Title IX Education

Title IX refers to the section of the Higher Education Amendments Act of 1972 that prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. In the beginning Title IX was applied to sex based discrimination that included sexual harassment, inequity in collegiate athletic programs, and discrimination based on pregnancy.

Title IX prohibits several types of sex-based harassment including:

Sexual harassment - unwelcomed conduct of a sexual nature

Sexual violence - a form of sexual harassment and refers to physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person’s will or where a person is incapable of giving consent

Gender-based harassment - unwelcomed conduct based on an individual’s actual or perceived sex, including harassment based on gender identity or nonconformity with sex stereotypes

In 2011 the Office of Civil Rights expanded the coverage of the sexual harassment piece of Title IX to include incidents of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. This expansion received national attention and prompted additional federal action, most notably in 2013 with the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and changes to campus crime reporting as governed by the Clery Act. These changes have prompted colleges and universities to review their policies, update procedures, and devise preventative and awareness campaigns in an effort to comply with the new regulations.

Within 60 calendar days of a report of sexual harassment or sexual violence, Baylor College of Medicine commits to:

• Investigate all reports
• End the harassment
• Remedy the effects
• Prevent the recurrence

Our responsibilities include providing comprehensive training to all new students and employees and ongoing education and prevention programming to the Baylor community. We conduct periodic climate surveys to focus our education and prevention efforts.

Baylor was one of 34 institutions to take part in the Education Advisory Board Survey of Unwanted Sexual Experiences in 2016, with favorable results compared to the cohort. We learned that:

• 94 percent of learners feel safe at the College
• 84 percent feel close to people at the College
• 89 percent feel that faculty are genuinely concerned about their welfare
• 77 percent feel that administrators are genuinely concerned about their welfare

However, the climate survey also highlighted areas where there is room for improvement at Baylor, such as:

• 42 percent of survey participants had experienced sex-based jokes or comments
• 15 percent had experienced unwanted fondling, kissing, rubbing or the removal of some clothing
• 2 percent had experienced unwanted sexual contact from someone in their lab, clinical training site or partner institution
• 1 percent had experienced an incident of sexual violence

In response to these findings, the College is launching comprehensive online Title IX training and creating educational campaigns about respectful learning and working environments, confidential reporting options, protection against retaliation and Baylor's process for addressing reports.

You may review all the climate survey data for Baylor and the institutional cohort by clicking the hyperlinked text.

The College's annual security report, provided in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, also is available for your review by clicking the hyperlinked text. The report informs our campus community and the public about campus security.