Title IX Consultant Megan Ferrell raised these essential points about Title IX training in a recent webinar.
President Biden has directed the Education Department to review the new Title IX regulations and we can expect that changes to enforcement at colleges, universities, and K-12 districts could occur as early as this summer. While we await further guidance, keep in mind that the New Rule on Title IX remains in effect.
Among requirements in the New Rule are three essential topics that must be included in trainings of Title IX Coordinators, investigators, decision-makers, and staff:
1. Conflict of Interest
Before the 2020 New Rule, the focus of conflict of interest was the reporting structure of the office. Title IX Coordinators were not permitted to report to conflicting offices such as the General Counsel, because guidance would be focused on avoiding liability rather than supporting students. The New Rule emphasizes the more obvious conflicts that might occur in a Title IX investigation. For example, an instructor who has or had a student in the past may be conflicted out of serving on a hearing panel.
Both of these areas of conflict should be addressed in your training. Staff needs to understand that the Title IX office is without conflict and is in place to serve the community. It is their duty to bring up such conflicts when they serve in some decision-maker capacity. Students may raise these issues, and an employee can be removed from a role in the process to preserve impartiality.
2. Avoiding Bias
The New Rule requires avoiding bias in the Title IX process. Training should address both explicit and implicit bias and confront some sensitive areas for training participants. Many trainings reference and may use the implicit bias indicator, a free service from Harvard University’s Project Implicit. (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html) Examples and case studies help individuals identify their own bias and how to avoid having this bias impact decisions in a Title IX matter.
3. Avoiding Stereotypes
Training must not support stereotypes. This area would extend to stereotypes about complainants (i.e., any victim who reports must be believed) and respondents (i.e., anyone accused must be responsible). It is important that people who express these feeling are not part of Title IX decision-making. Dispel stereotypes about who brings these complaints and against whom they are brought in your training or default to hetero-normative examples only. Anyone can be a victim or perpetrator of sexual harassment.
If you weren’t able to attend the live webinar, the webinar recording and resources are available here.