More Likely Than Not: An ATIXA Podcast

More Likely Than Not, an ATIXA podcast, is for general information, educational, and discussion purposes only. It’s not legal advice. If you’re dealing with a specific issue, consult your institution’s general counsel or a qualified attorney familiar with Title IX and applicable state laws. Facts, policies, and jurisdiction matter.

In this special episode of More Likely Than Not, Kayleigh Baker, J.D., and Joe Vincent, M.L.S., record live from the 2026 ATIXA and NABITA Joint Annual Conference in Baltimore, where they welcome four guests to share how they found their way into Title IX, ATIXA, and what keeps them connected to the profession.

Maybe you were sitting at a table when someone pointed and said, “You.” Maybe you answered a call to serve your institution. No matter how you arrived, the work is often isolating, the responsibilities complex, and the answers rarely obvious. That’s where a professional community makes a difference.

If you’re learning from those who came before you and mentoring those who come next, we’re more likely than not celebrating the people who make this work possible in this week’s episode.

Meet Our Guests

• Saundra K. Schuster, J.D., M.S., ATIXA President

Once upon a time, becoming a Title IX Coordinator could mean adding one more Roman numeral to your HR or student conduct role, or simply being the person at the table when everyone else looked away. Saunie reflects on how ATIXA and NABITA have united professionals around shared knowledge and standards, and on what the future holds as civil rights compliance and behavioral intervention become increasingly interconnected.

• Shannon Lynch, J.D., Assistant Vice President of Civil Rights and Compliance, Mount Holyoke College

Shannon reflects on the surreal moment of being called a “seasoned” Title IX practitioner and realizing she can now guide newer Coordinators. She shares how the ATIXA and NABITA communities have supported her, from building a Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) to seeking expertise on legally defensible investigations and making those occasional “I’m not crazy, right?” calls.

• Ken James, MPA, Chief Compliance and Title IX Officer, Muskegon Community College

Halfway through his first ATIXA Conference, Ken explains his goals: train alongside colleagues, share ideas, and return to campus better prepared to build a core Title IX team. His advice? Be the leader who takes that first step and brings others along. There’s strength in numbers.

• Kryste’l Jordan, MBA, Ed.D., Title IX Coordinator, Hampton University[ES1]

Two months into her new role, Kryste’l is already putting her background in government, policy, and education to work. She discusses returning to her alma mater and learning from practitioners across different types of institutions. Her message to new Coordinators? Stay connected, use the resources available, and remember who you’re there to serve.

Additional Resources:

Missed out on Baltimore? Explore upcoming ATIXA training and certification opportunities and make plans to join us at the 2027 ATIXA Summer Symposium in Chicago, May 23-27, 2027.

To continue this conversation on ATIXA’s listserv, become a member.

To suggest a future topic, email us at [email protected].

More Likely Than Not, an ATIXA podcast, is for general information, educational, and discussion purposes only. It’s not legal advice. If you’re dealing with a specific issue, consult your institution’s general counsel or a qualified attorney familiar with Title IX and applicable state laws. Facts, policies, and jurisdiction matter.

Your inbox is full. New reports keep coming in. You’ve got the stress sweats because being a Title IX practitioner comes with huge stakes. And you’re supposed to be writing an investigation report that refuses to write itself. Apparently, Harry Potter hasn’t figured that one out yet.

In Episode 21 of More Likely Than Not, Kayleigh Baker, J.D., and Joe Vincent, M.L.S., welcome TNG Director of Consulting Christina Graziano, J.D., to give you a moment to exhale and practical advice for managing an overwhelming Title IX workload.

The conversation is about making meaningful progress when you wear more hats than you have heads. They cover decision paralysis, breaking work into manageable next steps, protecting your calendar, and why five complaints in the report-writing stage demand very different capacity than five spread across intake, investigation, and preparing for a hearing.

Burnout is real, and sometimes efficiency isn’t enough. Get out a pen and paper. This one comes with a checklist.

If you’re busy but it’s not helping you get things done, we’re more likely than not slowing things down to move them forward in this week’s episode.

The Episode 21 Checklist

Feeling overwhelmed? Here are some tips:

• Triage before you tackle.
• Separate urgency from noise.
• Break complaints into small steps.
• Protect the process, even when it’s busy.
• Give yourself time for the work that meetings create.
• Don’t let silence create more work.
• Let technology and AI help, but keep the judgment yours.
• Count capacity, not just complaints.
• Match the work to the right person.
• Don’t turn extra hands into extra problems.
• Figure out what’s slowing you down.
• Know when efficiency has hit its limit.
• Call in more capacity when you need it.

Additional Resources:

• Need more capacity? TNG Consulting supports schools, colleges, and universities with investigations, decision-making, interim staffing, consulting, and other temporary or ongoing support. Contact [email protected].
• Join us live: Want to be part of the first-ever live recording of More Likely Than Not? We’re taking the podcast on the road to Baltimore at the ATIXA and NABITA Joint Annual Conference.
• Train and Get Certified with ATIXA

More Likely Than Not, an ATIXA podcast, is for general information, educational, and discussion purposes only. It’s not legal advice. If you’re dealing with a specific issue, consult your institution’s general counsel or a qualified attorney familiar with Title IX and applicable state laws. Facts, policies, and jurisdiction matter.

In Episode 20 of More Likely Than Not, Kayleigh and Joe discuss a recent Title IX court decision involving allegations of sexual assault, inappropriate sexual touching, and an interesting legal wrinkle: What obligations might an institution have when the alleged harasser is not an employee, student, or formal volunteer?

At first, this seems like an athletics case. It involves a women’s basketball team and the coach’s husband, who provided physical treatment to the student-athletes despite having no official role with the university. But as Kayleigh and Joe explain, the Tenth Circuit’s ruling raises questions that reach well beyond athletics. The central question is one of control, and the opinion lays out a path for the institution’s Title IX obligations to extend to third parties outside its traditional disciplinary authority.

What could this mean for experiential learning environments like clinical placements, student teaching, internships, externships, and practicums? Why did the Tenth Circuit reject a bright-line rule for determining control, and why did “they don’t work here” not settle the Title IX jurisdiction question?

If it involves a legal wrinkle that complicates the analysis, we are more likely than not ironing it out in this week’s episode.

More Likely Than Not, an ATIXA podcast, is for general information, educational, and discussion purposes only. It’s not legal advice. If you’re dealing with a specific issue, consult your institution’s general counsel or a qualified attorney familiar with Title IX and applicable state laws. Facts, policies, and jurisdiction matter.

In Episode 19 of More Likely Than Not, Kayleigh and Joe welcome TNG and ATIXA colleagues Alisha Carter Harris, M.S., and Lauren Starnes, J.D., to discuss the skills Title IX practitioners need to get stuff done.

Are snacks the answer? Maybe. But knowing the key players and understanding your institution’s politics (with a lowercase “p”) is where the real work begins.

Alisha and Lauren remind listeners that not everyone will “like” the Title IX Coordinator, and that isn’t the goal. Advocating for the autonomy and authority to do the work, practicing good customer service, having difficult conversations that leave people feeling heard, understanding the audience, and building credibility across the institution are enduring skills that remain essential even as regulations change. Just as important is building relationships with the people whose partnership makes the work possible, like those you may need to call on to implement supportive or safety measures, navigate institutional barriers, or leverage their own authority and influence to move necessary action forward.

They also walk listeners through how to explain the “why” behind compliance expectations, connect Title IX work to institutional priorities, communicate complex requirements in ways different audiences can understand, and make a stronger case for additional resources.

If you’ve had to relearn how to get stuff done through multiple regulatory environments, or you’re looking to strengthen the skills that endure through all of them, we are more likely than not covering it in this week’s episode.

More Likely Than Not, an ATIXA podcast, is for general information, educational, and discussion purposes only. It’s not legal advice. If you’re dealing with a specific issue, consult your institution’s general counsel or a qualified attorney familiar with Title IX and applicable state laws. Facts, policies, and jurisdiction matter.

In Episode 18 of More Likely Than Not, Kayleigh and Joe unpack the Supreme Court’s decision to hear Crowther v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and Joseph v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, two cases that may decide whether employees can bring sex discrimination claims under Title IX or whether Title VII is the exclusive avenue for those lawsuits.

Their conversation explores the circuit split that prompted Supreme Court review and how changes in the litigation landscape could affect institutional compliance efforts.

The Court’s decision is still many months away, but Title IX Coordinators and administrators need to understand why this case could become one of the most consequential decisions impacting the intersection of Title IX and employment law in decades.

If you’ve ever wondered whether school employees can sue their institutional employers under Title IX, we are more likely than not covering it in this week’s episode.

More Likely Than Not, an ATIXA podcast, is for general information, educational, and discussion purposes only. It’s not legal advice. If you’re dealing with a specific issue, consult your institution’s general counsel or a qualified attorney familiar with Title IX and applicable state laws. Facts, policies, and jurisdiction matter.

Safety and well-being are shared institutional responsibilities, and Title IX and Behavioral Intervention Teams (BITs) work best when they communicate rather than operate in silos.

In this episode, TNG Consulting and NABITA colleagues Tim Cason, M.Ed., and Makenzie Schiemann, Ph.D., M.S., join Kayleigh and Joe to explore how campuses can coordinate across Title IX and BIT/CARE teams to assess risk, support students, and respond more holistically to complex situations.

The conversation examines when Title IX Coordinators should loop in the BIT/CARE team, how institutions can share information appropriately without compromising privacy, and why early coordination matters. Tim and Makenzie also discuss the risks of isolated decision-making, the role of FERPA in information sharing, and how campuses can build stronger systems of support before concerns escalate.

If you have ever wondered how institutions can balance compliance, care, and campus safety responsibilities effectively, we are more likely than not covering it in this week’s episode.

More Likely Than Not, an ATIXA podcast, is for general information, educational, and discussion purposes only. It’s not legal advice. If you are navigating a specific issue, always consult with your institution’s general counsel or a qualified attorney familiar with Title IX and applicable state laws. Your specific facts, policy, context, and, of course, state laws matter.

After what felt like a torrential downpour of Title IX-related developments, practitioners may be enjoying a brief reprieve. But the landscape is anything but calm. The Department of Education’s functions are being distributed to other federal entities, including the Department of the Treasury. This raises a key question: what does this fragmentation mean for enforcement?

For some, states are filling the gaps. Following New York’s lead in enacting a law requiring a Title VI coordinator and other mandates, states like Georgia, Missouri, and Colorado are introducing similar legislation. This signals a shift toward state-driven civil rights enforcement. Ongoing litigation, such as the federal government suing Harvard, California suing the federal government, and continued legal battles in Maine, continues to complicate the push-and-pull over authority.

Against this backdrop, we turn to a lively ATIXA listserv debate: should victim advocates serve as advisors in the Title IX grievance process? Under the 2020 regulations, parties have the right to choose an advisor of their choice. On one hand, advocates bring trust, familiarity, and a strong understanding of institutional processes. At the same time, the advisor role can become adversarial, raising concerns about confidentiality, dual roles, and how advocacy support is perceived. The conversation explores three main schools of thought and lands, unsurprisingly, somewhere in the middle.

If you have ever wondered whether an advocate can step into the advisor role without creating confusion, conflict, or unintended harm, we are more likely than not covering it in this week’s episode.

More Likely Than Not, an ATIXA podcast, is for general information, educational, and discussion purposes only. It’s not legal advice. If you are navigating a specific issue, always consult with your institution’s general counsel or a qualified attorney familiar with Title IX and applicable state laws. Your specific facts, policy, context, and, of course, state laws matter.

In this episode of More Likely Than Not, Kayleigh and Joe welcome Dr. Mikiba Morehead of TNG Consulting, and Adam Dodge, J.D., founder of endtab.org, an organization dedicated to ending technology-facilitated abuse. Together, they explore the rapidly evolving landscape of sexual misconduct in online spaces, from non-consensual intimate image (NCII) sharing and sextortion to AI-generated “undressing” apps and synthetic nudes.

They underscore a critical point: the harm is real, even when the images are not.

Though the tools have changed, the behaviors of coercion, humiliation, stalking, harassment, and abuse persist. Adam and Mikiba examine Title IX implications, jurisdiction challenges when conduct occurs off campus or on personal devices, and how to evaluate escalation in digital contexts. They also share practical prevention strategies centered on bodily autonomy, digital consent, and institutional preparedness, reminding practitioners that you do not need to be a tech expert to respond effectively.

If you have ever wondered whether you are overreacting or not reacting quickly enough, we are more likely than not covering it in this week’s episode.

More Likely Than Not, an ATIXA podcast, is for general information, educational, and discussion purposes only. It’s not legal advice. If you are navigating a specific issue, always consult with your institution’s general counsel or a qualified attorney familiar with Title IX and applicable state laws. Your specific facts, policy, context, and, of course, state laws matter.

Winter temperatures and news headlines set the tone as Kayleigh and Joe discuss current events affecting K-12 and higher education, with a familiar sense that chaos and uncertainty may be sticking around for a few more weeks this season.

They also dig into a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report examining the financial impact of the Department of Education’s efforts to reduce staffing at the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), along with recent developments in DEI program litigation and the Trump administration’s ongoing, high-profile conflict with Harvard University.

Kayleigh and Joe break down two recent appellate court decisions with potential implications for practitioners, including a First Circuit case examining what constitutes “actual knowledge” under Title IX in a K-12 setting and a Fourth Circuit case addressing First Amendment and religious accommodation challenges related to pronoun and gender identity policies in schools.

On Overheard on the Listserv, they discuss the risks and requirements of practitioners possessing explicit material, particularly when minors may be involved, and practical ways to manage evidence while minimizing exposure and unintended consequences, including the use of written descriptions and tightly controlled access.

If you’ve ever read a listserv question and thought, “I really hope this never happens to me,” we’re more likely than not covering it in this week’s episode.

More Likely Than Not, an ATIXA podcast, is for general information, educational, and discussion purposes only. It’s not legal advice. If you are navigating a specific issue, always consult with your institution’s general counsel or a qualified attorney familiar with Title IX and applicable state laws. Your specific facts, policy, context, and, of course, state laws matter.

In this episode of More Likely Than Not, hosts Kayleigh and Joe break down recent U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., two cases challenging state laws that restrict transgender girls from participating in girls’ and women’s athletics across both higher education and K-12 settings.

TNG Consulting colleagues Kim Pacelli, J.D., M.Ed., and Dan Fotoples, J.D., M.A., join the team to talk through the high-level legal questions at the center of both cases, including an Equal Protection Clause analysis and the “what level of scrutiny applies” debate. For B.P.J., they also explore the additional question of how Title IX athletics regulations may factor into the Court’s approach.

Oral arguments generate headlines, speculation, and anxiety, but they rarely provide reliable answers about what the Court will ultimately do. The attorneys and even several justices appear to be signaling interest in a narrow ruling, and the safest move for practitioners is to stay steady, stay informed, and avoid reacting to guesses disguised as certainty.

If you’re looking for clarity while waiting for the Court’s decision, we’re more likely than not covering it in this week’s episode.