Eighteen months ago, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced her department’s intent to revise Obama-era sexual assault guidelines, citing “failed” guidance on campus sexual assault cases that diminished due process and did a disservice to the accuser and accused alike. While the new regulations may not be made official for months, higher education administrators are busy determining how the proposed revisions will affect policies and procedures related to Title IX, the law designed to protect students from sexual harassment, sexual violence, or any form of gender-based discrimination.

The urgent need for a “neutral” solution, now -

Some state courts are not waiting for the latest Education Department regulations to take effect, however, and are very clearly establishing the need to change the single-investigator model used by most colleges and universities in Title IX matters, as well as the adjudicative strategy incorporating internal panels to decide whether a student violated code.

Originally published on Chronicle.com on May 20, 2019.