As you are all well aware by now, the U.S. Department of Education recently issued its final Title IX regulations. While we continue to wade through the over 2,000-page document issued by the ED (consisting of the new regulations and the preamble commentary), OCR provided some additional guidance on its blog regarding the requirement to post Title IX information on school websites under the new regulations. Specifically, the new regulations require schools to post the following on their websites:
- Contact information for the school’s Title IX Coordinator(s). Contact information must be prominently displayed on the school’s website and must include the name(s) of the Title IX Coordinator(s), an office address, a phone number, and an e-mail address.
- The school’s non-discrimination policy. The non-discrimination policy must also be prominently displayed and must include notification to students, employees, applicants, parents and guardians, and others that Title IX requires the school not to discriminate based on sex and that the school does not discriminate.
- Training materials used to train the school’s Title IX personnel. Materials must be made publicly available on the school’s website, which the ED intended to serve as a safeguard to improve impartiality, reliability, and legitimacy of Title IX proceedings. OCR makes clear in its blog post that schools are not permitted to merely list topics covered or summaries of trainings. Rather, a school must post “all materials” on its website.
One issue that is likely to come up when fulfilling the training materials posting requirement is the need to obtain copyright authorization for any materials posted. This means that if a school utilizes training materials from an outside organization, firm, or consultant that are copyrighted or otherwise protected as proprietary, the school must obtain authorization from the copyright holder to publish any training materials. OCR makes clear that, if a school is unable to secure copyright authority, it must create or obtain alternative materials that can be posted to the school’s website. Navigating the law in this area can be particularly complicated, so our Title IX team is here to support your school when considering the best training options and obtaining appropriate copyright authorization for posting materials.
Keep in mind that these posting requirements will not go into effect until August 14, 2020, when the new Title IX Rule officially becomes effective. But it is important to consider this information now and start working on your school’s policies and training to be appropriately prepared, as you will need to have all the required information posted come August 14.
For more information on posting requirements or the new Title IX rule, contact a member of our Title IX team.