establish the format and content of the orientation. Education Code 51.9363(d)

Public Awareness

Each postsecondary educational institution shall develop and implement a public awareness campaign to inform students enrolled at and employees of the institution of the institution's sexual assault policy. As part of the campaign, the institution shall provide to students information regarding the protocol for reporting incidents of sexual assault adopted under Education Code 51.9363(b), including the name, office location, and contact information of the institution's Title IX coordinator, by:

1. E-mailing the information to each student at the beginning of each semester or other academic term; and

2. Including the information in the orientation required under Education Code 51.9363(d), above.

Education Code 51.9363(e)
Electronic Reporting

Each postsecondary educational institution, including each college district, shall provide an option for electronic reporting to the institution by an enrolled student or an employee of the institution of an allegation of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking committed against or witnessed by the student or employee, regardless of the location at which the alleged offense occurred. The electronic reporting option must:

1. Allow for anonymous reporting; and

2. Be easily accessible through a clearly identifiable link on the institution's website home page.

Institutions may contract with a third-party vendor to provide the electronic reporting option.

A protocol for reporting sexual assault adopted under Education Code 51.9363 must comply with this section.
Education Code 51.9365(b)-(d); 19 TAC 3.14
Definitions

"Dating Violence"

"Dating violence" means abuse or violence, or a threat of abuse or violence, against a person with whom the actor has or has had a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature. Education Code 51.9365(a)(1); 19 TAC 3.13(a)

"Sexual Assault"

"Sexual assault" means sexual contact or intercourse with a person without the person's consent, including sexual contact or intercourse against the person's will or in a circumstance in which the person is incapable of consenting to the contact or intercourse. Education Code 51.9365(a)(3); 19TAC 3.13(c)

"Sexual Harassment"

"Sexual harassment" means unwelcome, sex-based verbal or physical conduct that:

1. In the employment context, unreasonably interferes with an employee's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment; or

2. In the education context, is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that the conduct interferes with a student's ability to participate in or benefit from educational programs or activities.

Education Code 51.9365(a)(4); 19 TAC 3.13(d)
"Stalking"

"Stalking" means a course of conduct directed at a person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person's safety or to suffer substantial emotional distress. Education Code 51.9365(a)(5); 19 TAC 3.13(e)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Note: This policy addresses complaints of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and retaliation targeting students. For additional legally referenced material relating to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, see FA(LEGAL). For sex discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and retaliation targeting employees, see DIAA.

# data[].attributes.body
Federal Law: Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 42 U.S.C. § 13701 - 14040

Although males can fall victim to sexual harassment and misconduc, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) passed in 1994 provided women, specifically, their rights to safety and justice. VAWA proves to be an important supplement to women who are victims of sexual assault (42 U.S.C. § 13701 - 14040).

# data[].attributes.headline
Slide #10: Local Administrative Law/Policy/Rule

# data[].attributes.subject
Slide #10: Local Administrative Law/Policy/Rule

# data[].attributes.body
Baylor College of Medicine. (2016, September 28). Sexual Misconduct and Other Prohibited Conduct Policy, 02.2.26. Retrieved from https://media.bcm.edu/documents/2015/88/02.2.26-sexual-harassment-and-sexual-violence-policy-web.pdf

In accordance with TEC § 51.9363, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) has a policy of reporting sexual violence. In section VI, BCM assures all reports will be investigated. Outlined in the policy are the step-by-step actions the college will take into the investigation of all complaints. The policy also provides detailed definitions for better understanding and the title of individuals charged with upholding Title IX law.

# data[].attributes.body
Council for the Advancement of Standards. (2006). CAS professional standards for higher education (6th Ed.). Retrieved from https://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/main/CASethicsstatement.pdf

CAS's fourth principal, Justice, promotes. "human dignity and endorse equality and fairness for everyone" by treating "others with respect and fairness, preserving their dignity..." (CAS, 20016, p. 2). Educators responsible for investigating sexual assault allegations, must do so with respect and fairness. This ethical principal protects all involved while the investigation(s) are pending.

# data[].attributes.body
Know Your IX. (2019). Title IX Under Trump - Know Your IX. [online] Available at: https://www.knowyourix.org.

The website, Know Your IX, provides multiple resources to students, faculty, administrators, and parents to understand and utilize rights provided to them under Title IX. The website allows for interactive use for visitors to find ways to become involved on their campus as well as provided links to other organizations and individuals in the event legal action and representation is needed.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On September 7th, 2017, Betsy DeVos began to roll back federal guidance on Title IX. While her comments demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of the law and perpetuate myths that harm survivors, your rights remain intact. No matter what Betsy DeVos says, Title IX and the Clery Act are still the law of the land. Use these resources to stay informed and up to date.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On September 7th, 2017, Betsy DeVos began to roll back federal guidance on Title IX. While her comments demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of the law and perpetuate myths that harm survivors, your rights remain intact. No matter what Betsy DeVos says, Title IX and the Clery Act are still the law of the land.

# data[].attributes.headline
Slide #13: Bulleted list of Recommendations/Best Practices for Compliance

# data[].attributes.subject
Slide #13: Bulleted list of Recommendations/Best Practices for Compliance

# data[].attributes.body
1. Stay Updated: Educators need to stay informed about all federal and state legislation changes. The changes made at the federal and state level affect the policies set by each institution.
2. Adjust Policies: As educators adjust the policies in accordance to the updated legislation, the administration in charge of approving the policies should be proactive in insuring proper meetings are held to vote. Making sure policies are in place that are up to legislative standards free the institutions from reprimand.
3. Training: As laws and policies and change, it is important to have all educators properly trained and knowledgable of the best practices of reporting and investigating sexual harassment accusations.
4. Availability: All educators must make themselves available to students. Students find comfort in different faculty or staff members. Being available to students shows them someone is ready to listen. Sexual assault is not a light topic and a victim should feel they comfortable coming to someone in authority without feeling like a burden.
5. Assumptions: No assumptions should be formed from the original complaint. A thorough investigation must be completed before a conclusion has determined and published.
6. Integrity: Do the right thing. When faced or presented with an issue whether first hand or through a third party, proper reporting should be completed to protect victims or complainants.