License to Thrive

"Survey Says....."

The Dept. of Education, via an announcement by Vice president Joe Biden, has announced that universiteis will no longer be allows to rely soley on student surveys to prove they are in compliance with Title IX.  The announcement represents a reversal of a Bush- administration policy which many believed to be a loophole in the Title IX legislation.  

Title IX guarantees gender equity in educational programs that receive federal funds. Universities had available to them three different mechanisms to prove compliance wit the law:  1) show that women’s participation in sports was proportionate to their enrollment in the university; 2) demonstrate that a school was expanding athletic opportunities for women or; 3)  demonstrate that an institution was meeting the athletic interests and abilities of women on campus.  In 2005, the Office for Civil Rights amended the policy, declaring that universities could comply with the third requirement if they asked students to complete a survey of their interests. The change also allowed them to equate lack of response with a lack of interest in athletics.

Despite its passage, the 2005 rule was not widely used because of opposition from the NCAA and other women's organizations.