Title IX- Accommodating Pregnant & Parenting Students

1. Title IX- Accommodating Pregnant & Parenting Students Ida Dilwood, Director Office of Disability Services and Office of University Testing Center Dr. Amanda Allee, Director Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX Coordinator

2. Overview Title IX and ADA Cases Campus Policies and Procedures Centralized vs Decentralized Approach Our Campus Process Appropriate Accommodations

3. Title IX: Statutory Language “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C Section 1681 et seq.

4. Title IX: Regulatory Language Broadly speaking colleges and universities, “cannot discriminate against applicants for admission, financial assistance, or employment ‘on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, or recovery therefrom;’ must afford reasonable academic accommodations to pregnant students, including leaves of absence and accommodations related to course work, if requested and deemed medically necessary as a result of pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy; must treat student-athletes with pregnancy related conditions in the same way that they institution treats other ill or injured athletes; and otherwise cannot adopt rules or regulations that treat students differently based on their actual or potential parental status. 34 C.F.R. § 106.21-106.41

5. OCR- Dear Colleague Letter • June 2013, United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights issued “Dear Colleague” letter and accompanying pamphlet interpreting Title IX as it applies to pregnant and parenting students • The letter specifically states: “although this pamphlet focuses on secondary schools, the legal principles apply to all recipients of federal financial assistance, including postsecondary institutions.” https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201306-title-ix.pdf

6. ADA and EEOC Pregnancy itself is not a disability ADAA 2008-Broadened definition of disability EEOC- stated impairments related to pregnancy – even temporary impairments- are qualifying disabilities that trigger “reasonable accommodations.”

7. Case Law Darian v. Univ. of Massachusetts at Boston, 980 F. Supp. 77 (D. Mass. 1197) Hogan v. Ogden, No. CV-06-5078-EFS, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS (E.D. Wash. 2008) Conley v. Northwest Florida State College, 145 F. Supp. 3d 1073 (N.D. Fla. 2015)

8. Case Law Varlesi v Wayne State Univ., 643 Fed. Appx. 506 (6th Cir., March 2016) Khan v. Midwestern University, (N.D. Ill., Dec. 7, 2015)

10. Policy and Procedures Things to think about when developing your policy and procedures Be proactive not reactive Conduct assessment of your institution’s current practice when accommodating pregnancy and pregnancy related conditions How are you accommodating other students?

11. Our Process • What makes good policy? • Discussions we had on our campus (i.e. Best Practices) • Difference how policy covers pregnancy and parenting • Case-by-case basis

12. Structure and Staff Approaches Centralized Decentralized Academic Deans Individual Professors • Similar to accommodating students with disabilities • Through Title IX Coordinator • Through Office of Disability Services

13. Accommodations • Appropriate and Typical • A larger desk or classroom furniture • Breaks during class, as needed • Rescheduling tests or exams • Flexibility related to absences due to pregnancy or pregnancy related conditions • Flexibility related to assignments deadlines due to pregnancy related conditions • Widespread education

14. Final Thoughts What’s going to work at your campus Create the process Educate about the process Enforce the process Questions