A proposed congressional resolution could make it more difficult for schools to prove that their athletic programs comply with gender-equality laws.
Under federal law, schools must demonstrate gender equality in federally funded athletic programs. One way in which schools can meet this requirement, known as Title IX, is by using surveys to determine that the minority gender's demands are being met.
But U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution this month urging the Department of Education to stop permitting the use of surveys as the sole way of measuring compliance.
Woolsey's resolution stems from complaints that surveys aren't a sufficient indicator of gender parity in athletics.
Pam Noakes, executive director of the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, said that a variety of measurements are needed.
She suggested a combination of interviews, written surveys and studies of athletic history.
Noakes said that the surveys are flawed because only a small percentage of female students would likely respond to an e-mail survey, making interest seem low.
However, Eric Pearson, executive director of the College Sports Council -- an advocacy group of sports associations -- disagrees.
He said these concerns aren't an issue because schools which use Internet surveys to prove compliance with Title IX must offer them to all female students via a mandatory process, such as class registration, and not through e-mails.
Pearson added that surveys should be accepted as a sole method of compliance because they permit flexibility in meeting the law's demands.
He also said that schools which use the survey template recommended by the government have a more legally secure alternative to strict gender proportionality -- another method of proving compliance in which schools offer athletic programs in proportion to the ratio of men and women students.
"Prior to the resolution, most schools were just working for the safe harbor of proportionality," he said, thus "limiting opportunities for male athletes rather than protecting female athletes from discrimination."
Penn Athletic Department spokesman Mike Mahoney wouldn't say whether Penn uses Internet surveys.
"The bottom line is that we are all for any method that is used to determine whether or not a school is in compliance with Title IX, whether it is an online survey or other methods," he wrote in an e-mail.
Noakes is confident in congressional support for the resolution.
