Tulane Law expands online programs with Title IX certifications

Gender and pay equity. The Americans with Disabilities Act. Sexual harassment. Women’s equal access in sports.

For administrators working in human resources, education, athletics and other fields, compliance in these areas covered under Title IX can be daunting.  Because of that, Tulane Law has expanded its online programming for non-lawyers with a series of certificate offerings in Title IX compliance.

Launched  last spring, the program is a series of six-week certifications in a variety of compliance areas useful for administrators a variety of fields, and is offered six times a year.

“In the constantly volatile world of federal regulations interpreting and expanding upon the directives of Title IX, there is a heightened demand for immediate and informed instruction on the meaning and application of these changing regulations, said Joel Friedman, Director of Tulane Law’s Online Education Program. “This program is specifically designed to meet and fulfill that need.”

More on the Title IX certificate program here.

Recently, three-time Olympic gold medalist, attorney and advocate for the protection and support of girls and women in sport Nancy Hogshead-Makar as joined the program’s faculty.

Her expertise in the context of university and college athletic programming makes her “uniquely qualified to teach our certification courses in Title IX and athletics,” said Friedman.

 “As a former Olympic champion and outspoken attorney and advocate for gender equality and institutional accountability in sports, Professor Hogshead-Makar has a depth of knowledge and experience that will provide students with an unparalleled set of knowledge and skills relating to all aspects of Title IX compliance.”

Hogshead-Makar said that in her 19 years of teaching, she has always wanted to reach non-lawyers to expand the understanding of Title IX – and have an immediate and direct impact on students and education.

“Tulane’s courses fill the gulf between experts and what the masses know. The outcome is that the law, that information, should be readily accessible, but currently is not,” she said.

Hogshead-Makar teaches three courses: Introduction to Title IX and athletics, a more advanced course in Title IX compliance and a course for the K-12 environment.

Hogshead-Makar is an internationally recognized expert and advocate for women’s issues in sports and has for more than three decades fought to expand opportunities and to stop sexual abuse of athletes. She is the founder of Champion Women, a non-profit that advocates for women and girls in sports. 

 As a lawyer, her areas of expertise include equal pay, sexual harassment, abuse and assault, as well as employment, pregnancy, and LGBTQ discrimination. In 2012, she began working on legislative changes to assure club and Olympic sports athletes were protected from sexual abuse. She was instrumental in 2018 of helping get the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and SafeSport Authorization Act passed.

“I am forever grateful to those who came before me, because I was that first generation that benefitted from the passage of Title IX,” she said. “Even though I was an Olympian, a world-record holder and an extremely hard worker, I would not have been able to earn an athletic scholarship without Title IX. There just weren’t any.”

There are a number of other areas covered by the program: Investigating sexual harassment claims, issues specific to K-12 academic programs, and the intersection of Title IX with other antidiscrimination laws.  For more detailed information, check out the program website.