Pregnancy and Parenting

Excused Absences and Medical Leave - NJIT Must:

• Excuse absences due to pregnancy or childbirth for as long as your doctor says it is necessary.

• Allow you to return to the same academic and extracurricular status as before your medical leave began, which should include giving you the opportunity to make up any work missed while you were out.

• Ensure that professors understand the Title IX requirements related to excused absences/medical leave. Your teacher may not refuse to allow you to submit work after a deadline you missed because of pregnancy or childbirth. If your teacher’s grading is based in part on class participation or attendance and you missed class because of pregnancy or childbirth, you should be allowed to make up the participation or attendance credits you didn’t have the chance to earn.

• Provide pregnant students with the same special services it provides to students with temporary medical conditions. 

Classes and School Activities – NJIT Must:

• Allow you to continue participating in classes and extracurricular activities even though you are pregnant. This means that you can still participate in advanced placement and honors classes, school clubs, sports, honor societies, student leadership opportunities, and other activities, like after-school programs operated at the school.

  • Allow you to choose whether you want to participate in special instructional programs or classes for pregnant students. You can participate if you want to, but your school cannot pressure you to do so. The alternative program must provide the same types of academic, extracurricular and enrichment opportunities as your school’s regular program.

• Allow you to participate in classes and extracurricular activities even though you are pregnant and not require you to submit a doctor’s note unless your school requires a doctor’s note from all students who have a physical or emotional condition requiring treatment by a doctor. Your school also must not require a doctor’s note from you after you have been hospitalized for childbirth unless it requires a doctor’s note from all students who have been hospitalized for other conditions.

• Provide you with reasonable adjustments, like a larger desk, elevator access, or allowing you to make frequent trips to the restroom, when necessary because of your pregnancy.

Harassment – NJIT Must:

• Protect you from harassment based on sex, including harassment because of pregnancy or related conditions. Comments that could constitute prohibited harassment include making sexual comments or jokes about your pregnancy, calling you sexually charged names, spreading rumors about your sexual activity, and making sexual propositions or gestures, if the comments are sufficiently serious that it interferes with your ability to benefit from or participate in your school’s program.

Policies and Procedures – NJIT Must:

• Have and distribute a policy against discrimination on the basis of sex

• Adopt and publish grievance procedures for students to file complaints of sex discrimination, including discrimination related to pregnancy or parental status.

• Identify at least one employee in the school or school district to carry out its responsibilities under Title IX (“Title IX Coordinator”) and notify all students and employees of the name, title, and contact information of its Title IX Coordinator. 

Source: US Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights

• Ask for help and support - meet with the Title IX Coordinator regarding what NJIT can do to support you in continuing your education.
• Keep notes about your pregnancy-related absences, any instances of harassment and your interactions with school officials about your pregnancy, and immediately report problems to the Title IX Coordinator or other staff.
• If you feel your school is discriminating against you because you are pregnant or parenting you may file a complaint:
  • Using your school’s Title IX grievance procedures.
  • With the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), even if you have not filed a complaint with your school. If you file with OCR, make sure you do so within 180 days of when the discrimination took place.
  • In court, even if you have not filed a complaint with your school or with OCR. Visit OCR's website for more information

Source: US Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights

​For assistance with pregnancy-related accommodations, you can speak directly with your professors or see guidance from the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services or the Title IX Coordinator.

• NJIT Lactation Guidelines
• National Women's Law Center 
• The Pregnant Scholar