California State University, Stanislaus and Dennis Shimek, Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Human Resources, have created a Title IX team to respond to injuries concerning sexual discrimination.
The team gains its name from the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
The amendment prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.
Sexual discrimination under Title IX includes sexual harassment, sexual assault and sexual violence by employees, students or third parties.
Sports team members are included in the amendment as well.
CSU Stanislaus’s Title IX team was established in response to the Dear Colleague letter issued by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in April of 2011 to all universities that receive federal assistance. The letter established specific requirements for universities in their investigation and response to sexual discrimination.
Previously, complaints of this kind that involved students were settled through the Judicial Affairs process and subject to the Student Code of Conduct. However, there are no specific differences in responses for complaints of sexual discrimination.
As a result of the OCR’s April 2011 guidance on Title IX’s requirements, the CSU Chancellor’s Office issued executive orders 1072, 1073 and 1074 to update CSU campuses’ institutional grievance procedures and training approaches to ensure compliance.
The Chancellor’s Office also revised the Student Code of Conduct to address these requirements.
“One key objective of this group is to raise awareness of the university’s commitment to ensuring that all our students are provided equal opportunities to pursue their educational goals,” said Dr. Suzanne Espinoza, Vice President of Enrollment and Student Affairs.
“Any interference with our students’ health and safety will be effectively addressed so as to minimize any disruption to their educational success.”
The Title IX team is a collaborative effort between the Office of Faculty Affairs and Human Resources, Student Affairs, Campus Compliance, Cal State Stanislaus Athletics and the University Police Department.
The reason for this broad-based collaboration is that sexual discrimination complaints occur within and between every community on campus.
“We need to ensure that in every instance we are implementing an investigation and response that is consistent with OCR requirements,” Espinoza said.
The Title IX team is also working on creating an awareness campaign to educate students, faculty and staff about sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual violence, and how to take measures to prevent the occurrence of such conduct.