As of this coming August, students will have the opportunity to register their chosen name and preferred pronouns on all post-enrollment university forms, including those related to courses. We plan to change our application form so that applicants in the upcoming admissions cycle will have the same options.
As a state actor, we comply with all federal and state guidelines about equal opportunity and affirmation action, but our commitments to promote a welcoming and diverse environment go much farther because we are a majority-minority institution with a strong tradition of internationalism and multiculturalism. As a Hispanic-serving institution, we take seriously the duty to connect not only to Hispanics but to racial and ethnic minorities generally. The vast majority of our staff and job applicants come from diverse backgrounds. When recruiting faculty, we post on AALS minority list-serves and our highly diverse faculty also uses word of mouth to reach members of underrepresented communities. We are regularly recognized as being one of the most diverse law faculties in the country.
After several years of lobbying for a public law school in South Florida, the state legislature established the College of Law in 2003 to serve the needs of the region, the state, and the larger legal community. Our statutory charter provides that the College of Law “shall be dedicated to providing opportunities for minorities to attain representation within the legal profession proportionate to their representation in the general population; however, the college of law shall not include preferences in the admissions process for applicants on the basis of race, national origin, or gender.” Florida Statutes, Title XLV111, section 1004.39 (6)
We offer highly competitive benefits including health insurance, defined-benefit and defined-contribution plans, a deferred compensation plan, family medical leave, fully paid parental leave, sick leave, and a sick leave pool, but we do not provide nontraditional family planning services. All of these benefits are available on equal terms to same-sex and cross-sex married couples. Please consult the menu of employee benefits at https://hr.fiu.edu/prospective-employees/.
It depends on the health insurance plan chosen. Staff can pick from among several health insurance providers. Currently at least one of these providers offers benefits related to gender dysphoria through a private health insurance carrier—United Healthcare.
Students have access to health insurance, but it does not cover nontraditional family planning benefits.
Students can pick from among several health insurance providers. Currently at least one of these providers offers benefits related to gender dysphoria through a private health insurance carrier—United Healthcare.
Gender Dysphoria Treatment Policy
All degree-seeking students at FIU pay the health fee and hence are eligible for on-campus services. https://studentaffairs.fiu.edu/health-and-fitness/student-health/services-and-fees/student-fee-faq/index.php
This question requires some value judgments that I’m not comfortable making. We do provide trainings on Affirming and Supporting Trans and Nonbinary people. However, I understand that our health centers have yet to request this training from the office of multicultural affairs.
We have three single-stall bathrooms that are labeled without reference to sex or gender. The university’s list of other gender-inclusive restrooms is located at https://studentaffairs.fiu.edu/get-involved/lgbtqa/_assets/gender-inclusive-restrooms. We have two campuses: Modesto Madique Campus (MMC, the main one) and Biscayne Bay Campus (BBC). The law school is on the MMC campus. Our MMC campus has zero (0) multi-stall gender inclusive restroom, though it does have some single occupancy restrooms that qualify as “neutral.” The BBC campus has one multi-stall gender-neutral restroom.
We don’t have an explicit policy, but I think we have a practice that accomplishes this result.
Law and Exclusion
Law, Social Movements, and Society
Women and the Law
The sexual and gender minority content ranges between 5%-20% of each of these courses.
We have regularly sent sexual and gender minority students to the Lavender Law conference.
Yes, optional for all students
All FIU employees have the ability to be trained via our LGBTQIA services team https://studentaffairs.fiu.edu/get-involved/lgbtqa/safe-zone/index.php. The University also has a very active Office of Multicultural Affairs that provides workshops, training, and other support on these issues for students, staff, and faculty.
In the past, Miami has sometimes been viewed as a somewhat conservative environment, so at times our sexual and gender minority students have sometimes been reticent about participating in extracurricular activities for fear that it would prejudice their professional prospects. Thankfully, this has changed in recent years. In any event, the College of Law has long been a beacon of inclusiveness for students, staff, and faculty. Indeed, for a time we had more sexual minority faculty than out students. Our sexual minority and straight ally faculty takes pains to make themselves available and to reach out to students as appropriate. Most years we do a National Coming Out Day panel featuring sexual minority faculty and alumnae discussing their own experiences with coming out in the context of the legal profession. Several faculty and staff display Safe Space stickers in their offices. We routinely have out sexual minority (and racial minority) students as presidents of the Student Bar Association. The College of Law’s Stonewall group has often collaborated with the University active sexual and gender minority network – https://studentaffairs.fiu.edu/get-involved/lgbtqa/ This is an extraordinarily welcoming environment and a wonderful place for minorities of all kinds to develop a professional identity.
Our current application gives students the option of expressing an interest in glbt issues. We are currently in the process of changing our application form so that applicants in the upcoming admissions cycle will have the option of explicitly self-identifying their sexual orientation.