CALIFORNIA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY Riverside, California Litigation And
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CALIFORNIA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY Riverside, California Litigation and the Title IX Coordinator: A Look Into the Effects of Litigation on the 23 CSU System Campuses After Implementation of a Title IX Coordinator A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Public Administration Megan D. Carthen Jackson Division of Online and Professional Studies Department of Public Administration August 2018 Litigation and the Title IX Coordinator: A Look Into the Effects of Litigation on the 23 CSU System Campuses After Implementation of a Title IX Coordinator Copyright © 2018 by Megan D. Carthen Jackson ABSTRACT Litigation and the Title IX Coordinator: A Look Into the Effects of Litigation on the 23 CSU System Campuses After Implementation of a Title IX Coordinator by Megan D. Carthen Jackson, DPA Sexual misconduct remains among the highest underreported crimes across the nation. Incidents of sexual misconduct at institutions of higher education across the United States continue to be of grave concern as well. Lawsuits for mishandled reports of sexual misconduct by college and university administration as a violation of Title IX continues to draw media attention as litigation presents itself to be a viable method for aggressive institutional and societal change. Title IX law seeks to eliminate, prevent, and remedy instances of sex discrimination in educational activities, programs, and employment and applies to all colleges and universities that receive federal financial assistance. Violation of Title IX law exposes institutions to both litigation and loss of federal funding. In an effort to address institutional compliance with Title IX, the role of the Title IX coordinator was created as a tool of policy implementation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect, if any, of the role of the Title IX coordinator as a method of policy implementation through demonstration of a statistically significant difference in the number of cases of litigation for mishandled reports of sexual misconduct by administration across the 23 CSU System campuses. The study utilized a quantitative quasiexperimental study to analyze the intervention of the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter and publish mandate of a Title IX coordinator in relation to number of cases of Title IX litigation. A paired t test analyzed the number of cases of Title IX litigation across the 23 iv CSU System campuses 6 years before and 6 years after the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter and published mandate of a Title IX coordinator. Keywords: Title IX coordinator, litigation v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am forever grateful to Kenneth Minesinger, Esq. and Dr. Greg Bowden for serving to guide this work and for their patience with me. Thank you both so much. Thank you to my dissertation chair, Dr. Elaine Ahumada, for taking on more than you probably expected. I truly value and appreciate you and everything you provided throughout this adventure. A special thank you to my friends for understanding my absence and scatterbrain without judgment as I tried to spin so many plates and for standing by me to the end cheering me on. Lastly to my cohort, the very first at California Baptist University to embark on this journey, you all are absolutely remarkable! Without you and the numerous texts, phone calls, and e-mails, I have no idea how I would have survived this program. Thank you! vi DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my family, my husband, and Kato and Kota who with endless love endured the stress and business of my life in pursuit of this dream. My mother and father who encouraged me and my little brother Eric whose laughter carried me through. I also dedicate this to my baby brother Evan whose thirst for knowledge and determination kept me moving forward on this journey. Evan, although your presence is felt, you are so very missed. Thank you all for your patience, love, and encouragement without which this could not have been accomplished. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. vi DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Background of the Problem ................................................................................................ 3 Charge to Uphold Regulations .......................................................................................... 14 Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................... 16 Research Design................................................................................................................ 21 Research Question ............................................................................................................ 22 Hypothesis and Null Hypothesis ....................................................................................... 23 Significance of the Research ............................................................................................. 23 Definitions of Terms ......................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ........................................................... 36 21st-Century Sexual Misconduct in Higher Education .................................................... 37 Title IX, Title VI, Title VII ............................................................................................... 39 1960s… ....................................................................................................................... 39 1970s… ....................................................................................................................... 42 Title VII Owns Sexual Harassment Law .......................................................................... 47 Title IX Meets MacKinnon ............................................................................................... 49 1980s ................................................................................................................................. 55 Title IX Authority ............................................................................................................. 60 1990s ................................................................................................................................. 65 Title IX: Three-Part Tests ................................................................................................. 66 2000s ................................................................................................................................. 72 Growth of Definition and Scope ....................................................................................... 73 OCR Guidance and the Title IX Coordinator ................................................................... 79 The Title IX Coordinator .................................................................................................. 86 These Laws Apply ............................................................................................................ 90 California and the CSU System ........................................................................................ 94 Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................... 97 Implementation Theory ..................................................................................................... 98 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .................................................................................. 102 Overview ......................................................................................................................... 102 Research Question .......................................................................................................... 104 Hypothesis and Null Hypothesis ..................................................................................... 104 Research Design.............................................................................................................. 104 Population and Sample ................................................................................................... 106 viii Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 109 Validity and Reliability ................................................................................................... 110 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................. 110 Limitations ...................................................................................................................... 111 Delimitations ................................................................................................................... 112 Summary 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