We do actively seek to build the most diverse pool of applicants we can for every faculty position, including LGBTQ+ individuals. We have an Inclusion Advisor at the Law College who provides advice and input on our hiring and recruitment processes. All of our positions are posted on the University’s Human Resources web site which automatically cross posts on many affinity group job sites.
The University of Arizona has worked to achieve parity between benefits for married couples and for domestic partners. There is no distinction between same-sex or opposite-sex relationships in any of our policies.
- The State of Arizona administers health benefits for University of Arizona employees. Same-sex and opposite-sex spouses and their children are eligible dependents under these plans. Domestic partners are not eligible dependents under these plans.
- To ensure health coverage for domestic partners, the University of Arizona administers medical, dental and vision plans separate from the State of Arizona for employees with same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners and their children. Coverage is designed to mirror what is available under the State of Arizona plans.
- Fertility treatment is not a covered benefit under the medical plans available to employees.
- Family and Medical Leave is granted to any qualifying employee who needs time off for themselves or to care for a member of his/her established household in compliance with federal law. Leaves of absence may also be available.
- Six weeks of paid leave is provided to new biological or adoptive mothers and fathers. The benefit is not based on sexual orientation or the relationship status of the mother/father.
- Under the medical plans administered by the State of Arizona (available to employees, spouses and dependent children), counseling and hormone therapy are covered transition-related benefits, but gender reassignment surgery is not covered. Under the medical plan administered by the University of Arizona (available to employees and their domestic partners and children), all transition-related care is covered, including gender reassignment surgery.
Under the medical plans administered by the State of Arizona (available to employees, spouses and dependent children), counseling and hormone therapy are covered transition-related benefits, but gender reassignment surgery is not covered. Under the medical plan administered by the University of Arizona (available to employees and their domestic partners and children), all transition-related care is covered, including gender reassignment surgery.
Students may enroll in student health insurance provided by the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). Coverage for dependents is not available. Comprehensive fertility treatment is not a covered benefit.
Students may enroll in student health insurance provided by the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). Coverage for dependents is not available. Since 2012, SHIP has offered a “Transgender Benefit” to SHIP plan enrollees. The SHIP’s “Transgender Benefit” affords students critical access to medically necessary, gender-confirming health care. This access to care is a crucial element to the health, academic success and retention of transgender-identified students.
The University provides numerous health related resources. See https://health.arizona.edu/home The University recently added an additional location for Counseling and Psych Services (“CAPS”), which is less than half a mile from the College of Law.
In addition, for the past two semesters the College of Law has supplemented existing counseling services provided by the University by providing no-cost, on-site counseling at semester’s end for our students.
The University is holding the 2nd Annual LGBTQ+ Symposium and Community Health Fair on Feb. 22, 2020.
Students may enroll in student health insurance provided by the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). Coverage for dependents is not available. Since 2012, SHIP has offered a “Transgender Benefit” to SHIP plan enrollees. The SHIP’s “Transgender Benefit” affords students critical access to medically necessary, gender-confirming health care. This access to care is a crucial element to the health, academic success and retention of transgender-identified students.
The College has a total of five gender-neutral restrooms: two in our main building, and one each in three of our four annex buildings. Each of the restrooms has signage as pictured below (i.e., a visual representation of a man and a woman side by side). The restrooms are not identified as such on building maps, and there is no restroom policy for the College.
LAW 612A, Regulation of the Modern Family
There is school funding to support student-originated activities generally, and this may include travel, conference registration and support for invited speakers. However, in the last 5 years our SBA has not received any such applications from an LGBTQ+ group or for an LGBTQ+ purpose.
Yes, optional for all students
The dean sends out a weekly newsletter to thousands of alumni and friends of the college. He has often featured participants in Pride Law’s reoccurring Name and Gender Marker Change Clinic, as well as a Transgender Clothing Swap hosted by Pride Law and the law school’s Justice Advocates Coalition.
We do annual Safe Zone training. Safe Zone is a campus-wide training program committed to making the University a safer, more welcoming, and inclusive environment for the LGBTQ+ community. This year, the training was co-sponsored by the College of Law and Pride Law and was available for students, faculty and staff. The event was advertised on the Law College’s Twitter account.
Our Pride Law group has over the last few years been very active within the law school, with frequent events and speakers, and by collaborating with other groups on programming activities. In most (though not all) the group also has a strong affiliation with main campus LGBTQ+ resources, including the Office of LGBTQ Affairs (https://lgbtq.arizona.edu/). The Law College has also advertised Pride Law community events with the AZ LGBT Bar Association.
Pride Law also is active in the broader Tucson community. In the fall of 2018, the group participated in a transgender clothing swap that attracted more than 300 items of clothing donated by faculty and students. In the spring and fall of 2019, the group organized Name and Gender Marker Change Clinics that attracted numerous community clients. Pride Law trained 16 students for the fall 2019 Gender Marker Change Clinics, and 11 subsequently worked the clinics. The Law College featured the fall 2019 event on our Instagram account and Twitter feed.
Arizona Law’s Career Development Office (“CDO”) advises students to use their preferred name on their resume and cover letter materials regardless of the name on their birth certificate (although applicants should disclose all names by which they have been known on their background check forms). The CDO’s interviewing dress guide also advises students to dress in accordance with their gender identity for job interviews, including mixing traditionally masculine and feminine attire if appropriate. The CDO has also updated the choice of honorifics on its cover letter templates to include “Mx.”
We have alumni who have been or are active in national LGBTQ+ efforts and who support, speak to and counsel students if we ask them to or if students ask. Alumni visiting the college to speak for other purposes frequently meet with Pride Law students as well.
When applicants sign up for the Credential Assembly Service, they have the option of identifying as LGBTQ+. We don’t ask a specific question on our application.