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Compliance

NASA Regulations

PURPOSE

In accordance with federal law, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) regulations are intended to eliminate discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, and sex under any program or activity that receives federal financial assistance from NASA.

HISTORY

Throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, Congress passed laws intended to eliminate discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, and age through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Civil Rights Act), Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (Age Discrimination Act) respectively. From 1965 to 2016, NASA established and amended regulations requiring its federally funded programs to implement the above laws in order to further accomplish these anti-discriminatory measures.

APPLICABILITY TO BYU–HAWAII

NASA regulations apply generally to any recipient of federal financial assistance from NASA and to any program or activity (any operation of a college, university, or other postsecondary institution) that receives federal financial assistance from NASA.5 A recipient includes any private institution in any state to whom NASA extends federal financial assistance. Federal financial assistance includes federal grants and loans, grants or donations of federal property, and federal agreements, arrangements, or contracts.

Title IX-specific NASA regulations contain exemptions for educational institutions that are controlled by religious organizations.

Currently, BYU–Hawaii does not accept funds from NASA. As a private institution, if BYU–Hawaii should accept federal financial assistance from NASA, BYU–Hawaii would be required to comply with NASA regulations.

REQUIREMENTS

NASA regulations require compliance with nondiscrimination across four areas: (1) race, ethnicity, and national origin; (2) disability; (3) age; and (4) sex. Regulations from these categories are generally quite similar, although some requirements are unique to one or two of these categories. For the purpose of this memo, relevant provisions that pertain to all or most of these categories will be grouped together; some provisions specific to one or two of these categories will also be highlighted in the memo.

General Requirements

No person in the United States may, on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, age, or sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity that receives federal financial assistance from NASA. Specific acts of discrimination include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Denying an individual the opportunity to participate in or benefit from the aid, benefit, or service provided under the NASA-funded program
  • Providing any service, financial aid, or other benefit to an individual that is different than, or is provided in a different manner from, that provided to others under the program
  • Selecting a facility’s location with the purpose or effect of excluding individuals from, denying them the benefits of, or subjecting them to discrimination under the program
  • Subjecting an individual to segregation or separate treatment in any matter related to his or her receipt of any service, financial aid, or other benefit under the program
  • Restricting an individual from enjoying any advantage or privilege enjoyed by others receiving any service, financial aid, or benefit under the program
  • Denying an individual an opportunity to participate in the program by providing services or otherwise, or affording him or her an opportunity to do so that is different from the opportunity given to others under the program
  • Using criteria or administration methods that have the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination

Assurances

Every application that a university submits for federal financial assistance from NASA must contain, include, or reference an assurance that the program will be conducted in compliance with all nondiscrimination requirements as set forth in federal law. The duration of assurances depends on the type of federal financial assistance; however, in general, assurances must cover the time period during which federal financial assistance is extended to the recipient.

Notices and Designated Coordinators

Under Section 504, as outlined in the NASA provisions, any recipient that employs fifteen or more people must take steps to notify participants, beneficiaries, applicants, and employees that it does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its educational programs or activities. Likewise, under Title IX NASA provisions, recipients must notify students, employees, and other relevant persons of their prohibitions of sex discrimination. Under both Section 504 and Title IX NASA regulations, recipients must provide such notification within ninety days of the applicable effective dates, include a statement that nondiscrimination requirements extend to employment and admission, and publish and distribute the notification according to requirements. A recipient must also designate at least one employee to coordinate efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under these laws, and it must adopt and publish grievance procedures in order to facilitate prompt and equitable resolution of discrimination complaints.

Employment

Recipients may not subject an individual to discrimination in employment under any program or activity that receives federal financial assistance from NASA. Discrimination in employment can occur when a recipient engages in recruitment, layoff, termination, demotion, transfer, rates of pay, use of facilities, and other activities on the basis of race, disability, age, or sex.

Reports and Self-Evaluation

Recipients must keep records and submit timely, complete, and accurate compliance reports to NASA officials according to the schedule and in the manner that the official deems necessary. NASA may also require recipients to evaluate current policies and practices and their effects, modify any policies and practices that fail to meet requirements, and take steps to eliminate the effects of any discrimination resulting from adherence to questionable policies and practices. Under NASA’s disability- and sex related discrimination regulations, these self-evaluations must remain on file for at least three years following their completion.

Additional Requirements

Discrimination on the Basis of Race

Activities exempt from race-related regulations include

  • any federal funding through insurance or guaranty contracts,
  • money paid, property transferred, or other assistance extended before January 9, 1965,
  • assistance to an individual who is the ultimate beneficiary,
  • an employment practice under any program of any employer, employment agency, or labor organization,
  • contracts not covered in the federal financial aid category as outlined in the regulations, and
  • advances, certain loans, and other financial assistance that are not listed in the regulations.

Discrimination on the Basis of Disability

No qualified individual with a disability shall be made to suffer discrimination because a recipient’s facilities are inaccessible to or unusable by individuals with disabilities. Recipients must operate each program or activity that receives federal financial assistance from NASA in such a manner that when each part is viewed in its entirety, it is readily accessible to individuals with disabilities. For existing facilities that do not meet this requirement, recipients may achieve compliance by redesigning equipment, reassigning classes to accessible buildings, altering facilities, constructing new facilities, or using any other method that results in making the program accessible.

Recipients who do not comply with accessibility requirements must develop transition plans with steps to complete necessary changes, and they must achieve those changes by February 22, 2019. Furthermore, recipients must have procedures to ensure that interested individuals can obtain information about the existence and location of services, activities, and facilities.

Disability-related NASA regulations do not require a recipient to (a) permit an individual to participate in or benefit from services, programs, or activities when that individual poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others or (b) make reasonable accommodations in policies, practices, or procedures if the recipient can demonstrate that making the accommodations would fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the service, program, or activity or result in undue financial and administrative burdens. Recipients may not use any employment test or selection criterion that screens out individuals with disabilities unless the test score or criterion is shown to be job-related and alternative job-related tests of criteria that do not screen out as many individuals with disabilities are not shown to be available.

Discrimination on the Basis of Age

NASA’s age discrimination regulations do not apply to an age distinction that is contained in the part of a federal, state, or local law that provides benefits or assistance to persons based on age, establishes criteria for participation in age-related terms, or describes intended beneficiaries or target groups in age-related terms. Under some conditions, and if the recipient may prove that an age distinction falls within the legal exceptions, a recipient may discriminate on the basis of age if the action reasonably takes into account age as a factor necessary to achieve the objectives of the program or activity. NASA permits the provision of special benefits to the elderly or to children in its federally funded programs and activities.

Discrimination on the Basis of Sex

Recipients that are public institutions of higher education or that are institutions of graduate higher education may not deny individuals admission, subject individuals to discrimination in admission, or recruit or admit students on the basis of sex. In accordance with Title IX, recipients of federal financial aid from NASA may provide separate housing and facilities (e.g., showers or locker rooms) for program participants on the basis of sex; however, the housing and facilities provided to one sex must be comparable to that provided to the other sex. Furthermore, no person shall, on the basis of sex, be discriminated against in athletic programs (e.g., intercollegiate, club, or intramural athletics) offered by a recipient. Separate teams for each sex for the same sport may exist, but if there is only one team, members of both sexes must be allowed to participate unless the sport is a contact sport (i.e., wrestling,
rugby, basketball, etc.).

Sex discrimination regulations under NASA do not apply to several types of activities, including, but not limited to, father-son or mother-daughter activities at educational institutions and scholarships or other financial assistance awarded by an institution of higher education to individuals who receive such awards in single-sex pageants. NASA’s sex discrimination regulations do not prohibit the grouping of students by ability in physical education classes and activities or by vocal range or quality in choruses.

PENALTIES

Recipients must be aware that their programs or activities may be investigated if NASA receives a complaint or report of discrimination. If a recipient is found to have violated NASA regulations and such failure to comply cannot be corrected by informal means, NASA may do any of the following after the recipient has had opportunity for hearing:

  • Terminate, suspend, or refuse to grant federal financial assistance to the recipient
  • Refer the case to the Department of Justice
  • Use any requirement of or referral to any federal, state, or local government agency that will effectively correct the violation
  • Use any other means authorized by law to penalize noncompliance

If NASA finds that a recipient has discriminated against an individual on the basis of disability, age, or sex, it will require the recipient to take whatever actions NASA deems necessary to overcome the effects of the discrimination. In order to avoid these situations, recipients may engage in voluntary or affirmative action by taking steps to overcome the effects of conditions that have resulted in limited participation in the program or activity on the basis of disability, age, or sex.

COMPLIANCE CALENDAR

Recipients must submit compliance reports as determined by the relevant NASA official.