The Title IX office released their annual report on Monday, reviewing the Title IX cases received in the 2021-22 academic year. 

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination and conduct, such as sexual harrassment and sexual assault, in federally funded education programs or activities, according to the Title IX website. 

The previous academic school year saw a 16% overall decline in the number of total reports, resulting from an increase in direct reporting to the Title IX office and a decrease in confidential reports, said Adriana Alicea-Rodriguez, associate vice president and Title IX coordinator of University Compliance Services. Because some University employees, such as those at the Counseling and Mental Health Center, can report confidentially, there is a potential for duplicate reports if a misconduct is reported both confidentiality and directly to the Title IX office. Because there was a decrease in confidential reports, there was less chance for duplicates. 

In the 2021-22 academic year, the office received 483 actionable reports and 710 confidential reports. In the previous year, there were 444 actionable reports and 971 confidential reports. 

Of the 483 actionable reports this year, only 69 pursued the formal grievance process to seek action from the University. In 41% of the remaining cases, the respondent was not affiliated with the University, and in 28% of these cases, the complainant did not want to go through the formal grievance process. In such instances, the office directed complainants to support and resources. 

As of Sept. 15, 23 of the 69 cases had been completed through the formal grievance process. Fifteen cases are pending completion and 13 are in the adjudication process. Ten cases resulted in action, such as deferred suspension or contract termination for the respondent.

Alicea-Rodriguez said the increase in actionable reports was a result of the 2020 changes to the Title IX policy, such as requiring Title IX training for University employees, which were all  recommendations from law firm Husch Blackwell. After the recommendations, there is now a department for support and resources and an education and prevention team. 

“In 2021, we had settled into all of those recommendations being in place and our campus community members knowing (about policies),” Alicea-Rodriguez said. “We started to receive more reports for individuals that wanted to report the matter to the Title IX office, but were not necessarily seeking to pursue a grievance process.”