Accommodations for Pregnant Students
The University’s Title IX Coordinator works to ensure that Columbia’s programs and classrooms are accessible to all pregnant students. This includes students experiencing any pregnancy-related condition for which they may need accommodations, including pregnancy, fertility treatments, and medical conditions related to miscarriage.
Request Accommodations
For all students who would like to register for a consultation on accommodations, please fill out the Pregnant and Parenting Student Registration Form. It will be received by the Title IX Office and someone will contact you to discuss accommodations.
Contact the Title IX Office
- Jae Eun Kwak, Manager, Title IX and Protection of Minors, [email protected], (212) 854-5527
- Marjory Fisher, JD: Title IX Coordinator, [email protected], 212-853-1276
The Title IX Coordinator’s office ensures reasonable accommodations for pregnant students, as part of the University’s obligation under Title IX. The office supports the student as they arrange reasonable accommodations, in collaboration with faculty and their advisor, that allow them to fully participate in their academic program.
Reasonable accommodations help students maintain their educational plans while not centrally altering the nature of academic programs or requirements. Commonly, reasonable accommodations may include: shifting assignment and exams dates, excusing absences for medical appointments, in some cases a medical leave of absence or taking an incomplete in a class and making up the work missed at a later date.
Reasonable accommodations are assessed on a case-by-case basis by the Title IX staff and the student’s Dean of Students or other staff involved with their school’s student life, as well as through an individualized assessment of the student’s circumstances and a doctor’s evaluation of what is medically necessary, and knowledge of the context in which the accommodation is sought.
Accessing Lactation Rooms on Campus
Columbia’s Lactation Rooms offer a clean, secure, and private space to express breast milk. Students who would like access to these spaces may contact the Office of Work/Life at [email protected] or 212-854-8019.
About Title IX
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. Title IX states “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance[.]” Examples of the types of discrimination that are covered under Title IX include sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating and domestic violence and discrimination based on pregnancy and parenting.