CEEO to Host 2024 Title IX Virtual Town Hall: UNM Newsroom

UNM’s Compliance, Ethics, and Equal Opportunity Office (CEEO) will host a virtual town hall on Friday, July 12 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. to discuss how the new Title IX regulations will impact the UNM community. Join Title IX Coordinator Angela Catena and a panel of UNM partners as they provide an overview of key changes in the final rule and discuss next steps for UNM to ensure compliance by the deadline.

Interested participants can access the virtual town hall via Zoom (https://unm.zoom.us/j/91595439017). During the town hall, individuals can also submit questions about the 2024 Title IX regulations via this form.

In addition to Catena, the panel participants are:

• Barbara Rodriguez, senior vice chancellor
• Ben Zinke, CEOEO Hearing Officer
• Frankie Flores, director of the LGBTQ Resource Center
• Michelle Dugan, Campus Advocate, Women’s Resource Center
• Mutazz Jaber, vice president of ASUNM

For more than 50 years, Title IX has made enormous strides in access to education for millions of students across the country. Everyone deserves job and educational opportunities free from discrimination, which is why the U.S. Department of Education recently issued a Final Rule under Title IX that prohibits sex discrimination and harassment in educational programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance. The final regulations promote equality and opportunity, as well as accountability and fairness, while empowering and supporting members of your community.

The U.S. Department of Education Title IX Final Rule, released April 19, 2024, amends existing regulations to ensure educational environments are free from discrimination and harassment based on sex. The Final Rule establishes requirements to combat all forms of sex discrimination in a manner that enables UNM to align the Title IX Resolution process with best practices and community values. Institutional officials are working to carefully evaluate and analyze the Final Rule to develop an implementation plan that will ensure institutional compliance in a timely manner.

“These changes should help make the Title IX process more accessible, more transparent and user-friendly,” said UNM Title IX Coordinator Angela Catena. “In addition, the new regulations require institutions to continually monitor and address any reporting barriers that may exist, which will help us make our resolution processes more accessible to members of our campus community.”

Major changes to Title IX in the final version of the Regulations:

• Clarifying the scope of gender discrimination
• Revised and updated definitions of crimes, including gender-based harassment
• Extended support measures for affected parties
• A variety of potential problem-solving processes, including alternative solutions
• Extended mandatory reporting obligations for employees
• More protection for pregnancy and related conditions
• Explaining How Title IX Protects Our LGBTQIA+ Community
• Greater flexibility in how institutions approach Title IX rights and protections
• Training requirements with enforcement mechanisms

The final regulations promote Title IX’s promise to ensure that no person experiences sex discrimination, including gender-based harassment or sexual violence, in federally funded education. The final regulations restore and strengthen important protections and provide information for schools to meet their Title IX obligations, while offering appropriate discretion and flexibility to account for differences in school size, student population, and administrative structures.

The final regulations also require schools to take prompt and effective action when they receive notice of conduct that may reasonably constitute sex discrimination in their educational programs or activities. The final regulations also reaffirm the Department’s fundamental commitment to fundamental fairness for all parties, the right of parents and guardians to support their minor children, and respect for the autonomy of complainants.

The new rules, which are non-retroactive, do not apply to gender-segregated sports teams. Many lawsuits challenge the regulations. Institutions have 103 days to implement all required changes, which will enter into force on August 1, 2024.

More information is available on the U.S. Department of Education website.