Dear Employees:

This email has important information about new responsibilities for all employees under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX).   Please review this information carefully so you know how to comply with these new expectations.

What is Required of All Employees?

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Education released updated Title IX Regulations that are effective beginning on August 1, 2024.  Under these regulations, when any student or a person who has a legal right to act on behalf of the student, discloses pregnancy or a related condition to any employee, the employee must do the following:

1. Promptly provide the student with the Title Coordinator’s contact information
2. Let the student know the Title IX Coordinator can coordinate specific actions to prevent sex discrimination and ensure the student’s equal access to Cal Poly Humboldt’s programs and activities. 

To fulfill this requirement, below is sample language you can use to send an email to the student:

Thank you for sharing with me that you are pregnant (or have a pregnancy-related condition).  I wanted to make sure you know that our campus Title IX Coordinator is David Hickcox and he can be reached at David.Hickcox@humboldt.edu or (707)826-5177. The Title IX Coordinator can coordinate specific actions to prevent sex discrimination and ensure you maintain equal access to programs and activities on our campus.  In other words, your pregnancy or related condition should not be a barrier to you being able to continue to participate fully in all education programs and activities of our campus.  You can find more information about your pregnancy and pregnancy-related condition rights at https://www.humboldt.edu/title-ix/resources-support/pregnant-parenting-support.

If you ever feel as though you are being discriminated against or harassed because of your pregnancy or a pregnancy-related condition, you may also contact the Title IX Coordinator to discuss your options for filing a complaint and actions that can be taken to stop the discrimination or harassment.

Additional Information About This New Requirement

●      Employees are not required to, and should not, report the student’s pregnancy or related condition to the Title IX Coordinator.

●      If a student or employee discloses that they are actively experiencing or already have faced discrimination or harassment because of their pregnancy, the employee should fulfill their duty to report under the Nondiscrimination Policy and inform the Title IX Coordinator.

What are Pregnancy and Related Conditions?

Pregnancy or related conditions means: 

●      Pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or lactation; 

●      Medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or lactation; or

●      Recovery from pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, or related medical conditions.

Additional examples of medical conditions related to pregnancy: pregnancy-related illness (i.e., excessive morning sickness, fatigue, nausea, prenatal depression, etc.), miscarriage, IVF treatments, lactation-related conditions (i.e., mastitis), and treatment for postnatal depression (also called postpartum depression).

Termination of pregnancy includes miscarriage, abortion, medical abortion, and stillbirth.

Questions

If you have questions about these new requirements or are unsure what is expected of you, please contact David Hickcox, David.hickcox@humboldt.edu, or visit our website at Humboldt.edu/TitleIX.