Since 2024, Eastern Michigan University requires all currently enrolled students to complete a Title IX online learning module once per academic year. The deadline for completing this training is Nov. 1, 2025. Students who fail to meet this deadline will have a hold placed on their account, meaning they cannot register for next semester’s courses.
The Eastern Echo had the chance to talk with Matthew Gregory, the Title IX coordinator and director of the Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Office at EMU, about this training.
What is Title IX?
Formerly known as the Title IX office, the Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Office at EMU supports students in gender equality and inclusion as well as preventing gender discrimination and sexual misconduct. The office is located on the first floor of the Student Center and is available to all students who have questions or need assistance. Students can find more information and resources on the office's website.
On their website, the office states, “Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex under any education program or activity receiving federal financial aid. Sexual assault and sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title IX. At its core, Title IX requires schools to:
- Prohibit sex-based discrimination and harassment (including sexual misconduct);
- Take measures to prevent sex-based discrimination and harassment (including sexual misconduct);
- Effectively respond to discrimination, harassment and misconduct of which it is aware, which includes:
- Stop it, prevent it from recurring; and remedy its effects.”
Title IX training
The state of Michigan requires all universities to hold mandatory training covering Title IX topics for all students. Eastern’s required student training is delivered through Vector Solutions, a platform for safety and compliance training. All students received an email during the second week of the fall 2025 semester depicting how to access and complete their required online training.
Here is a quick guide to access the training.
Visit the Vector LMS, Higher Education Student Edition website for EMU. When asked for their username, students should enter their EMU email address ending in @emich.edu. Then, they should enter the password that correlates with their EMU email and have Duo Mobile ready on another device to confirm their identity.
They will then be able to click on the “Mandatory Title IX Training 2025-2026,” which will likely be the top option on the page. Students should watch the videos and answer the questions. It is important to pay attention, because there will be a test afterward that requires an 80% or higher to pass the training. After that, students can return to the homepage and complete the Follow-Up Survey found lower on the page. This should take a total of about 75-minutes to complete.
While this training is required for all students, the Title IX office is aware that some students may have previous trauma and not feel comfortable with the topic.
"If they are a survivor, we don’t want to re-traumatize anyone, so students have the ability to email us, and they can opt out of it, and we will mark them as complete," Gregory said. "The only thing they'll have to complete is viewing our YouTube page with our resources and information on support and making reports.”
Inquiring students can email emu_titleIX_office@emich.edu.
The training offered this year is different from the one students took in 2024.
"We have this new training because student feedback let us know some of the issues with last year’s," Gregory said. "It was a 'play and walk away' kind of thing, so students had no interaction with it. The new training splits undergraduate students, graduate students, international students and athletes. They each get additional relevant information based on the type of student. We are looking to increase that to parents, adult learners over 21, and sorting by birth year. We are trying to find a training that is more tailored to each individual.”
What happens if I don’t complete the training before Nov. 1?
Students who did not complete the required training by the deadline of Nov. 1, 2025, will have a hold placed on their student account. This means that they will not be able to register for the winter 2026 semester. Registration for next semester opens on Nov. 5, 2025. Students can have the hold removed if they complete the training, but it will take 24-48 hours for the hold to be lifted.
If students complete the training after Nov. 1 and still have a hold after 48 hours, they should contact the office at emu_titleIX_office@emich.edu.
Why do students need to take this training?
"Since this [training] has been implemented as a state requirement, we have seen a huge amount of growth in reports made to our office," Gregory said. "The resolution process has also grown; all of that is to say, we like reports, because it means we can help someone.”
30 days after students take the training, they are notified that they can complete an optional survey about it. The survey inquires about how helpful the training was, whether the information was retained, and student views on the Title IX office. In 2024, 93% of EMU students completed this survey. Gregory shared the following statistics.
85% of undergraduate students at EMU agreed in the post-course survey that this training made them more confident in their ability to intervene when they see concerning behavior.
92% of students agreed with the statement, “I would reach out to offer support to a friend who I suspect is in an abusive relationship.”
87% of students agreed that “the course increased my understanding of school policies related to the issues of consent, sexual assault, relationship violence, sexual harassment, and stalking.”
"One of our biggest areas for growth is making people feel comfortable about having difficult conversations," Gregory said. "If people know how to have a healthy conversation in their relationship or situationship or whatever, we will see less concerning behavior that needs to be addressed by my office.”
