Course Objectives

CM140 - Title IX and VAWA Training: Building Safer Campuses

This course is designed to assist personnel at all levels of an educational institution in the understanding of the provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ("Title IX"), and the Clery Act as it was amended in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. (“VAWA”). These laws require that all individuals in an educational institution understand and comply with the laws in terms of what is prohibited behavior in relation to sexual harassment and/or sexual violence, and what steps are to be followed when such prohibited conduct occurs. This course gives the participants information about the laws, as well as procedures to follow, to provide for the rights of all individuals under the laws. It also provides additional resources to assist educational institutions in continuing to build and strengthen their Title IX and VAWA policies, procedures and training throughout the year.


Module 1: Overview of Title IX and VAWA

  • Explain the purpose of Title IX.
  • Describe what types of conduct constitute sexual harassment and sexual violence.
  • Identify the crimes of sexual violence (“VAWA crimes”) required to be tracked and reported by institutions under the Clery Act.
  • Recognize how VAWA expanded institutional policy and procedural requirements designed to prevent, promptly and fairly respond to, and remedy harm occurring to students from crimes of sexual violence.
  • Explain the relationship between Title IX, VAWA, and the Clery Act.

Module 2: Reporting and Response

  • Explain the role and responsibility of a Title IX Coordinator.
  • Describe how and to whom students and employees can report sexual harassment and sexual violence at your institution.
  • Recognize when your institution is considered to be “on notice” of sexual harassment or sexual violence and what actions the institution must take to respond.
  • Contrast the role of a Responsible Employee to that of a Title IX Coordinator.
  • Assess the obligation of a school to keep Title IX complaints and victim identity confidential and the limitations of that confidentiality.

Module 3: Investigations and Disciplinary Procedures

  • Recognize the elements that must be contained in grievance procedures used by an institution to receive and evaluate complaints of sexual harassment.
  • Identify the additional elements that must be contained in procedures for institutional disciplinary action in cases of alleged dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
  • Explain how a Title IX Investigation is conducted.
  • Contrast the purpose and standard of proof in an institutional Title IX proceeding with a criminal proceeding.
  • Recognize how off-campus conduct can implicate a school’s Title IX investigation obligations and how Title IX and VAWA off-campus jurisdiction differ.

Module 4: Prevention and Education

  • Explain the sanctions and remedial measures your institution may impose for a VAWA crime.
  • Explain the prohibition against retaliation for reporting or being involved in a disciplinary proceeding regarding a Title IX offense, including VAWA crime.
  • Gain a basic familiarity with VAWA crime definitions under the Clery Act.
  • Examine the meaning of consent, including under the state law where your institution is located.
  • Describe strategies for bystander intervention to prevent sexual violence.
  • Recognize the dynamics of sexual assault, including key aspects of victim behavior, trauma response, intimate partner violence, and capacity to consent.
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