Insights from the Department of Education’s Title IX Resolution Agreement regarding Faulkner University

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, on March 26, 2026, resolved a case with Faulkner University. This is a timely reminder for school administrators preparing student handbooks for the 2026-2027 school year, reviewing Board policies, and updating websites. This is especially important in light of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Title II requirement for public sector websites and online systems and digital resources for governmental entities serving more than 50,000 people to be accessible to people with disabilities by April 24, 2026, which you can read about here.

Notably in the Resolution Letter, OCR found that the University did not have a weblink to the materials used to train its Title IX Personnel on its website.

Policy Issues

The University had an Anti-Harassment Policy which included a Title IX grievance process contained within its Student Handbook, which purported to apply to incidents involving a student. The Student Handbook referenced a grievance process applicable to employees, but the University never produced such a policy. There was a separate process for reporting sexual assault to the Dean of Students Office, which was subject to a separate non-Title IX process despite sexual assault falling within Title IX’s definition of sexual harassment. The various policies directed those reporting Title IX qualifying incidents to someone other than the Title IX Coordinator. In other words, there were lots of non-compliant policy and handbook problems.

Even more violations arose because the grievance procedures had numerous non-compliant elements: informal resolution permitted without a formal complaint, no time-frames for informal resolution, no live hearings (which are required at the university level, unlike at the K-12 level), no requirement to use the preponderance of evidence standard for sexual assaults reported to the Dean of Students Office, no requirement for an objective evaluation of all evidence, no written notice to the parties that they will be permitted to inspect and review the evidence, no notice to the parties that they may have an advisor of their choice, and no notice to the parties that they are prohibited from making knowingly false statements.  

This particular resolution agreement stands out as indicative of concerns about Title IX compliance we see for many school districts and higher education institutions. 

Key Takeaways

• Ensure your training materials are posted in the manner required.
• Carefully review student handbooks and remove references to policies that are no longer in effect, are misstated, or are unclear.
• Ensure that all required Title IX Coordinator contact information is present in the Title IX policy, handbooks, and all other places that Title IX Coordinator contact information must be posted, including: name or title, office address, electronic mail address, and telephone number.
• Review all policies and procedures for compliance with the Title IX regulations.

As always, our Franczek Title IX team is ready to support schools with their Title IX needs, including Title IX compliance reviews. Additionally, we offer training packages with in-person, live online, and on-demand options, as well as training that can be tailored to your school’s specific needs. Please reach out to any member of our Title IX team or email TitleIX@Franczek.com for more information.