Published on: January 12, 2026
An ATIXA Tip of the Week by Saundra K. Schuster, J.D., M.S.
As the civil rights landscape evolves, many Title IX Coordinators now oversee broader areas of compliance, including Title VI (race, color, or national origin), Title VII (employment discrimination), Section 504 and the ADA (disability discrimination and accommodations), and the Age Discrimination Act.
Since our founding in 2011, ATIXA has been a leader in civil rights compliance in education, helping institutions to ensure equity and access in all programs and operations. Building on the vast, multifaceted expertise of our parent firm, TNG Consulting, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2025, ATIXA encompasses excellence and expertise from Title IX-focused systems to comprehensive non-discrimination solutions. This evolution brings new challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities.
Expanding Scope of Civil Rights Compliance
ATIXA has observed this shift for years, and now the momentum is accelerating rapidly. The education field faces a patchwork of siloed statutes, at the state and federal levels, enforced by varying agencies in varying ways. Some have regulations, and some remain largely unregulated, but enforced with vigor, nonetheless. This forces administrators to navigate a vast swath of laws, court decisions, agency guidance, and state-level regulations. This fragmented environment can lead to confusion, inefficiency, conflict, misalignment, and even noncompliance when managed in isolation. As compliance expectations grow, centralization, collaboration, and consistency are crucial for sustainable success. A core of common practices must undergird all civil rights work lest compliance devolve into fractured services and confusing standards.
From Silos to Unified Ecosystems
To resolve communication gaps and protect conflicts from fragmentation, many institutions are creating coordinated ecosystems. Some use centralized civil rights offices, while others adopt hub-and-spoke models with a lead coordinator, often the Title IX Coordinator, supported by deputy coordinators in each department. Another successful approach is a distributed model that uses cross-functional committees or teams to ensure alignment. Regardless of the model, the objective is to create cohesive, efficient, and equitable systems that consistently and effectively address issues affecting protected classes.
Collaboration as Risk Mitigation
We encourage institutions to think of collaboration not as “territory surrender” but as risk mitigation. A unified approach allows institutions to:
- Create shared intake processes and consistent documentation forms.
- Align definitions, timelines, and investigative procedures.
- Promote equity and transparency across all resolution processes.
- Ensure that complaints involving multiple or intersectional frameworks (e.g., race and gender, or disability and national origin) are addressed with clarity and fairness.
Overcoming Common Challenges
While the benefits of collaboration are clear, the path forward can be complex. Many schools and institutions face legacy systems, unclear jurisdictional lines, or unevenly distributed resources and priorities. Others struggle to integrate procedures or to balance different due-process requirements across student, staff, and faculty populations. The key to progress is intentional assessment and planning that harness the strength of the commonality that civil rights resolutions share, regardless of the basis of the discrimination.
ATIXA encourages institutions to:
- Conduct policy audits to identify overlaps and gaps.
- Unify policies and procedures as appropriate.
- Map organizational charts and reporting lines to clarify responsibilities.
- Create multi-path and intersecting resolution processes that meet the unique needs of different employee and student populations.
- Develop issue-routing protocols as clear guidelines for who manages what and when, and how jurisdiction is determined.
- Hold regular compliance roundtables to foster ongoing alignment and communication.
- Create a case closure checklist to ensure all obligations are met, including policy notices, Notices of Investigation and Allegations (NOIA), and supportive measures.
- Embrace the commonality of civil rights approaches, while also honoring the distinctions between various types of protected class discrimination.
Building Sustainable Structures
A comprehensive civil rights compliance program does more than mitigate risk; it builds institutional trust and resilience. That foundation begins with clear policies, defined scope, and transparent communication channels, supported by engaged leadership.
Collaboration across senior administration, legal counsel, human resources, student affairs, academic leaders, compliance and risk teams, student conduct, faculty affairs, student groups, advocates, community partners, law enforcement, and K-12 administrators is essential. Institutions should also invest in regular training and cross-training for coordinators, investigators, informal resolution facilitators, decision-makers, and advisors. A well-prepared, collaborative team ensures that every complaint is addressed fairly, consistently, and with care.
The Importance of Continuous Assessment
Compliance is a continuous process. Annual self-assessments, climate surveys, equity audits, and ad-hoc debriefings after investigations help to identify systemic patterns, vulnerabilities, and areas for improvement. ATIXA encourages schools and institutions to view this work as an ongoing cycle of learning and adaptation. Each assessment builds a stronger, more equitable foundation for future compliance efforts.
Lead with Integrity
At its core, civil rights compliance is about ensuring access to education and employment. That mission transcends legal mandates and speaks to the ethical responsibility we share as educators and administrators.
ATIXA has developed a custom training, Practical Strategies for Addressing Expanding Civil Rights Compliance Beyond Title IX, to equip schools and institutions with a practical, high-level framework for policy alignment and cross-functional collaboration across multiple compliance areas. Each of the imperatives described above is centered in this training, which maintains the practical, practitioner-focused, engaging, and interactive style you have come to expect and count on from ATIXA.
Pair your training with our Policy Review and Revision consulting services. Contact inquiry@tngconsulting.com to learn more. Teams can also strengthen their comprehensive civil rights compliance program by enrolling in our Virtual Focus Weeks. ATIXA members get access to our ready-to-use model frameworks, including the One Policy, Two Procedures (1P2P) and the Title VI Model Policy for Educational Settings. Join ATIXA today.