Scope of Taking Off-Campus Jurisdiction

As explained in the preamble to the 2024 Title IX regulations, how a recipient determines whether conduct would be subject to its disciplinary authority is a fact-specific analysis unique to each recipient. 89 FR 33533. To the extent a recipient addresses other student or employee misconduct that occurs off campus, a recipient may not disclaim responsibility for addressing sex discrimination that occurs in a similar context. Id. How a recipient analyses a “similar context” is left to the discretion of the recipient. The 2024 Title IX regulations do not require recipients to solely consider existing codes of conduct in determining whether alleged sex discrimination occurs under a recipient’s disciplinary authority, nor should a recipient focus its analysis on whether the alleged conduct occurred “on” or “off” campus. 89 FR 33529. Rather, a recipient should consider whether the recipient had disciplinary authority over the respondent’s conduct in the context in which it occurred. This may include conduct that occurs in off-campus settings that are operated or overseen by the recipient, including, for example, field trips, online classes, and athletic programs; conduct that takes place via school-sponsored electronic devices, computer and internet networks and digital platforms operated by, or used in the operations of, the recipient; and conduct that occurs during training programs sponsored by a recipient at another location. 89 FR 33529. Moreover, a recipient also has a responsibility to respond to a sex-based hostile environment occurring under its education program or activity even if alleged conduct by a student or employee contributing to the sex-based hostile environment did not occur under the recipient’s disciplinary authority.