House Bill 261 & 257 FAQs and Guidance

The university remains committed to being a regional open-enrollment, comprehensive, polytechnic university. HB 261 does not alter Utah Tech’s commitment to ensuring all students, faculty, and staff have the opportunity and resources to succeed while on campus.

No UT employees will be laid off as a result of HB 261.

To comply with the legislation, the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer will be dissolved on July 1, 2024, and our current Chief Diversity Officer will be reassigned to other administrative responsibilities on campus.

Also to comply with the legislation, the Center for Inclusion and Belonging, including the LGBTQ+ Resource Center, will be dissolved. CIB staff, including the Coordinator for LGBTQ+ Students, the Coordinator for Latinx / DACA Students, and the Coordinator for Asian American / Pacific Islander Students, will be reassigned to new roles in the Office of Student Engagement & Leadership and the Student Resource Center.

Resources currently provided through DEI offices will be available to all and offered through existing offices that will jointly be designated as the Student Success and Support Office, as required by the legislation. UT is creating a landing page for the Student Success and Support office that will list all the resources available to students. UT is also creating a Student Success and Support Council to coordinate efforts among these offices.

Though there will be organizational and structural changes on campus, the university will continue its efforts to celebrate culture and ensure access and opportunity for all.

Research and classroom teaching are expressly exempt from HB 261. Faculty will continue to have academic freedom to research and teach concepts of race, color, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, and gender identity.

UT will continue to offer scholarships to eligible students based on need and/or merit. Awarding scholarships based on personal identity characteristics was already prohibited by federal law.

HB 261 prohibits the university from requiring trainings that contain prohibited discriminatory practices. Only mandatory trainings are covered by the bill. UT Human Resources has reviewed its trainings to ensure no mandatory trainings contain prohibited discriminatory practices.

UT is an equal opportunity employer and does not hire on the basis of personal identity characteristics outlined in the bill. UT does not require diversity statements in its application process and does not tolerate discrimination based on a person’s identity characteristics. To ensure compliance with HB 261, Utah Tech has discontinued its Diversity Advocate program in its hiring practices, and has replaced it with the Search Committee Advocate program, which trains search committee members on general best practices to ensure equal opportunity for all applicants. Questions regarding hiring can be directed to UT Human Resources.

Grants that may include a prohibited discriminatory practice under the bill will need to be reviewed and approved by university leadership and the UT Board of Trustees. University administrators are developing a process to allow grants that require approval to be considered by the UT Board of Trustees. More information will become available on this process in the coming months.

The new law requires that all syllabi for mandatory courses be posted on the institution’s website and remain searchable and viewable to the public. Mandatory courses are those that are required for graduation, including general education or major requirements, and for which there is no other course that meets the requirement. If two or more courses meet the requirement, those courses are not mandatory. For accreditation purposes, UT already posts course syllabi here. To comply with HB 261, a new collection of mandatory courses, seminars, classes, workshops, and training sessions across campus is being created.

Although HB 261 does not impact student clubs at Utah Tech, it may impact student associations and other university organizations. As long as clubs, associations, and organizations are open to all, the programs and services they offer are open to all, and they do not engage in any prohibited discriminatory practices, they are in compliance with HB 261.

The provisions of HB 261 only apply when employees are acting in their capacity at UT or representing the university. It does not prevent employees from engaging in speech or conversations in their personal capacity. To be clear, HB 261 does not abridge academic freedom or the First Amendment rights of employees to assert personal opinions in other capacities, but UT employees should be mindful to avoid the implication that they are speaking on behalf of the institution when engaging in speech outside the classroom. This is consistent with UT policy.

HB 261 prohibits an institution from taking a position on anti-racism, bias, critical race theory, implicit bias, intersectionality, racial privilege, or any other prohibited discriminatory practices.

Colleges and departments should also review their strategic plans or other vision, values, or goal documents to ensure they do not engage in speech which violates HB 261. If they do, they should remove that language from those documents.

HB 261 prohibits the use of any combination of the words “diversity, equity, or inclusion” in connection with any policy, procedure, practice, program, office, initiative, or required training. As such, UT should avoid using any combination of those words in connection with committees, activities, interview questions, and other items.

It is also recommended that UT should avoid using any of the terms “diversity,” “equity,” or “inclusion” individually in connection with any policy, procedure, practice, program, office, initiative, required training, or with titles of other committees, activities, or interview questions. Instead, university personnel should consider framing programs around terms like “success,” “equal opportunity,” “belonging,” and “all backgrounds.”

Additionally, to comply with the intent of HB 261, UT administrators are undertaking a comprehensive review of our mission, vision, and values statements, along with institutional policy, to make changes to better align with HB 261.

Yes. You may use a gender-designated restroom for the gender in which you identify, unless that restroom is within or attached to a changing room. A changing room is a space designated for multiple individuals to dress or undress within the same space (locker room, dressing room, fitting room, shower room).

UT is currently evaluating all on-campus locker rooms and is working to ensure private changing rooms are available to all. Students, employees, and visitors are always welcome to use all-gender restrooms as changing rooms at any time.

Yes. Several buildings on campus have all-gender restrooms and all buildings currently under construction will also have all-gender restrooms. UT is currently assessing all restrooms on campus and will continue to update the campus community on changes we will be making to current facilities. All-gender restrooms can be found in the following buildings:

• Atwood Innovation Plaza
• Brooks Stop
• Campus View Suites II
• Campus View Suites III
• Dolores Dore Ecccles Fine Arts Center
• Graff Arts Building
• Greater Zion Stadium
• Hangar
• Holland Centennial Commons
• Human Performance Center
• North Commons
• Science, Engineering & Technology Building
• Snow Math & Science Center
• Sport Medicine Building

No. You may legally use a gender-designated restroom matching your gender identity, unless the restroom is within or attached to a changing room.

Yes, there could be. A person may not use a changing room (or attached restroom) designated for a single sex that is different from their sex assigned at birth unless that person has both:

1. amended the sex designation on their birth certificate and
2. undergone primary sex characteristic surgery.

Violation of this prohibition could result in the individual being charged with criminal trespass. They could face additional criminal penalties if they also commit lewdness, voyeurism, or loitering while in the changing room or attached restroom.

UT follows state building code guidance in every campus planning, building design, and construction project. During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers adopted a new version of the state building code, which includes requirements for restroom designs and allows up to 50% of the fixtures in a state building to be in multi-stall, all-gender restrooms.

The university collaborates with DFCM on the design of restrooms in all new buildings. Utah Tech has several buildings currently under construction. Those buildings, along with the number of all-gender restrooms being added in each location are:

• Tennis Building (2 all-gender restrooms)
• General Classroom Building (4 all-gender restrooms)
• America First Performing Arts Center (construction plans are being finalized, but UT will follow DFCM requirements for all-gender restrooms)

Concerns should be reported to the Dean of Students Office at 435-652-7514.