The new school year means some new changes, and the Title IX office at DU is no different. Every August, the new policies and procedures are published on their website based on the feedback they receive from students throughout the previous school year. However, this year’s new policies reflect a more collaborative approach into deciding on the new changes and a reflection of how the office strives to be more inclusive and be able to reach out to all students.
“We took a very collaborative approach to doing the policy,” said Title IX Coordinator Jeremy Enlow. “Specifically, the amount of eyes that were on this and the amount of campus offices that were around this prior to finalization is a lot more than last year.”
Offices from Campus Safety to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities had a hand in deciding on how and what to revise in the new policies. Students were also involved in the process. For example, two students from the DU Collegiate Council on Gender Violence Topics took part in giving feedback on how to revise the policies.
“We want to make sure that we’re being compliant and that our program is meeting its objectives,” said Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Laura Maresca.
Thanks to the feedback given by students and other DU offices, the Title IX office was able to create three major changes to their policies. First was focusing on “conciseness and readability” of Title IX policies. The 2018-2019 policy handbook was fifty-one pages, but the new policy this year is shortened to thirty-three pages. The goal for having a shorter handbook is for students to feel more comfortable when meeting with the Title IX office to file a complaint (the handbook is given to a complainant and respondent during their initial meetings with the office), and to have a less daunting experience by being able to read through the handbook quicker, rather than becoming more distressed with a longer policy handbook.
Another major change was the focus on consistency of terminology. For example, the term “gender-based violence” will be used consistently throughout the document, rather than switching to a new term such as “sexual misconduct” or “sexual violence.” Having the same terminology throughout the handbook will be able to help students easily understand the definitions and policies and read through the handbook with more ease.
“You don’t just see a new term jump out at you and wonder what this term means,” said Enlow. “If it’s not in our definition section, it can be very jarring for students, so we were very intentional with consistency of language.”
The third major change made to this year’s policies was accessibility. Roman numerals were removed from the handbook and changed to alphanumeric and the font was changed from Times New Roman to Open Sans Font. Open Sans has been proven to be easier than other fonts for e-readers to use and those with visual impairments will be able to read through the policy as well.
“Students who read the handbook usually read it during a stressful time,” said Maresca. “Making it more accessible can help lower duress and students can find the document easier to work with.”
Substantive changes were made to this year’s handbook as well. Ancestry and creed were added under protected status, meaning that discrimination against someone’s ancestry and ethnicity is prohibited. Creed was added to protect those who identify as agnostic and atheist in case there was ever any discrimination committed against those who do not identify with a certain religion.
Last year’s handbook contained a separate definition of sexual harassment and harassment, but this year the sexual harassment clause falls under the section for harassment. The logic behind this is that sexual harassment is defined as “harassment based upon sex,” and the university would evaluate a complaint of sexual harassment the same as another form of harassment. “Bullying and Hazing” were removed from this year’s handbook, as it falls under a form of harassment, especially when discrimination against a student’s protected status is involved.
“Physical Misconduct Based on a Protected Status” is redefined in this year’s policies, as it is explained as a hate crime based upon a person’s race, age, status, etc. For example, an act causing physical harm to a person that was motivated by their protective status falls under this definition.
This year’s policies also changed the term “Relationship Violence” to “Dating or Domestic violence.” This was included to clearly explain what types of relationships fall under this definition.
“A lot of the feedback that we got was what types of relationships we were trying to define,” said Enlow. “We actually never defined what type of this relationship this was, so we wanted to be clear we meant this was about dating or domestic violence and what the prohibited conduct is.”
With the new Title IX policies in place, the overall hope is that it can be more inclusive for students and allow a chance for them to be under less stress when reading through the handbook. Having a handbook with consistent language and avoiding redundancies allows not only students to be able to understand Title IX’s policies, but also families or friends who may be affected by situations such as an investigation.
“This year’s handbook contains plain language that is easily accessible throughout the home,” said Maresca. “Anyone from a student to their parents can read through the handbook and easily understand it.”
To report an incident, contact Jeremy Enlow at 303-871-3142 or visit the Title IX website to submit a complaint or view the 2019-2020 Policies and Procedures.
