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Annual Review of Title IX Adjudication Procedures

As part of the UO Title IX Coordinator’s commitment to transparency and stakeholder involvement, a UO advisory group has begun meeting as part of the annual review of how the university adjudicates cases of sexual misconduct and prohibited discrimination and harassment. The role of the advisory group is to make recommendations for how to change the university’s sexual misconduct standard operation procedures in light of both evolving national best practices and  possible federal rule changes.

The US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is in the process of making changes to the regulatory guidance it uses to enforce Title IX, the law related to gender equity in education. The proposed rules could have significant impact on the way in which universities respond to allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault. In February, UO President Michael H. Schill joined other Oregon public university presidents to comment on the proposal. Associate Vice Provost for Civil Rights Darci Heroy, who is also the UO’s Title IX coordinator, also joined other university Title IX officials from Oregon in submitting separate comments.

An advisory group will review the adjudication procedures in depth, with the goal of providing concrete recommendations for any changes to the process. The recommendations would be presented to the Dean of Students and the Title IX Coordinator by the end of summer and would then be considered and any resulting changes drafted with an effective date of fall term 2019. The advisory group will seek campus and community input prior to the university making any final procedural changes. Anyone who would like to provide input can get connected with the advisory group by emailing their contact info and request to [email protected].