Title IX Grievance Policy
Policy Statement
Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 prohibits any person in the United States from being discriminated against on the basis of sex in seeking access to any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. The U.S. Department of Education, which enforces Title IX, has long defined the meaning of Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination broadly to include various forms of sexual harassment and sexual violence that interfere with a student’s ability to equally access our educational programs and opportunities.
On May 19, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education issued a Final Rule under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 that:
- Defines the meaning of “sexual harassment” (including forms of sex-based violence)
- Addresses how this institution must respond to reports of misconduct falling within that definition of sexual harassment, and
- Mandates a grievance process that this institution must follow to comply with the law in these specific covered cases before issuing a disciplinary sanction against a person accused of sexual harassment.
See, 85 Fed. Reg. 30026 (May 19, 2020). The full text of the Final Rule and its extensive Preamble are available online.
On April 19, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education released the updated provisions of the Final Rule under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 that provided further guidelines for colleges and universities regarding their Title IX policies and processes. These new federal guidelines went into effect on August 1, 2024. A Summary of Major Provisions of the Title IX Final Rule is also available.
Any formal complaint that meets the criteria of covered sex discrimination and harassment, as defined by the U.S. Department of Education's Title IX Final Rule of April 19, 2024 will be addressed per SUNY Geneseo's Title IX Grievance Policy. The Title IX Grievance Policy is effective as of August 1, 2024. In addition, the college has adopted the following policies regarding Title IX Grievance Process Hearings SUNY Geneseo Guide for Determining Relevance for Title IX Grievance Process Hearings and SUNY Geneseo Decorum Policy for Title IX Grievance Process Hearings.
Important Update
On July 2, 2024, the United States District Court for the District of Kansas issued a decision that blocked four states from adopting the new 2024 Title IX Final Regulations. The Court initially adopted a list of hundreds of schools to which the injunction applied; Geneseo was not included in that list in July 2024. In late August, the Court updated its list of schools based on the submission of one of the parties to the lawsuit, which allowed individual schools across the country to be prohibited from implementing the new regulations. SUNY Geneseo was included in the list, along with dozens of others, and is now unable to continue to implement its new procedures as of August 28, 2024, while the lawsuit continues to be litigated.
What You Need to Know
Because Geneseo had previously adopted the 2024 Rule and Procedures and they were in place for the August 1, 2024 deadline, the 2024 rules will apply to reported incidents of Title IX sex discrimination that occurred between August 1 and August 28, 2024. For incidents that occurred before August 1, 2024, or on or after August 28, 2024, the 2020 Title IX rules will apply.
If any faculty, staff member, or student has questions about reporting an incident, please contact the Title IX coordinator, Sara Mahoney, at titleIX@geneseo.edu or 585-245-5023. Geneseo will work with you to ensure the appropriate policies and/or procedures are applied to each report.
Section 106.45(b) of the 2020 Final Title IX Rules requires the sharing of “All materials used to train Title IX Coordinators, investigators, decision-makers, and any person who facilitates an informal resolution process. A recipient must make these training materials publicly available on its website, or if the recipient does not maintain a website the recipient must make these materials available upon request for inspection by members of the public.” The State University of New York at Geneseo is a member of SUNY's Student Conduct Institute (SCI), and individuals who are required to receive training must complete SCI trainings prior to investigating and hearing cases.
All training materials can be found on the SUNY website.
2020 Title IX Grievance Policy
Based on the Final Rule, SUNY Geneseo will implement the following Title IX Grievance Policy, effective August 14, 2020 until July 31, 2024 and then August 29, 2024 to current day.
Title IX Grievance Policy 8/14/20-7/31/24 and 8/29/24 to current day
2024 Title IX and Sexual Misconduct Grievance Policy
This Grievance Procedure applies to incidents that occurred between August 1, 2024 and August 28, 2024.
Title IX and Sexual Misconduct Grievance Policy 8/1/24-8/28/24