By Valentina Palm/ Editor-in-chief
Teresa Schuster/ Staff writer
The FIU Board of Trustees will adopt new sexual misconduct policies, named Title IX regulations, imposed by the U.S. Department of Education in today’s BOT meeting.
The reform to Title IX laws is spearheaded by President Trump’s Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. They will be effective for all universities by August 14.
The new Title IX regulations redefine sexual harassment, reduce university responsibility to investigate certain allegations, and forces universities to create and fund a new Title IX office, deleting FIU’s zero-tolerance policy and legal procedures.
Now, sexual harassment in a college campus is defined as any unwelcome sexual conduct by a person related to the university to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to an education program or activity.
The difference in definition is now victims must prove the behavior has affected their right to education. Universities can now define their own campus policy violation and punishments.
Under new Title IX laws, universities are only responsible for allegations occurring on their property or in university-recognized buildings, such as fraternity and sorority houses, but are not responsible for investigating sexual assault allegations in off-campus buildings or study abroad programs outside the US.
FIU’s previous policy gave the university jurisdiction to investigate all allegations occurring on university property or programs, including study abroad programs. The university also reserved the right to investigate and punish off-campus allegations.
Each university must create and fund a Title IX office, replacing FIU’s “zero-tolerance” policies for sexual misconduct. Shirlyon McWhorter is FIU’s first Title IX coordinator, she works for the university’s Office of Inclusion, Diversity Equity, and Access. The Title IX office will have four deputy assistants.
Students must now report all sexual harassment complaints to the Title IX office directly, as they oversee all investigations. FIU’s policy made all faculty and staff mandatory reporters for sexual misconduct allegations. Now, employees are no longer required to report sexual misconduct allegations.
Under the new Title IX regulations, the accused is not “responsible for the allegation” until the university’s Title IX department’s final decision, to ensure fair and equal investigations, the policy reads.
The university’s interim protective measures will be changed to interim supportive measures. FIU can no longer order the accused to stay off university property or impose a no-contact order with the victim.
Universities will implement a “clear and convincing” standard of proof to determine a violation, usually, a high standard for victims to reach instead of the “more likely than not“ standard FIU applied when analyzing evidence of violating title XI violations.
For every formal complaint, live hearings are mandatory. The victim and accuser will both be represented by an advisor to question each other.
Also, Title IX hearings can now be online.
The law allows sexual assault hearings to be held through video conferences. Before, all hearings were in person with the victim and accused in the same location.
New Title IX regulations also expand the reasons for dismissing complaints.
Sexual assault complaints will be dismissed if the assault is proven but doesn’t apply to the definition of it affecting a student’s equal access to education. It is also dismissed if the assault didn’t occur in a university program, activity, or building, or occurred outside the U.S.
Allegations may be dismissed if the accused is no longer enrolled or employed by the university, there is reasonable cause to believe the violation didn’t occur, the victim withdrew the allegation or the university doesn’t have sufficient evidence for an investigation.
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