Weekly Briefing: New Title IX rules during a pandemic

The rules left some administrators and Title IX experts with questions. [Weekly Briefing] Are you working remotely? Many institutions provide access to premium Chronicle content on campus. If your college or university is one of them, you can maintain that access when you’re at home. Read this helpful [FAQ]( to see how. Your account is easy to set up and will provide you access wherever you are. --------------------------------------------------------------- New Title IX rules are here, in the middle of a pandemic. [Image] Martin Leon Barreto for The Chronicle By Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz We waited nearly two years for the shoe to drop. On Wednesday the U.S. Department of Education announced changes in how colleges must handle complaints of sexual assault and harassment. The rules cover the enforcement of Title IX, the federal gender-equity law, and they bolster protections for accused students and employees. The department will require colleges to hold live hearings and allow cross-examination when adjudicating sexual-misconduct complaints. The changes, which will also narrow the scope of complaints that colleges must investigate, take effect on August 14. During a Wednesday news conference, Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, said she would not delay the rules during the outbreak of Covid-19 because Title IX cases are being heard and decided now, during the pandemic. The rules left some administrators and Title IX experts with questions. Some related to the pandemic: How will colleges tell students and employees about the changes while they are off campus? And how will administrators overhaul their policies in just a few months, on top of all their pandemic-related work? When big policy changes are made, the campus community is usually involved in the conversation and can give feedback through meetings or in-person forums. Remote operations present a challenge to that standard. Colleges must also explain to students and faculty members what conduct falls under the federal government’s new definition of sexual harassment and what doesn’t. To top it all off, administrators have to train students, professors, and staff on the new policy while they also figure out their fall plans. Oh, and remember this all has to happen in about three months. Colleges are already under enormous pressure because of Covid-19. Budgets are tight and are likely to get tighter. At many institutions, especially small colleges, administrators are already juggling several jobs, and there may not be money to hire outside consultants or new staff members. But DeVos was loud and clear on Wednesday: The changes are here, like it or not. [Our Sarah Brown has the ins-and-outs of the new rules here](. [She also lays out colleges’ concerns here](. Best of the rest. [Image] iStock This week, instead of listing Chronicle stories, I need your help. Chronicle reporters have [collected]( colleges’ plans for the fall semester and [examined]( their confident (maybe overconfident) statements about the return. But we haven’t heard from readers yet. What do you really think about returning to your campus this fall? Is your institution ready? [Answer those questions in this Google Form]( and your responses could be published in a Chronicle story (anonymously, of course). Lagniappe. [Image] Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez for The Chronicle - ✏️ Learn. I’ll let you in on a secret. I think writing is a chore. [This advice]( about working through a rut, from the encouraging newsletter Brass Ring Daily, helped me. It suggests starting from the end, working shorter or longer, and scaring “the pants off” your deadline. Good luck. - 📚 Read. If the lockdown (or your uncomfortable home-office chair) has prompted you to practice yoga, specifically led by the YouTube channel Yoga With Adriene, you’re not alone. [Here’s the secret]( behind the instructor’s success. - 🎧 Listen. It’s the weekend. Play [instrumental funk music]( to lift your spirits. - 📺 Watch. You’ve probably heard about the ESPN series The Last Dance, about the Chicago Bulls’ 1997-98 season. If you haven’t started watching, [now’s the time](. As always, I’ll be back next week. Cheers, —Fernanda P.S. –– Above the Lagniappe section I've started featuring my own photos from my quarantine walks in Washington D.C. They're nothing special, but I hope they make you smile, like this toaster left outside a house in my neighborhood. Subscribe Today Our mission, at a time of crisis and uncertainty, is to make sure you have the information you need to respond effectively, and make the best decisions for your institution and your students. Please consider subscribing today to sustain our continuing coverage. [Subscribe Today]( This Week's Top Reads Newly Updated [Here’s a List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall]( Our searchable list tracks whether institutions expect to have in-person or online-only classes or some mix of the two. Tell us what your campus is doing. Paid for and Created by Council on Foreign Relations [Civics for a Global Era]( Broadening the definition of civics education, the Council on Foreign Relations has developed global literacy resources to enhance students’ understanding of global issues and foreign policy through a series of case studies aimed at building knowledge, skills, and perspectives. Leadership [What’s Behind Colleges’ Bullish Statements on Their Fall Plans?]( University leaders sound cautiously optimistic about their plans for the fall, even as experts agree there will be no return to normalcy. (PREMIUM) Paid for and Created by Edith Cowan University [Finding Hidden Gluten]( Research at Edith Cowan University is improving the ways we identify the presence of gluten in foods and drinks with the use of proteometry. This method allows for identifying gluten not detectable through immunoassay, which often cannot trace heavily processed gluten. Latest Jobs Visit [ChronicleVitae.com]( to view the latest jobs in higher education. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Sign up]( for other newsletters, [stop receiving]( this email, or [view]( our privacy policy. © 2020 [The Chronicle of Higher Education]( 1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 [The Chronicle of Higher Education](