Empowering educational establishments to meet their Title IX obligations

Robust investigation of allegations of sex-based bias, discrimination, and misconduct is vital. Thomson Reuters HighQ can play a critical role in helping organizations fulfill their duties of care and adhere to proper due process.

When it comes to handling Title IX allegations, a robust due process is everything. Schools and universities need systems that are transparent, easy to follow, and ensure nothing gets missed. Otherwise, confidence in the safety and equity of the educational environment could be undermined, and organizations could be exposed to the risk of legal action for mishandling complaints.

Thomson Reuters HighQ—the modern, adaptable solution to simplify legal processes—is designed to solve these issues. It works by establishing a centralized digital workspace into which complaints can be directly submitted, processes and workflows are automatically triggered and tracked, files can be securely stored and shared, and developments documented throughout an investigation.

In this way, it creates a control and collaboration ecosystem that is fully customizable to your organization’s needs with no code required, saving time while ensuring compliance.

A Transparent, Effective Incident Reporting and Management System

It’s vital to have a clear route for Title IX incidents to be reported into a central system. Relying on verbal or email reporting may mean that complaints are not logged correctly or even at all. Incident report forms can be generated in HighQ and hosted on the education provider’s website to take students and staff through inputting all the information required depending on the incident type.

Once a report is submitted, it’s critical that accountability is built into the incident management process, to ensure that proper procedures are followed and evidenced. In HighQ, processes can be standardized and automated, and the required workflows are automatically triggered and documented along each step of the way.

Secure Collaboration

Collaboration between the Title IX office and other equity and inclusion colleagues, the general counsel’s office, third-party investigators, and other parties that need to be involved in the process is also key. The HighQ platform acts as an enabler, while maintaining FERPA compliance.

HighQ provides a secure, central document management system for each case, in which any type of file can be stored, including audio or video files, so that everything is saved in one place, and people can share and work on documents in real time without having to circulate emails in an unsecure manner. Role-based permissions ensure that documents and data are only accessed as appropriate, and sensitive information can be auto-redacted. It integrates with G Suite and Office 365®, as well as a variety of third-party DMS solutions and is accessible via the web and iOS and Android apps.

A Fully Customizable Solution

Different schools and colleges take their own approaches to handling Title IX reports. HighQ is designed to be fully customizable to fit into an organization’s own procedures and ways of working, rather than teams having to adapt how they operate to suit the dictates of a product.

No code is required, making it easy to create bespoke frameworks for reporting, workflows, and tracking that are aligned with specific due process requirements.

With equity and safety high on the agenda, education providers need to be empowered to meet their Title IX obligations in a straightforward yet rigorous way. At HighQ, we create a customized, no-code service to fit your exact needs, with centralized reporting, document storage and collaboration, automated workflows, reliable tracking, and secure access.

To find out more about how HighQ can help your organization, visit https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/highq/request-demo to request a demo.