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Climate Survey 2022

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

University of Idaho College of Law

March 23, 2022

Question 1 provided each school with a field to confirm or update their nondiscrimination statement.
 
b. Does your law school (or larger University, if those policies are binding upon the law school) have a "code of conduct" which prohibits same-sex relationships (including but not limited to physical/sexual activity, marriage or registered domestic partner status, etc.) for employees or students?
No
2. Does your law school intentionally seek out LGBTQ+ prospective students?
Yes
a. If ‘yes,’ how and where are your efforts directed?

The Office of Admission recruits LGBTQIA+ prospective students through targeted marketing campaigns via email.

3. 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?
No

While the welcome packet currently does not include such materials, those materials are being prepared for future recruitment years.

4. Does your school offer students the option to self-identify (also known as "Self-ID") as LGBTQ+ in admissions applications or post-enrollment forms?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please describe your student Self-ID process:

Currently, applicants are welcome to self-identify through their personal statement or the optional diversity statement. In the following recruitment cycle, there will be new questions tailored to facilitate responses for the queries below. At this time, we are unable to quantify the number of students requested in the following questions.

5. Does your law school offer transgender and nonbinary students who have not legally changed their names the ability to have their name-in-use reflected on their admission applications or post enrollment forms?:
Yes

Our application requests the applicant’s preferred name.

6. Does your law school provide any annual scholarships specifically for LGBTQ+ students?
No
7. Does your law school actively seek to employ diverse staff/faculty/administrators, including openly LGBTQ+ individuals?:
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please detail how and where diversity recruitment efforts are directed:

The law school actively seeks to employ diverse staff/faculty/administrators, including openly LGBTQ+ individuals. The hiring of any new law school employee, other than temporary employees, begins with the formation of a search committee. In forming search committees, attention is given to diversity on the committee itself, among other considerations. After the search committee is formed, all members of the committee must successfully complete two training programs. One focuses on the importance of developing a diverse applicant pool and proper interview procedures. It also provides population-specific resources for active recruitment and hiring of diverse applicants. The other training program addresses stereotypical thinking and biases in the recruitment and hiring processes. In addition, like all other units of the University of Idaho, the law school has an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Coordinator (EO/AA). The EO/AA coordinator provides knowledge and expertise on affirmative action policies and practices to all law school search committees. These practices include broad and creative outreach efforts to ensure a diverse pool of qualified candidates. Such efforts include the use of academic listservs with significant numbers of individuals from traditionally under-represented groups.

8. Does your law school conduct a "Self-ID" program which allows staff/faculty/administrators to voluntarily and (if they desire) confidentially identify their gender identity and sexual orientation?:
No
9. How many faculty (not staff/administrators) are employed by your law school in total?
42
10. How many self-identified LGBTQ+ faculty are employed by your law school in total?
2
Gay?
1
Bisexual/Pansexual?
1
11. How many staff/administrators (not faculty) are employed by your law school in total?
27
12. How many self-identified LGBTQ+ staff/administrators are employed by your law school in total?
1
Gay?
1
13. Does your law school provide employee benefits such as health insurance, family medical leave, parental leave, and nontraditional family planning like assisted reproduction and/or adoptive benefits?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' are those employee benefits available on equal terms to employees in same-sex marital/domestic partnership relationships as they are to employees in different-sex marital/domestic partnership relationships?
Yes
b. If you answered 'yes' to #13, are those employee benefit plans inclusive of the specific needs of LGBTQ+ employees (i.e., are assisted reproductive benefits offered without the need for extended traditional attempts at pregnancy, are care techniques such as mammograms, prostate exams, hysterectomies, etc. available to employees of all genders, are parental leave policies equal for people of all genders, etc.)?
Yes
c. If you answered 'yes' to #13a AND/OR if you answered 'yes' or 'unsure' to #13b, please summarize or reproduce your policy here:

https://www.uidaho.edu/human-resources/benefits/forms

14. Does your law school offer transition-related health benefits including hormone therapy, gender counseling, gender-affirming surgeries, etc. to transgender/nonbinary employees and employees who are undergoing gender transition?
Yes
a. If 'yes' or ‘unsure,’ please summarize or reproduce your policy here:

https://www.uidaho.edu/human-resources/benefits/forms

15. Does your law school offer a student benefit plan including health insurance with nontraditional family planning like assisted reproduction and/or adoptive benefits, and/or any additional benefits such as access to campus facilities?
Yes
a. If yes, are those student benefits available on equal terms to students in same-sex marital/domestic partnership relationships as they are to students in different- sex marital/domestic partnership relationships?
Yes
b. If you answered yes to #15, are those student benefit plans inclusive of the specific needs of LGBTQ+ students (i.e., are assisted reproductive benefits offered without the need for extended traditional attempts at pregnancy, are care techniques such as mammograms, prostate exams, hysterectomies, etc. available to students of all genders, etc.)?
Unsure
c. If you answered yes to #15a AND/OR if you answered yes or unsure to #15b, please summarize or reproduce your policy here

https://www.uhcsr.com/uhcsrbrochures/Public/BenefitSummaryFlyers/2021-353-1%20Summary%20Brochure.pdf

16. Does your school offer the same transition-related healthcare benefits to students and their partners/spouses who are transgender/nonbinary or undergoing gender transition?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please summarize or reproduce your policy here:

This benefit requires a predetermination of medical necessity. https://www.uhcsr.com/uhcsrbrochures/Public/ClientBrochures/2021-353-1%20Certificate.pdf

17. Do all students at your law school have access to on-campus health, counseling and therapy services either through the law school or the larger University?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' are your school's on-campus health care providers trained to ensure they can provide culturally and clinically competent care to LGBTQ+ patients, particularly transgender and nonbinary patients?
Yes
b. If you answered 'yes' or 'unsure' to #17a, please provide the basis for your answer (i.e., counseling center language, etc.):

Working with transgender and non-binary clients requires some degree of specialization and not all clinicians will have the same level of training, experience, and expertise in providing these services. However, the University of Idaho current does have two psychologists on staff who specialize in this area.

18. Does your law school provide single-stall and/or multi-stall restrooms available to people of all genders (i.e., gender-neutral restrooms) in each law school building so that transgender/nonbinary people have a safe restroom space?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please describe how those all-gender restroom(s) is/are identified (i.e., what does the signage say, is it identified on building maps and online resources), the number of all-gender restroom stalls available in each law school building, and whether these are accessible for people with disabilities in each building or floor

We have two campuses, one in Boise and one in Moscow. There are two all-gender restrooms in Boise, one located on the first and the other on the third floor of the building. There are six all-gender restrooms in Moscow, two located on each of the first, second, and third floors. All of these restrooms are marked with a placard with symbols indicating male/female/wheelchair accessible and with the word “RESTROOM” underneath the symbols.

19. If your law school is maintaining gender-segregated (i.e., "Women's Restroom" and "Men's Restroom") restroom stalls, does it have a policy applicable to those facilities which ensures that transgender/nonbinary students/staff/administrators/faculty, as well as anyone who does not meet gender stereotypes, have access to facilities that match their gender identity?
No
b. Do all of the gender-segregated restrooms in your law school buildings have signage specifically indicating that people may use the restroom which best reflects their gender?
No
20. Does your law school have one or more annual LGBTQ+ specific course offerings (e.g., LGBTQ+ Law and Policy, Sexual Orientation Law, Gender Identity Law, etc.)?
No, but significant LGBTQ+ content is included in other courses (not including basic law school required courses such as Constitutional Law)
b. If you answered 'no, but LGBTQ+ content is included in other courses' to #20, please list course names AND approximately what percentage of course time is dedicated to LGBTQ+ content for each course:

In the Spring of 2022, UI Law offered a seminar on Law, Sex and Gender. In addition, UI Law offers a variety of other courses that address LGBTQ+ issues. In alternating fall semesters, Critical Legal Studies covers one or more of the following subjects: Feminism, Critical Race Studies, Race-Feminism, and Gender/Gender Identity/Queer Studies. It was last taught in the Fall of 2021 and 25% of the class focused on LGBTQ+ jurisprudence. UI Law’s International Human Rights Class regularly focuses on issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community and in recent years, approximately 10-20% of the curriculum for the course has addressed those topics. The Jurisprudence class has allocated about 10% of its curriculum on LGBTQ+ perspectives. The Legislative Process class often addresses legislation in Idaho concerning LGBTQ+ issues, and this year devoted about 5-10% of its course time to those topics. Family Law allocates about 5-25%, Family Lawyering Process about 15%, and Family Relations in Indian Country about 15% of the course material to addressing LGBTQ+ issues. In 2022, Introduction to Sports Law will address the issue of transgender athletes in domestic and international sports, which will constitute about 5% of the overall course. A number of other courses also briefly touch on LGBTQ+ issues, including Con Law II, Workplace Law, Literature and Law, and Education Law.

21. Does your law school have an active LGBTQ+ law student group?
Yes
a. If you answered "yes," does that group receive annual funding from the law school administration?
Yes
22. Does your law school provide funding, including travel support, for LGBTQ+ students to participate in LGBTQ+-focused learning and/or career services opportunities?
Yes
a. If yes please provide details and examples of when and how those opportunities have been utilized in the past three years:

Our student organization funding process provides funding for student organizations to engage in these opportunities. However, such funding has not been requested specifically for this purpose in the past several years.

23. Does your law school have a hate/bias incident policy that faculty, staff/administrators, and students are required to follow?
Yes
a. If yes to #23, does that process specifically identify sexual orientation AND/OR gender identity/expression as protected categories?
Yes, both
b. If yes to #23, does the policy set out a clear hate bias/incident reporting process for faculty, staff/administrators, and students to utilize if necessary?
Yes

See resources at: https://www.uidaho.edu/governance/policy/policies/fsh/3/3215, https://www.uidaho.edu/governance/policy/policies/fsh/2/2300, and https://www.uidaho.edu/diversity/vandal-climate-education-support-team.

24. Does your law school provide mandatory anti-sexual harassment training that explicitly covers same-sex harassment and harassment of transgender/nonbinary people, for all staff/faculty/administrators, at least every three years?
No

The law school provides annual mandatory anti-sexual harassment training through the main university processes, but this training does not specifically address harassment of transgender/nonbinary people.

25. Does your law school provide diversity and inclusion training that incorporates robust LGBTQ+ curriculum as well as anti-racism curriculum, at least every three years? NOTE: Please check all that apply.
Yes, optional for all faculty/staff/administrators
Yes, optional for all students
26. Does your school enable and encourage the sharing of personal pronouns (e.g., She/Her, He/Him, They/Them) and honorifics (e.g., Ms., Mx., Mr.) in public communications (email signature blocks, Zoom profiles, nametags, event registration forms, etc.)?
People are allowed to use them but the school doesn't facilitate or request it
a. Does your law school capture students' personal pronouns and honorifics as part of the registration process?
We capture this data elsewhere
b. If your law school captures students' personal pronouns and honorifics, is that information consistently shared with professors on class rosters with an expectation that it will be used in the classroom?
No

UI Law captures this data in the admissions process.

27. Please describe all additional ways, not identified through your earlier responses, in which your law school works to be safe, inclusive, and welcoming for its LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and administrators:

Please see above