Last October, I wrote a column on what my colleagues and I at TNG Consulting had learned from serving as hearing decision-makers in our first fifteen live hearings under Title IX. Since then, we’ve facilitated many more...more
Personally, perhaps you are. Legally, you are not. Neither am I. Why? The reasonable person (RP) does not exist. The reasonable person isn’t a person at all, but rather an idea. And it’s a fascinating idea, though...more
The inclusion of statutory rape as a form of sexual assault in the 2020 Title IX regulations can be confusing with respect to appropriate application of this rule to sex between minors, especially in jurisdictions with...more
Since the start of the spring 2021 semester, TNG’s consultants have been involved in about 15 hearings under the new 2020 Title IX regulations. We’ve served as party advisors, investigators, and decision-makers. Here is some...more
If your partner says, “I’ll have sex with you, but only if we do it hanging upside down from the ceiling while howling like werewolves,” I’d suggest that if you want to have sex, start working on your howling technique. The...more
Another scourge is upon the education field … someone is bringing Yik Yak back. The Chronicle of Higher Education just did a nice analysis on the reinvigorated app, here, for background....more
Years ago, I took heat from activists who thought that TNG’s replacement of the terms “rape” and “sexual assault” with policy-based alternatives in our model policies was minimizing of the severity of the behaviors. Rape is...more
Many in the Title IX field watched last week as two different federal courts denied challenges to the validity of the 2020 Title IX regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The regulations survived these...more
Q: Is there any guidance or best practices concerning sharing information about reports that involve the same respondent? For example, two students have reported being sexually assaulted by the same respondent. Would it be...more
This topic is raised fairly frequently by members of the National Association for Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment (NABITA). This Tip of the Week offers key understandings and best practices and is adapted from a...more
Race is always important, even when sex discrimination is the main focus of a complaint. To effectively implement a Title IX resolution process, Title IX administrators must be cognizant of the intersectionality of race and...more
The field is awash in investigators of all kinds. I assume many of them are expert investigators, but who knows? What’s rare, though, is an investigator who’s also a subject matter expert (SME) on the topic they’re...more
The Title IX risk management space is complex and ever-changing. As such, TNG and ATIXA continue to leverage a non-linear approach to problem-solving to provide the best possible outcomes for our clients and members....more
Dear Brett:
My school needs an external civil rights investigation. We received quotes from a number of firms, and the per-hour cost varied by more than $200 over the various provider quotes. Can you help us understand...more
Since the 2020 Title IX regulations have taken effect, colleges all across the U.S. are scrambling to find advisors to accompany the parties through the formal resolution process. While many colleges and universities elect to...more
1/25/2021
/ Administrative Hearings ,
Colleges ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Evidence ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities
A recent three-part series “Important Things to Get Right About the Neurobiology of Trauma” released by the organization EVAW-I has interesting implications for training sexual assault investigators. Specifically, the second...more
A little more than ten years ago, I received what seemed like an odd request: would I be willing to serve as an expert witness in federal Title IX litigation? My perception had always been that most Title IX litigation...more
11/23/2020
/ Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Expert Witness ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
It has been a week! We now know that Joe Biden is the President-Elect of the United States of America. There will still be some legal wrangling, and nothing is set in stone until the electors vote in December. But, assuming...more
11/9/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
OCR ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
It’s unlikely that online threats could be immediate threats to physical health or safety, unless the threatening individual is in close physical proximity to those being threatened, or the threat is pretty detailed and...more
11/9/2020
/ Colleges ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Harassment ,
Online Platforms ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities
Many campuses, and ATIXA’s One Policy, Two Procedures (1P2P Model), incorporate the idea of having a specific role for a hearing facilitator, even though the role is not specifically contemplated by the regs. I am coming to...more