Senate Bill 212 and House Bill 1735

UT Health San Antonio is committed to maintaining an educational and working environment that is free from discrimination on the basis of sex and free from sexual misconduct in accordance with Title IX, Title VII, and the Campus SaVE Act.

In its 86th legislative session, the State of Texas passed SB 212 and HB 1735. This new legislation contains provisions impacting Title IX and sexual misconduct-related institutional processes effective January 1, 2020.

SB 212 imposes new mandatory requirements on employees to report incidents of sexual misconduct. Most employees of UT Health San Antonio are considered Responsible Employees. Specifically, under SB 212, a Responsible Employee is a University employee who in the course and scope of employment, witnesses or receives information regarding an incident that the employee reasonably believes could constitute sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking and is required to report promptly all information known to the Title IX Coordinator. Prompt reporting is mandatory and means reporting immediately, as soon as possible, following the disclosure, to the Title IX Coordinator. HB 1735 relates to sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking at public and private educational institutions providing an administrative penalty.

Certain employees of the institution are considered Confidential employees and are therefore not considered mandatory reporters at UT Health San Antonio. Confidential employees are prohibited by confidentiality laws from reporting any information about an incident to anyone, in any way that identifies the complainant, without the complainant’s permission.

Under HOP 4.2.2 – Sexual Misconduct Policy, sexual misconduct includes but is not limited to:

  • sexual harassment
  • dating violence
  • domestic violence
  • stalking
  • sexual assault
  • sexual exploitation
  • any other inappropriate or unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature

Under SB 212, a Responsible Employee who fails to report an incident may be subject to a criminal offense (misdemeanor) and in accordance with the University’s disciplinary procedure, a policy violation of failing to report for which the University is required to terminate employment.

For more information on the employee reporting requirements, please contact the Title IX Office at (210) 450-8131 or TitleIX@uthscsa.edu.