Texas A&M System Enacts Rules on Title IX and Sexual Harassment System-wide

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp enacted system-wide regulations, effective immediately, that establish tougher sanctions, including mandatory expulsion and dismissal, for students, faculty and staff who are found responsible for serious Title IX violations.

The amendments to existing System regulations:

  • Require the establishment of minimum sanctions for student violations of Title IX;
  • Require an independent process for determining if or when a student may return to extracurricular activities (athletics, band, student government, etc.) after being found responsible for a Title IX violation;
  • Prohibit consensual relationships between university faculty and staff and undergraduate students at a university;
  • Establish a policy mandating termination of employment for any employee (faculty or staff) found responsible for sexual harassment (as defined in the System regulations).

On Monday, Texas A&M University unveiled its new student conduct policy that includes mandatory sanctions for violations of Title IX policies, plus an independent process to determine if and when students can return to extracurricular activities.

These new System regulations require the other 10 A&M System universities to adopt similar Title IX policies for students. The regulations also mandate termination of employment of faculty and staff for certain serious violations at all A&M System universities and state agencies.

“This summer I asked the Texas A&M leadership to take the lead in creating the best student conduct policy in the nation and they did an outstanding job,” said Chancellor Sharp. “I am now asking the rest of the System to follow that lead, and I also am expanding the rules to cover sexual harassment involving faculty and staff system-wide.”

About The Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a budget of $4.7 billion. Through a statewide network of 11 universities and seven state agencies, the Texas A&M System educates more than 152,000 students and makes more than 22 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceeded $972 million in FY 2016 and helped drive the state’s economy.

Contact: Laylan Copelin
Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications
(979) 458-6425
(512) 289-2782 cell
lcopelin@tamus.edu