Thursday, September 28, 2017
... and "Riding the Fifth Wave in Higher Education" is due out in December.
Yes, this Blog's namesake will be published by Peter Lang at or near the end of this calendar year.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Friday, September 22, 2017
US Department of Education has withdrawn its 2011 "Dear Colleague" letter and 2014 guidance on campus sexual assault
Herewith the press release announcing the decision and providing new guidelines:
Department of Education Issues New Interim Guidance on Campus Sexual Misconduct
New Q&A will serve as interim guide until the conclusion of notice and comment rulemaking
Widely criticized 2011, 2014 guidance also withdrawn
Widely criticized 2011, 2014 guidance also withdrawn
SEPTEMBER 22, 2017
Contact: Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov
Washington — Building on her remarks from September 7, 2017, regarding the Department's commitment to protecting all students from discrimination, today U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced the release of a new interim Q&A for schools on how to investigate and adjudicate allegations of campus sexual misconduct under federal law.
"This interim guidance will help schools as they work to combat sexual misconduct and will treat all students fairly," said DeVos. "Schools must continue to confront these horrific crimes and behaviors head-on. There will be no more sweeping them under the rug. But the process also must be fair and impartial, giving everyone more confidence in its outcomes."
In the coming months, the Department intends to engage in rulemaking on Title IX responsibilities arising from complaints of sexual misconduct. The Department will solicit comments from stakeholders and the public during the rulemaking process, a legal procedure the prior administration ignored.
In the interim, the newly-released Q&A on Campus Sexual Misconduct explains the Department's current expectations of schools, and the Department will continue to rely on its Revised Sexual Harassment Guidance, which was informed by a public comment process and issued in 2001, as well as the Dear Colleague Letter on Sexual Harassment issued on January 25, 2006.
"In the coming months, hearing from survivors, campus administrators, parents, students and experts on sexual misconduct will be vital as we work to create a thoughtful rule that will benefit students for years to come. We also will continue to work with schools and community leaders to better address preventing sexual misconduct through education and early intervention," DeVos added.
The Department of Education is also withdrawing the Dear Colleague Letter on Sexual Violence dated April 4, 2011, and the Questions and Answers on Title IX Sexual Violence dated April 29, 2014. The withdrawn documents ignored notice and comment requirements, created a system that lacked basic elements of due process and failed to ensure fundamental fairness.
DeVos concluded, "As I said earlier this month, the era of rule by letter is over. The Department of Education will follow the proper legal procedures to craft a new Title IX regulation that better serves students and schools."
Press Call Information:
The Department will hold a background press call at 10:45 a.m. open to credentialed members of the media. Media interested in participating should RSVP to press@ed.gov to receive additional information.
FAQs on Updated Campus Sexual Misconduct Guidance
What is the purpose of the Q&A on Campus Sexual Misconduct?
- Describes a school's responsibility to address sexual misconduct complaints
- Discusses the relationship between Title IX and the Clery Act
- Provides examples of interim measures that may be appropriate under the circumstances
- Summarizes what procedures a school should follow to adjudicate a finding of responsibility for sexual misconduct
- Describes what constitutes an "equitable" investigation
- Explains a school's obligations concerning appeals
- Clarifies appropriate evidentiary standards
- Informs schools of their responsibilities concerning notifications to parties of the outcomes of disciplinary proceedings
What are a school's obligations under Title IX regarding sexual misconduct?
- Schools must address sexual misconduct that is severe, persistent or pervasive.
- Schools must conduct a fair and impartial investigation in a timely manner.
- Title IX investigations must be led by a person free of actual or reasonably perceived conflicts of interest and biases.
- Schools must designate a Title IX Coordinator.
Do schools have flexibility to establish fair procedures?
- Schools have the discretion to apply either the preponderance of the evidence standard or the clear and convincing evidence standard.
- Schools are not required to allow appeals; however, a school may choose to allow appeals solely by the responding party or by both parties.
- Schools may permit an informal resolution, such as mediation, if it is appropriate and if all parties voluntarily agree.
- Schools should provide written notice to the responding party of the allegations, including sufficient details and with adequate time to prepare a response before any initial interview.
- OCR recommends schools provide concurrent, written notice of the outcome of disciplinary proceedings to the reporting and responding parties.
Does the rescission letter or the Q&A add legal requirements?
The rescission letter and Q&A do not add requirements to applicable law.
Does the rescission letter or the Q&A limit the right of a person to file a Title IX complaint?
No. A school must adopt and publish grievance procedures that provide for a prompt and equitable resolution of complaints of sex discrimination, including sexual misconduct. Moreover, whether or not a student files a complaint of alleged sexual misconduct or otherwise asks the school to take action, where the school knows or reasonably should know of an incident of sexual misconduct, the school must take steps to understand what occurred and to respond appropriately. In particular, when sexual misconduct is so severe, persistent or pervasive as to deny or limit a student's ability to participate in or benefit from the recipient's school's programs or activities, a hostile environment exists and the school must respond.
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Classroom popularity contests and the real world of college teaching.
I love the essay by Georgetown's Jacques Berlinerblau in this morning's Chronicle of Higher Education. It's adapted, I am told, from his new book, Campus Confidential.
In the essay, Berlinerblau takes on syrupy, unrealistic movies about college professors, notably Mona Lisa Smile (2003), as well as "Teacher of the Year" awards, and even Ken Bain's iconic book, What the Best College Teachers Do. Berlinerblau's point seems to be that none of these depictions of college teachers walking on water realistically captures the realities of the profession.
The same might be said about student evaluations. Understand: I enjoy getting accolades from my students as much as the next instructor. My kudos hit a new high at the end of the fall semester 2016, when I received this response from some of my students in my HR management class, which I taught on line for Drexel University's Master of Legal Studies program:
In the essay, Berlinerblau takes on syrupy, unrealistic movies about college professors, notably Mona Lisa Smile (2003), as well as "Teacher of the Year" awards, and even Ken Bain's iconic book, What the Best College Teachers Do. Berlinerblau's point seems to be that none of these depictions of college teachers walking on water realistically captures the realities of the profession.
The same might be said about student evaluations. Understand: I enjoy getting accolades from my students as much as the next instructor. My kudos hit a new high at the end of the fall semester 2016, when I received this response from some of my students in my HR management class, which I taught on line for Drexel University's Master of Legal Studies program:
"Q9 - What does this professor need to improve?
You can't improve upon perfection
The class was great, no improvements needed
Nothing, loved him"
When you get that kind of feedback, it's hard not to love student evaluations. It's also hard to shun the temptation to make your assignments a little easier and your grades a little higher in order to sustain the ego-fix such results induce. The solution is carefully crafted evaluation questionnaires that gather useful data while avoiding ego-boosters.
In my experience, distinguished-teacher awards also often reflect a popularity contest, rather than rigorous pedagogy. Reaching back into the mists of my early career as PR director at Case Western Reserve University, I recall that the top-teacher award in Case's liberal arts college became known as the kiss of death... as one winner after another was subsequently denied tenure. Truth be told, the winner I knew best didn't deserve tenure. His scholarship was thin, at best, and his grading standards were flabby. But he was very popular with the students.
The film which depicts my ideal professor is The Paper Chase. Professor Kingsfield, the contracts teacher at Harvard Law School, presents the rigorous course required to mold mushy undergraduate minds into legal brains. I attended Case's law school not long after the movie came out. And, while my contracts teacher was not as fearsome as Kingsfield, he was pretty tough. The course was worth six credits and spanned two semesters, at the end of which the entire grade hinged upon one four-hour exam. Some of my classmates were so nervous going into that final that they threw up in the men's room.
The Business Insider recently pointed out an "epidemic" of grade inflation and "unearned As" at the high school level. This has spilled over into high ed. There are many reasons, a desire to retain as many students as possible in our competitive environment being not the least of them. Professorial popularity contests undoubtedly contribute to the trend. Berlinerblau's essay, and presumably his new book, would be applauded by Professor Kingsfield or the real-life counterpart upon whom his character was patterned. (See Scott Turow's first book, One L).
I applaud him, too.
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
"Freshman Year For Free" --- If you own a mobile phone you can complete a year of college
That's the idea behind a new program created by a philanthropic organization out of New York called the Modern States Education Alliance.
Once a person completes a course, college credit can be obtained by taking an Advanced Placement or College Level Examination test via the College Board.
Freshman Year for Free offers some 40 courses prepared by profs out of Harvard, MIT and more than a dozen other good schools. It's perhaps the ultimate example of Harvard Professor Clay Christensen's disruption theory at work in the realm of higher education. Four years ago he predicted that higher ed was "on the edge of a crevasse."
In 2013 he observed, "I think higher education is just on the edge of the crevasse. Generally, universities are doing very well financially, so they don’t feel from the data that their world is going to collapse. But I think even five years from now these enterprises are going to be in real trouble."
Now, when we gaze into our iPhones, we may very well see that crevasse gazing right back at us in the form of the "Freshman Year for Free" App.
At the same time, it's hard for any honest educator not to be excited about students being able to carry college around in their pockets. If only some of my millennial daughter's friends had been able and encouraged to take advantage of something like this in lieu of the near-lifetime debts they amassed during their college years!
Once a person completes a course, college credit can be obtained by taking an Advanced Placement or College Level Examination test via the College Board.
Freshman Year for Free offers some 40 courses prepared by profs out of Harvard, MIT and more than a dozen other good schools. It's perhaps the ultimate example of Harvard Professor Clay Christensen's disruption theory at work in the realm of higher education. Four years ago he predicted that higher ed was "on the edge of a crevasse."
In 2013 he observed, "I think higher education is just on the edge of the crevasse. Generally, universities are doing very well financially, so they don’t feel from the data that their world is going to collapse. But I think even five years from now these enterprises are going to be in real trouble."
Now, when we gaze into our iPhones, we may very well see that crevasse gazing right back at us in the form of the "Freshman Year for Free" App.
At the same time, it's hard for any honest educator not to be excited about students being able to carry college around in their pockets. If only some of my millennial daughter's friends had been able and encouraged to take advantage of something like this in lieu of the near-lifetime debts they amassed during their college years!
Saturday, August 5, 2017
My September Webinars are now available for registration
- Comfort and Service Animals
- Intellectual Property
- Indemnification Agreements
- Cheating and Plagiarism
And please watch for the new edition of my HANDBOOK FOR STUDENT LAW FOR HIGHER EDUCATION ADMINISTRATORS (NY: Peter Lang 2017), which will also be out in September.
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