The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced in an April 6 letter a comprehensive review of current Title IX regulations as part of President Biden’s March 8 Executive Order on “Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free from Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Including Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.”
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OCR plans to hold a public hearing to enable those who are interested to share their views. More information on the hearing will be available in the coming weeks and will be posted at the OCR newsroom website. After listening to the public and completing its review of the Title IX regulations, OCR anticipates publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the Title IX regulations.
Like other universities and colleges and K-12 schools across the nation, the University of Colorado implemented policy changes in response to amendments to federal Title IX regulations issued in August 2020.
Valerie Simons, associate vice chancellor and Title IX coordinator for CU Boulder’s Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC), led the systemwide implementation and chaired a statewide committee to provide recommendations on new Title IX processes to all of Colorado’s institutions of higher education.
“We want our campus community to know that we will continue to be responsive to changes in the federal regulations to ensure that the university is upholding strong policies, procedures and practices to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct and other forms of discrimination and harassment included in university policies,” Simons said.
To assist universities, schools, students and others in better understanding OCR’s expectations with respect to compliance with Title IX and the 2020 amendments, OCR will also issue a new question-and-answer document in the coming weeks.