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Climate Survey 2019

Connect, Share Knowledge, and Succeed Within the LGBTQ+ and Ally Legal Community.

USC Gould School of Law

USC Gould School of Law

February 1, 2019

1. Does your law school intentionally seek out LGBTQ+ prospective students?
Yes
a. If so, how and where are your efforts directed?

This is achieved in two primary ways. First, we are featured in the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) publication entitled Out&In. This features information for prospective LGBTQ law students. Second, we are able to query prospective law students who have signed up for the LSAC Candidate Referral Service (CRS). Via CRS, we can identify prospective students who have indicated their LGBTQ status. We have targeted outreach for those students, encouraging them to apply.

2. Does your law school's welcome packet for admitted students include mention of identity group support for LGBTQ+ students, as well as for students of color or other minorities?
Yes
3. Does your school offer students the option to self-identify as LGBTQ+ in admissions applications or post-enrollment forms?
Yes
4. Does your law school offer transgender students who have not legally changed their names the ability to have their name of choice on admission applications or post enrollment forms?
Yes
5. Does your law school provide any annual scholarships specifically for LGBTQ+ students?
Yes
6. Does your law school provide funding, including travel support, for LGBTQ+ students to participate in LGBTQ+-focused learning and career services opportunities?
Yes
a. If so, please provide details and examples of when and how those opportunities have been utilized.

USC Gould students may apply for a travel stipend to attend the annual Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair.

7. Does your law school actively seek to employ diverse staff/faculty/administrators, including visible, out LGBTQ+ individuals?
Yes
a. If so, please detail how and where recruitment efforts are directed

We post jobs externally to job boards that are committed to diversity and inclusion.  We attract members of various diverse backgrounds, including from the LGBT community.

We also include the following paragraph in our job announcements that expresses our commitment to diversity and inclusion: Equity, diversity, inclusion, opportunity and access are of central importance to the Gould School of Law (Gould).  Gould holds a unique position in society, and within the university, as every aspect of these principles are influenced by and can be protected through legal rules and institutions.  At Gould, we are proudly committed to maintaining a community in which each person respects the rights of others to live, work, and learn in peace and dignity, to be proud of who and what they are, and to have equal opportunity to realize their full potential as individuals and members of society.

8. Please identify, to your knowledge, how many out LGBTQ+ faculty your law school employs (if any)
a. If you answered 'yes' or 'unsure,' please describe your school's process for collecting this data
9. Please identify, to your knowledge, how many out LGBTQ+ staff/administrators?
10. Does your law school provide benefits such as health insurance, family medical leave, parental leave, and nontraditional family planning such as in vitro fertilization and/or adoptive benefits on equal terms to same-sex couples who are married or in registered domestic partnerships as are provided to different-sex married or registered domestic partner couples?
Yes
a. If so, please summarize or reproduce your policy here

The University provides these benefits to all employees, including LGBT employees.

Here are links to our policies:
https://employees.usc.edu/new-baby/     https://employees.usc.edu/full-time-faculty-staff/

11. Does your law school offer the aforementioned health benefits to students and their same-sex spouses/partners?
Yes
a. If so, please summarize or reproduce your policy here

Yes, the University provides this resource.  More information is found on this website:

USC offers enrolled students healthcare benefits through the Aetna Student Health Plan. Details of that plan can be found here: https://studenthealth.usc.edu/insurance/aetna-student-health-insurance-highlights/

12. Does your law school offer transition-related health benefits to transgender and/or transitioning employees?
a. If so, please summarize or reproduce your policy here

Yes. The University has an LGBT Resource Center page that provides information for transition-related healthcare.  More information is found on this page: https://lgbtrc.usc.edu/trans/trans-related-health-care-for-university-employees/

13. Does your school offer the same transition-related healthcare benefits to students and their partners/spouses?
Yes
a. If so, please summarize or reproduce your policy here (or you may email a copy of your policy to rishell@lgbtbar.org):

USC offers enrolled students healthcare benefits through the Aetna Student Health Plan. Gender reassignment (sex change) treatment Surgical, hormone replacement therapy, and counseling treatment is covered according to the type of benefit and the place where the service is received. More information on the policy can be found here:  https://lgbtrc.usc.edu/trans/trans-health-care-health-insurance/

14. Do all students at your law school have access to counseling and/or therapy services either through the law school or the larger University?
Yes
15. Does your law school provide at least bi-annual mandatory diversity and inclusion training that incorporates robust LGBTQ+ curriculum, for all staff/faculty/administrators?
No
16. Does your law school provide a gender-inclusive restroom in any and/or all law school buildings?
Yes
a. How is that restroom identified (i.e., what does the signage say, is it identified on building maps, is there a gender-inclusive restroom policy that applies to all restrooms and where is that statement published, etc.)?

The gender-inclusive restrooms are identified simply as “restrooms.”

17. Does your law school have one or more annual LGBTQ+ course offerings (e.g., LGBT Law and Policy, Sexual Orientation and the Law, Gender and the Law (taught with trans-inclusive and focused materials), etc.)?
Yes
a. If so, please list course names
  • LAW-751: Sexual Orientation and the Law
  • LAW-757 Sex, Gender and the Law
  • LAW 758 Identity Categories
  • Law 880 Treating Difference Equally
18. Does your law school have an active, visible LGBTQ+ law student group that is supported by the institution?
Yes
19. Does your law school have a hate/bias incident policy that students are required to follow?
Yes
a. If so, does that process specifically identify sexual orientation, gender identity, or both as protected categories?

Yes.

b. is there a clear hate bias/incident reporting process for students/faculty/staff to utilize if necessary?
Yes
20. Please describe all additional ways, not identified through your responses, that your law school works to be safe, inclusive, and welcoming to LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and administrators:
  • The law school provides many academic presentations throughout the year that discuss topics of diversity and inclusion, including Title IX discussions that promote awareness.
  • We announce and participate in trainings and workshops during USC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion week.
  • We have a student organization, OUTlaw that brings together students, faculty, alumni, and the Los Angeles legal community in an effort to raise funds for the USC OUTLaw Scholarship Endowment, which provides annual scholarships that will benefit LGBTQ students and/or students working towards LGBTQ equality through the law.
  • The law school works closely with the Office of Equity and diversity to ensure that possible discriminatory behavior is investigated and does not occur.  The OED has a website with information:  https://equity.usc.edu/protected-characteristics/.
  • The University has a process that allows LGBT employees to self-identify their gender through our HRIS system.  Also, our OED office offers services to LGBT employees undergoing a transition to ensure that they are being treated with respect and support within their workplace.The law school has an Equity and Inclusion taskforce that is comprised of staff, faculty and students.  This taskforce advises the senior leadership team on equity issues that allow us opportunities to improve policies or processes for our LGBT community.