Generally, the duration of the adjudication stage correlates with the number of steps in the process. (Information about the SVSH adjudication process can be found in the 2021 SVSH report; the process of adjudication non-SVSH matters is similar.)
An adjudication involving a hearing generally takes longer than an adjudication that does not. Hearings occur, in student cases, if the parties do not accept the findings of the OPHD investigation and, in faculty respondent cases, if the faculty member does not agree to a negotiated settlement. Hearings can also occur in student or employee respondent matters that are “DOE-covered,” meaning that they are mandated by the Title IX regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education (“DOE”) in 2020 to follow a specific grievance process that includes a hearing. As Figure 23 shows, median durations for adjudications involving a hearing were much longer than those for adjudications not involving a hearing, for adjudications completing in FY24.
Figure 23 also compares median durations for student respondent matters to those for employee respondent matters. In FY24, employee respondent adjudications took longer than student adjudications. This pattern has not historically been the case; for example, the FY23 report showed the opposite pattern, while data in the FY22 report mirrors the current pattern.