Notes

As a community, we must consider how to engage in the system-wide strategic planning for the next three years.  "We already know the destination – to serve as the national model for educating America’s new majority, comprised of first-generation students, students of color, low-income students and adults seeking a brighter future" (for their families).  The bold in parenthesis is our advocacy position in moving our system to a more inclusive model toward family-serving institutions. In the upcoming weeks, we will be putting out a toolkit for supporters to engage with the system so that our message is aligned to the goals of "adults seeking brighter future for their families" in the Cal State system.  https://csustrategicplan.mysocialpinpoint.com/ 

Notes on sample email related to new responsibilities for all CSU employees under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX). Below is the text sent out to Cal Poly employees (Oct 23, 2024):

What is Required of All Employees? 

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Education released updated Title IX regulations that are effective beginning 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 IX 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’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 Kaitlyn Blakey, our campus Title IX Coordinator, can be reached at kblakey@calpoly.edu, crco@calpoly.edu, or 805-756-6770. 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://crco.calpoly.edu/content/title-ix.

As a CSU employee, 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.

· However, 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. Per California state law, medical abortions are provided at our campus health center.

Our team is following SB 521, that "requires a “good cause” exemption from CalWORKs sanctions imposed on pregnant, parenting, and lactating students who are not being adequately accommodated under Title IX, and make revisions to the Cal-Learn program to allow parent teens to maintain their benefits in certain circumstances."

Bill summary LINK.

Primary Sponsor: CA Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D)

". . . partnership announced this week between the National Head Start Association and the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) to put more Head Start facilities on community college campuses . . . " To learn more, read the Washington Post article posted on March 14, 2023 (written by the Editorial Board).