Pregnant and Parenting Rights and Resources

Users intending to use the room regularly should request Blastercard access to the room by submitting a request via the request form at https://www.mines.edu/campus-events/personal-care-room-access-request.

Please note:

• Requests will typically receive a response within 3 business days.
• Initial Blastercard access requests will be limited to no more than a 12-month duration, but may be extended as needed.
• Occasionally, a student, employee or campus visitor may need temporary use of the room. To gain access for temporary use, contact the appropriate office or person listed under Room Guidelines below.

Please review the room guidelines and limitations below:

• The rooms are dedicated for the purposes of expressing breast milk, nursing a child, administering medicine, and/or other medically necessary activities.
• Non-medically necessary activities, or non-lactation related activities, such as meditation, prayer, food preparation, napping and studying are not permitted.
• The rooms are not intended to provide space to rest for those with medical conditions that are highly contagious from contact with contaminated surfaces, such as influenza, stomach viruses, common cold, etc. Individuals who are sick with such conditions should stay home and seek medical care, as needed.
• Feel free to put up baby pictures on the bulletin board, post messages to others, or bring in articles or magazines for others to share.
• Use of the microwave and refrigerator is for the preparation, storage, and sanitation of medical and lactation equipment only. Each user should ensure that the microwave and refrigerator are cleaned after each use. Do not store or prepare food or beverage in the microwave or refrigerator.
• Storage of medicine, expressed breast milk, equipment or personal items in the room is solely at your own risk. Colorado School of Mines accepts no liability for any personal items, medicine, or expressed breast milk left in the room.
• Expressed milk must be removed from the room daily by no later than 7:00 pm.
• For cleanliness and out of courtesy for other users, do not use this room to change your baby’s diaper, or dispose of dirty diapers.

For information on how to safely handle and store expressed breast milk please visit: www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/recommendations/handling_breastmilk.htm 

Specific guidelines of use may vary for each mother’s room. Please review the specific guidelines for the room you intend to use and/or contact person the appropriate if you have questions or concerns.

Mines Park is an apartment complex that was built to provide convenient, affordable housing for the expanding Mines’ community. The complex houses both single undergraduate and graduate students, along with families. There are one, two, and three-bedroom units for single undergraduate and graduate students, and one and two-bedroom units for families. Learn more at: www.mines.edu/residence-life/upperclass-housing.

Located near Mines Park, the Mines Early Childhood Center, is a managed by Bright Horizons, and is currently scheduled to open in late summer of 2024. The center is open to all Mines students, faculty and staff. 

You can find answers to frequently asked questions on the center’s website at https://child-care-preschool.brighthorizons.com/CO/Golden/minesecc. For more information, or if you have any questions, please send an email to minesecc@brighthorizons.com.

Mines strives to be a family-friendly campus that stands out nationwide, making us a destination university for faculty and staff, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and non-traditional undergraduate students who have families. Visit the Human Resources page to find listings for family-friendly events, camps, programs, policies, resources and more: www.mines.edu/human-resources/family-at-mines.

• Leave under Title IX for pregnancy and related conditions must be provided, at minimum, for as long as medically necessary (§ 106.40(b)(3)(iv)). The length of time is determined by the student’s own licensed healthcare provider based on their circumstances. There is no pre-established timeframe for leave. Leave is entirely voluntary.

• Institutions must allow students to return to the same academic status as before the student’s medical leave began, which should include giving students the opportunity to make up any work missed while the student was out.

• Your teachers may not punish you for these pregnancy-related absences. For example, your teacher may not refuse to allow you to submit an assignment late because of pregnancy related absences. Likewise, if your teacher bases students’ grades on class participation or attendance, they should allow you to make up the credits you missed, so that you are not penalized for your absences.

Mines must make “reasonable modifications,” or adjustments, so that you can continue to learn and work while you are pregnant, recovering from childbirth, lactating, or experiencing any condition related to pregnancy. This includes pregnancy-related conditions like morning sickness, fatigue, nausea, prenatal or postpartum depression, mastitis, and more.

Examples of reasonable modifications include:

• Breaks during class to take care of pregnancy-related health needs, like eating, drinking, using the restroom, or expressing milk

• Provide access to personal care rooms around campus. (See Personal care room tab for additional information)

• Excused absences to attend medical appointments

• Access to online or remote educational programs

• Changes in schedule or course sequence

• Extensions of time on coursework

• Rescheduling of tests and exams

• Allowing you to sit or stand

• Allowing you to carry water or keep water nearby

• Counseling

• Changes in physical space or supplies, like a larger desk or footrest

• Elevator access

• Protective gear, such as for science lab

• Other reasonable accommodations as needed

Mines cannot force you to accept a modification you do not want or need. Mines must offer you modifications unless it can show that the modifications would “fundamentally alter” the nature of the school’s program or activity.

Faculty members should not request medical documentation from students regarding their pregnancy-related conditions. Rather, faculty (and other employees) are required to inform students that the Title IX Coordinator can facilitate modifications and leave and provide the Coordinator’s contact information. The Title IX Coordinator or their designee may request documentation under certain circumstances. Once a modification or leave plan has been established, the Title IX Coordinator should only share with faculty information necessary for the faculty member to enact the modification or leave plan. Recall that the institution must also protect personally identifiable information under § 106.44(j).

• On April 19, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education released final regulations strengthening the rights of pregnant and parenting students under Title IX. These regulations will go into effect on August 1, 2024.  
• The 2024 regulations specifically require: 1) leave be provided for a reasonable period of time (§ 106.57(d)) and, 2) that employees be provided with lactation breaks and space (§ 106.57(e)). Further, Title IX regulations protect employees (including student employees) from discrimination on the basis of basis of pregnancy and related conditions and ensure that employees’ pregnancy-related conditions are treated like temporary medical conditions for jobrelated purposes. As a result, in many circumstances, a failure to accommodate an employee or student would violate Title IX.
• The Title IX Regulations require educational institutions to provide students who are pregnant/postpartum with “reasonable modifications.” That term refers to changes that allow students to have equal access to the educational programs or activity. Many people also refer to these changes as adjustments or accommodations. “Reasonable accommodations” (a workplace right) is a similar concept to “reasonable modifications.”
• Employees experiencing pregnancy-related conditions also have rights under other federal laws including the new PUMP Act and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

• The Pregnant Scholar Frequently Asked Questions
  • 2024 Title IX Regulations on Pregnant and Parenting Students
• U.S. Department of Education
  • 2024 Title IX Final Rule Overview 
  • 2024 Title IX Rules- Unofficial version
• US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights
  • Supporting the Academic Success of Pregnant and Parenting Students Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 
  • Pregnancy Fact Resource (.pdf)