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Thesis advisor: Heather T. Rowan-Kenyon / The purpose of this study on university handling of Campus Sexual Assault (CSA) was to understand the experiences of Title IX Coordinators as key administrators in this work. CSA continues to be a pervasive problem, and the dialogue on campuses and externally is highly contentious. Guidance from the federal government, combined with a recent surge in lawsuits against universities, have created a precarious legal context for CSA that is exceedingly difficult for universities to manage. How institutions handle the array of moving parts with CSA is largely absent from the current literature. This study interviewed university Title IX Coordinators, who are responsible for overseeing the institutional response to CSA and therefore are uniquely positioned to offer insight into how universities are handling the problem and the internal and external factors that are playing a role. Sixteen interviews were conducted of Title IX Coordinators responsible for overseeing student CSA matters at NCAA Division I institutions. The research questions guiding this study included: (a) how do Title IX Coordinators handle and carry out their responsibilities related to CSA; what shapes the ways in which Title IX Coordinators handle their responsibilities related to CSA, and (b) how does university culture influence Title IX Coordinators’ work related to CSA? The theory that emerged from the data indicates that Title IX Coordinators have an array of complexities to navigate in their CSA work, stemming from an interplay of both internal and external pressures and factors, that can lead to a range of outcomes that are most often negative. Using grounded theory methodological procedures, a theory and visual model were generated to explain the interactions among the following components: Title IX Coordinator values and priorities; processes involved in CSA work; university culture and structure; collaboration with and management of university partners; the legal landscape and external context; and case outcomes and Title IX Coordinator impact. The theory has implications for policy, for Title IX Coordinators and universities, and for future research. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Male survivors of sexual assault face increased mental health concerns due to commonly held beliefs and lack of quality services. College and university administrators, under guidance provided by the Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Education, must respond to all incidents of sexual misconduct, no matter the gender identity of the complainant or respondent. The purpose of this multiple case study was to investigate how the Title IX Coordinators at small colleges understand and implement governmental guidelines to decrease the secondary victimization experienced by male survivors by analyzing current policies and programs. Critical theory provided the conceptual framework for the study. The participants were 4 Title IX Coordinators employed by small colleges. Two participants were selected from a list of schools under investigation by the Office for Civil Rights and two from a random selection of all small colleges in the United States. Data collection occurred through semistructured interviews with Title IX Coordinators and a review of services provided to survivors of sexual assault. Analysis of the data included cross-case synthesis to identify emergent themes. Participants focused on the equality of services provided to all survivors; however, more focus should be placed on equity in services to overcome the oppression facing male survivors. Training involving the collegiate and surrounding communities may achieve the social change needed to support male survivors of sexual assault. Title IX Coordinators may act as catalysts of social change that begins on campus and expands to the surrounding community.

This thesis examines the impacts of Title IX compliance on salary gap of Division I Football Bowl Series and Football Championship Series universities male and female associate professors. Title IX athletic proportionality requirements have been established since the 1980’s and require that each university have an equal percentage of female student athletes as they do female undergraduates. This study uses the National Center for Education Statistics database, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to calculate salary gap between male and female associate professors and uses the Office of Civil Rights Equity in Athletics Database to calculate Title IX compliance. In this study paired t-tests and OLS regression are used to find the relationship between the salary gap and compliance of Title IX. This study found an inverse relationship between salary gap and Title IX compliance, refuting the hypothesis. Because Title IX compliance requires an equal proportion of student to athletes, the universities with significantly more female undergraduates were less likely to be Title IX compliant.

ABSTRACT DECISION MAKING IN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS: ONE INSTITUTION’S JOURNEY TO MAINTAIN TITLE IX COMPLIANCE by John Rowland The allocation of resources and participation opportunities in intercollegiate athletics has been a debate among researchers for nearly 40 years. Title IX and traditionally male-dominated budgeting practices continue to be opposing forces that shape the financial and gender makeup of university athletic departments. In fact, the need to be Title IX compliant often dominates discussions when structural changes occur in athletic departments. This case study analyzed the decision making process of distributing resources and participation opportunities at Division I University from 1998 to 2007 based on John Rawls’ arguments about distributive justice. Division I University administrators focused on the substantiality proportionality clause of the three-part test as the only method to comply with Title IX. The Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act and other gender equity reports completed during certification play an important role in the decision making process. The analysis of the decision making process showed that Title IX was used as a political tool to deflect the controversy of program elimination. This analysis also showed that program elimination was not necessary in order to maintain Title IX compliance. Thus, the decision to eliminate sports was a violation of Rawlsian justice.

Sexual assault among college students in the US has prompted debate about how to prevent and punish such crimes. Under Title IX and the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter from the Office for Civil Rights, universities are required to undertake the prevention, investigation, and punishment of sexually violent offenses on college campuses. However, the vast majority of victims do not report their assaults, whether on campus or to the police. The current study investigated the effect of victim reporting on perceptions of sexual assault. Two undergraduate samples, one from a small liberal arts college (n = 197) and another recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk (n = 56), were randomly assigned to read a vignette of an alleged sexual assault including one of four reporting conditions: no reporting, reporting to on-campus administrators, reporting to law enforcement, or reporting both on campus and to law enforcement. Outcome measures included whether the participant believed an assault had taken place, measures of victim and perpetrator culpability, and scales measuring the extent to which the participant accepts rape myths (RMA) and believes in a just world (JWB). Results failed to demonstrate an effect of victim reporting type, but did find a significant effect of gender such that males blamed the victim more and were less likely to believe an assault had taken place than females. RMA also mediated this relationship, such that the effect of gender on perceptions was accounted for by differences in RMA. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Federal law requires institutions to designate campus-based administrators to oversee Title IX processes and investigations, but little is known about how these have been professionally prepared for their roles. The purpose of this study was to understand the professional preparation, educational experiences, and professional training of Title IX administrators and to understand their independence in decision-making in those roles. This study utilized qualitative content analysis and a social constructionist approach to analyze data generated from interviews and document analysis. Sixteen current and former Title IX administrators (investigators, deputy coordinators, coordinators) provided their perspectives on their professional training and development. Using frameworks of work/professional socialization and professions theory, findings illustrated complex systems for knowledge acquisition, professional preparation, and professional socialization based on factors including resources, institutional context, and role prioritization. Participants' formal education, formative experiences, position-specific training, and professional organizations training all served as preparation for their roles. Discussion focused on implications for graduate programs, training and trainers, institutions and supervisors, the field of higher education, and current Title IX practitioners regarding professional preparation for these roles.

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