Introduction by Barbara K. Mistick

Dear Colleague:

As your end-of-year activities move into full swing, I hope you or members of your team were able to participate in one or both of this week’s regulatory webinars on Title IX and the new overtime rule.  Both sessions were very well attended, and panelists answered dozens of questions from attendees about the impact the new regulations will have on students and institutions.

As a follow up, here are tools and resources that were included in both webinars:
Title IX
NAICU’s Title IX resource page includes:

• Presentation slides and a recording of the webinar
• Executive summary of the regulations
• Technical summary of the regulations

Overtime
CUPA-HR, which NAICU partnered with on the overtime webinar, created a dedicated page that includes access to this week’s webinar and other resources it has created on this issue.

Both sets of regulations are facing legal challenges that could affect the final regulations or implementation deadlines.  However, we strongly recommend that institutions not rely on court action and prepare for implementation. NAICU will keep you apprised of these legal efforts as they move forward through the courts.
I know that I have asked much of you lately, but I want to share a direct result of the advocacy work that the NAICU membership has been undertaking.  Due to the engagement of our members with key Congressional leadership in both the House and Senate, a bipartisan, bicameral group of leaders on the Appropriations and Education Committees sent a letter to Education Secretary Cardona expressing their concerns about the Department’s ability to begin the next FAFSA cycle on time starting on October 1 (see FAFSA story below for further details).

I encourage you to continue your advocacy and engagement on this issue in the coming weeks.  My April 30 Action Alert provides additional details, talking points, a sample letter, and resources for contacting your Member of Congress. 
 
A final reminder about taking a few minutes to complete the financial responsibility composite score survey we are partnering on with the National Association of College and University Business Officers.  The survey will help us gauge how institutions are faring and understand, in particular, the effect the new rules concerning long-term debt and the pandemic are having on institutional scores.  The deadline for submitting the survey is May 12.

Soundbites

• The Department of Education released yet another round of guidance on national origin discrimination under Title VI. The latest document is more detailed than previous versions and describes multiple examples of circumstances that may lead the agency to open a Title VI investigation. The guidance also discusses free speech considerations and provides examples of steps institutions can take to respond to discriminatory and harassing conduct without infringing on First Amendment rights. 
• NAICU joined nearly 700 organizations signing a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting a generous FY 2025 allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee. The letter was organized by the four large coalitions representing all the programs that would be included in these appropriations, including the Coalition to Invest in America’s Workforce, the Coalition for Health Funding, the Committee for Education Funding, and the Coalition on Human Needs.  The letter urges the committee to make funding for education, health, and workforce development a priority to ensure that additional resources and programmatic funding keeps pace with needs across the three agencies.  
• NAICU joined the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity and 86 other organizations in sending a letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) asking for a delay in the July 1, 2024, deadline for employers to implement the first pay increase in the final overtime rule. The final rule mandates employers increase the threshold amount for employees to be considered exempt from overtime pay from $35,568 to $43,888. While the letter is unlikely to persuade DOL to amend its final rule, and campuses should continue to prepare for this increase to take effect, it makes a strong statement on the burden this increase will have throughout the employer community.

Today’s Washington Update also reports on the financial impact estimates for the accountability provisions contained in the College Cost Reduction Act.  While this is only a proposed bill, it has been approved by the House education committee and would have a devastating impact on our sector, requiring hundreds of millions of dollars in annual payments from private, nonprofit institutions.  Please pay attention to how your institution would fare by looking at the institutional impacts released by the committee.  You will be hearing more from us in the coming weeks about how this would affect our sector and your school and what you can do about it.

Thank you, once again, for your time and commitment to our advocacy efforts.  As you can see from our results above, this work has an impact.  We must keep the pressure on.

Regards,
Barbara K. Mistick, D.B.A.
President
NAICU
 

For more information, please contact:
Barbara K. Mistick, D.B.A.