As college students across the state return to classes, Texas universities are getting ready to deal with significant changes to how they are required to track, report and punish violations of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed two bills into law this year that describe in detail who on college campuses is responsible for reporting incidents of sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating violence and stalking, and lay out uniform policies and procedures for universities to follow. Most of the laws' provisions went into effect Sunday; the reporting requirements and sanctions go into effect on Jan. 1. Many universities will spend the upcoming fall semester training employees on the changes.

The new laws aim to provide clear guidelines and protections for universities while Title IX rules are in flux, said Chris Kaiser, director of public policy at the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. The U.S. Department of Education is considering adopting a rule that would narrow what universities can investigate and remove protections against retaliation for people who report violations.

"There was a lot of interest in trying to be proactive about this," Kaiser said. "If things were not being resolved at the federal level, what can Texas do right now?"

Some of the biggest changes come from Senate Bill 212, authored by state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston. Previously, only university faculty members had been mandated to report Title IX violations, though many institutions had their own expanded lists of which employees had to report them. Under the new law, all university employees are required to report violations. Confidential reporters, such as doctors or mental health providers, will now be required to report incidents, although violation details would be limited and the university will not be able to investigate. If employees don't report a violation, make a false report or attempt to cover it up, they could be fired and subject to criminal charges.

House Bill 1735, authored by state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, similarly seeks to address the problem of under-reporting at universities by updating the required policies and procedures colleges and universities must follow. They are now required to give sexual misconduct orientation to students and launch public awareness campaigns.

"I think that there will be potentially more reports just because of the nature of what is at stake with the consequences of not reporting," said Krista Anderson, Title IX coordinator for the University of Texas System. "I think if there is anything that could constitute these prohibited behaviors, people are going to call."

University systems also will be required to present an overview of Title IX violations to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board each semester, and make that report available to the public online. If the coordinating board finds an institution to be out of compliance with the law, it now has the power to levy a penalty of up to $2 million. It's the first time the board has ever been given statutory power to levy fines against the institutions it oversees.

"I think the idea behind it is to help encourage people reporting," said Rex Peebles, the coordinating board's assistant commissioner of academic quality and workforce. "There's long been held the belief that all of this is under-reported ... but we don't know that for dead certain, and this may help draw that out."

Sexual assault and harassment have been long-standing issues at universities across the country, and Texas is no exception. In recent years the Legislature has attempted to address the problem by requiring all public institutions to establish basic policies regarding campus sexual assault. During the 2017 session, lawmakers expanded those requirements to all institutions — both public and private — and mandated that universities create a public awareness campaign.

For many universities, the laws are mandating practices that are already included in their campus policies. Baylor University, for instance, has required all its employees, not just faculty, to report Title IX violations since 2014.

Nonetheless, educators are expecting campuses to go through a learning curve.

"Anytime you ask people to report something they haven't previously reported, they have to figure out how to do that," Peebles said. "It'll take a couple cycles for everybody to get used to this."

The coordinating board still has to clarify the laws through the rule-making process, which will take place in late September and should provide institutions with a better idea of how the law will be interpreted and enforced.

"I think people recognize how serious this is," Peebles said. "This is a big problem. And this is the attempt by the Legislature to deal with it."

But not everyone is thrilled with the legislation. FIRE, an organization that promotes free speech on college campuses, wrote to Abbott in June criticizing the bills as having "disastrous consequences" for free speech and due process. The organization argued that both laws present an unconstitutionally broad definition of sexual harassment that will stifle free speech and lead to over-reporting at Title IX offices.

For many schools, Anderson said, reporting is a positive thing that allows administrators to investigate problems and offer support if needed.

"By more reports coming in, there are more opportunities to see where there might be climate issues in departments or areas," Anderson said. "There could be a lot of positives that come from those additional reports."