Updates for March 2024
For the past several months, we’ve been keeping people updated most through emails, video calls, and listservs, but this seemed like a great time to provide an overview of our current activities and plans all in one place.
Progress on Civil Rights Regulations
As you likely know by now, the Department of Education (ED) has submitted its intended final regulations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Once OMB has completed its meetings and conducted its analysis of budgetary implications for the new regulations, they will communicate back to ED, who will then finalize the regulations and submit them to the Federal Register for publication, at which time they will become official. While there is no no set calendar for this process, we are anticipating the release of the final regulations by early June. We expect that the regulations are likely to go into effect on or about August 1 of this year.
The System Ethics and Compliance Office (SECO) and Office of General Counsel (OGC) have been developing a new set of regulations to go into effect that will account for federal laws, state laws, System policies and regulations, and best practices since the initial proposed regulations were issued in 2022. We have made significant progress and expect to have final proposed changes to system regulations soon after the release of the federal regulations.
In addition to significant changes being made both in Washington and Austin, SECO and OGC have agreed on a number of substantive changes to civil rights compliance processes. A significant change will include the centralization of civil rights among system members and collaboration in civil rights compliance efforts. Another significant change is the restructuring of civil rights regulations under System Policy 08.01 in an effort to make our process much more detailed while at the same time making our process more transparent and easy to understand.
Under the forthcoming regulations, you will see that there will now be three regulations to operationalize System Policy 08.01 instead of two. These will include:
System Regulation 08.01.01 (Civil Rights Compliance) – this regulation will be shortened and return to being a high level compliance document,
System Regulation 08.01.02 (Civil Rights Accommodations) – this replaces a previous ADA Accommodations regulation, as accommodations are a much broader matter than just what is prescribed under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and
System Regulation 08.01.03 (Civil Rights Complaint Resolution Process) – this new regulation will house the informal resolution process, as well as formal investigations and the adjudicatory processes. Much of this information was contained within 08.01.01 previously, which is what will aid us in making 08.01.01 a friendlier document for its readers.
Each regulation will be supplemented by an online operational manual maintained on the SECO website. Each manual will break down every step of the civil rights process, explain it in detail, and provide appropriate resources in the form of templated forms, letters, and other materials. All of this material will be regularly updated on the website so that processes can be adjusted and improved as needed without requiring additional changes in the regulations. A training calendar for this summer is being finalized now and will be issued shortly.
SECO Website Update
We have created a new website for SECO, which has necessitated a restructuring of the civil rights compliance pages. As a result, the website realignment announced in October has been updated. Moving forward, here is a brief list of key pages that members may wish to bookmark on their computers:
System Ethics and Compliance (SECO): https://www.tamus.edu/seco/
Civil Rights Compliance: https://www.tamus.edu/seco/civil_rights_compliance/
System Civil Rights Personnel: https://www.tamus.edu/seco/civil_rights_compliance/system-civil-rights-officers/
Civil Rights Training: https://www.tamus.edu/seco/civil_rights_compliance/civil-rights-training/
Member Resources: https://www.tamus.edu/seco/civil_rights_compliance/member-resources/
Civil Rights Compliance Blog: https://www.tamus.edu/seco/civil_rights_compliance/member-resources/civil-rights-compliance-news/seco_blog/
Operational Manuals: https://www.tamus.edu/seco/civil_rights_compliance/member-resources/civil-rights-operational-manuals/
We expect to have the site mapping and most updates completed by the end of this week. The operational manuals will be posted over time with the hope of having most of the work completed by August 1, but we fully anticipate that we will be amending and adding materials on a regular basis for at least a year following the implementation of our new regulations. As a result, resources will be dated so that members know whether or not they are using the most recent versions of our materials.
SECO Listservs
Under the new civil rights process, communication between members and SECO, as well as between members and practitioners, is going to be a high priority. As a result, SECO will administer seven listservs when the new regulations go into effect, and will consider adding additional listservs as needed. These listservs are maintained through Gaggle mail, so you will be able to determine how you wish to receive this information once you subscribe. The following listservs have been created:
1. ADA Coordinator and Section 504 Officer listserv; intended to address disability accommodations for both employees and students (led by Dora Lisa Zavala),
2. Compliance Officer listserv; intended for compliance officers and SECO to replace the current mailing list (led by Janet Gordon),
3. Equal Opportunity Officer listserv; intended to address all matters falling under EO/AA (led by Dora Lisa Zavala),
4. Informal Resolution Practices Group; intended for those who facilitate informal resolutions (led by Rick Olshak),
5. Investigator listserv; intended for investigators to discuss best practices in investigations (led by Trisha Ford),
6. System Civil Rights Interest Group; this is a more open group that can include all employees and students who will be serving on member civil rights stakeholder groups (led by Rick Olshak), and
7. Title IX Coordinator listserv; a list for Title IX Coordinators and deputies to address practice issues, share resources, and exchange general information (led by Rick Olshak).
Upcoming Calendar
Spring and Summer 2024
The following Webex meetings have been created for personnel involved in civil rights compliance efforts. Unlike previous years where our audiences have been primarily comprised of compliance officers, Title IX coordinators, and EO officers, this year we are encouraging members to broaden the invitation list to include anyone on campus or in an agency whose responsibilities overlap with civil rights. Depending on the topic area, these audiences can include representatives from university police, athletics, leaders of behavioral intervention teams, ADA Coordinators and 504 Officers, enrollment management (admissions, advisement, financial aid, Registrar), health promotion/education staff, housing/residence life staff, counseling center staff, student government, other related student organization leaders, ROTC and Corps of Cadets officials, anyone providing supportive services to people from a protected class.
Thursday, April 4 (2-4pm) – System Civil Rights Joint Meeting; this meeting will provide a basic overview of coming changes and is intended for Title IX Coordinators and deputies, EO Officers and deputies, and ADA/504 Coordinators (may be the same person or different people based on the member)
Thursday, April 18 (2:30-4pm) – Civil Rights Update Meeting #1; Overview of Policy 08.01, new process map for civil rights compliance efforts, summary of System Regulations 08.01.01, 08.01.02, and 08.01.03
Thursday, May 2 (2:30-4pm) – Civil Rights Update Meetings #2; Overview of system regulations with civil rights implications
Thursday, May 16 (2:30-4pm) – Civil Rights Update Meeting #3; Overview of member rules for Policy 08.01 regulations
Thursday, May 30 (2:30-4pm) – Civil Rights Update Meeting #4; Supportive Measures and Emergency Measures
Friday, June 14 (1:30-3:30pm) – Civil Rights Update Meeting #5; Overview of federal Title IX regulations, Update on System Regulations and Member Rules
Friday, June 28 (1:30-3:30pm) – Civil Rights Update Meeting #6; System Civil Rights Training Requirements
Friday, July 12 (1:30-3:30pm) – Civil Rights Update Meeting #7; Stakeholder Groups and Compliance Reviews
Friday, July 26 (1:30-3:30pm) – Civil Rights Update Meeting #8; Review of civil rights web-based resources
To register for one or more of these update meetings, you can visit our registration link here.
In addition to these webinars, we will be conducting three in-person training programs. The first will be for designated administrators. A second in-person training program will be for hearing panel advisors (who oversee the hearing and deliberations), hearing panel members, hearing officers, and appellate officers. The final in-person training this summer will be for Title IX Coordinators and deputies, EO Officers and deputies, and ADA/504 Coordinators. Dates and locations for each of these trainings will be announced this week.
There will also be a number of Webex training webinars this summer. We are close to being able to announce dates for investigator training (will focus on changes brought by new regulations), member-appointed advisors, behavioral intervention team members, campus ombuds, survivor services staff, and case managers and intake staff. We will also be hosting a webinar on the intersection of civil rights complaint resolution processes and free/protected speech. Finally, we are also in the process of planning on overhaul of two TrainTraq programs provided by SECO to system members.
Fall 2024 and Spring 2025
To enter the fall, we plan on providing a basic video training for cabinet members, deans, and other senior leaders. This information will be provided to our civil rights officers with the intent of having them facilitate local conversations. We would like to provide a similar video for student organizations and student leaders, but we are still early in the planning phases of this. For the remainder of the fall and spring, we will have an emphasis on providing investigator training programs, hearing panel training programs, and informal resolution training programs. The fall will also include a visit to each system member by Dora Lisa Zavala and Rick Olshak to engage in conversations with members about the implementation of the new regulations.
Summer 2025
By next summer, we plan to have a new training program in place that will be modeled as a Civil Rights Academy that will focus on balancing required knowledge and skills with civil rights functions. Talks are underway between SECO and OGC on the structure of this new approach to training. We will be seeking to emphasize a “train the trainer” approach in the future, which we believe will benefit both SECO and our members.
That about wraps it up for this post. Obviously we have a million irons in the fire right now and are doing our best to ensure that our members will have the guidance, support, and resources that they need once our new regulations go into effect. In the meantime, keep your eyes out for invitations to our webinars and in-person trainings, and be sure to communicate broadly within your university or agency about our upcoming offerings. We look forward to seeing all of you soon.