Title IX coordinator to leave this year

FAYETTEVILLE — Tyler Farrar, Title IX coordinator for the University of Arkansas is stepping down at the end of 2019, a UA spokesman said.

Title IX prohibits sexbased discrimination at schools receiving federal funding.

Under Title IX, schools are expected to investigate student complaints of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct, and colleges and universities have Title IX coordinators to oversee how schools respond to such complaints.

Farrar, a 2013 graduate of the UA School of Law, is leaving the university to pursue another job opportunity, said UA spokesman Mark Rushing.

From the beginning of 2014 until Farrar began in the role in July 2016, the university had five different people hold the position of Title IX coordinator. In 2016, before Farrar’s hire, the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights opened two cases into the university’s handling of student complaints under Title IX. The cases remained pending as of Nov. 1.

The university also has been sued by former students claiming Title IX violations, with one case scheduled for trial next year and the other dismissed but with an appeal pending that seeks reinstatement of the lawsuit.

The Title IX coordinator job involves “conducting investigations for complaints of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct, facilitating protective and interim measures, implementing educational and training programs, and assisting in the development and update of University policies and procedures related to Title IX and other applicable federal and state civil rights laws,” a UA job posting states.