Public postsecondary education: discrimination prevention.

Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as 2 of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing federal law, known as Title IX, prohibits a person, on the basis of sex, from being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subject to discrimination, which includes sexual harassment, under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Existing law prohibits a person from being subjected to discrimination on the basis of specified attributes, including, among others, disability or gender, in a program or activity conducted by a postsecondary educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or enrolls students who receive state student financial aid. This bill would require each California State University campus to establish, and each University of California campus to designate, a Title IX office, as provided. The bill would require each Title IX office to be under the administration of a Title IX coordinator who would be responsible for coordinating the campus' implementation of and compliance with systemwide nondiscrimination policies, as specified. The bill would require each Title IX office, among other things, to ensure, or oversee and ensure, timely and effective responses to reports and complaints of sex discrimination, and to provide a process, or oversee the process, of adjudicating and resolving complaints of sex discrimination, as provided. This bill would also require the California State University to establish, and the University of California to designate, on or before July 1, 2026, a systemwide Office of Civil Rights to be led by a systemwide civil rights officer, as specified. The bill would require the California State University systemwide Office of Civil Rights to establish and adopt, and the University of California systemwide Office of Civil Rights to identify and maintain, a systemwide nondiscrimination policy, and to develop and implement a grievance procedure for sex discrimination complaints in which the respondent is a systemwide employee, a member of the systemwide governing body, or other specified person, as provided. The bill would also require each systemwide Office of Civil Rights to, among other things, provide or oversee specified education and training, establish best practices guidance on sex discrimination prevention and complaint adjudication, and conduct compliance reviews, as specified.