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August 31, 2009, 01:37 PM ET
The Counsel of Counsel
This article about colleges and the increasing rate of lawsuits caught my eye. Last year I shared coffee with a visiting scholar from Europe who asked me many questions about the life of a dean in the United States. He asked specifically about the legal issues one faces in my position, noting that at his institution, each college dean has his or her own legal counsel who reviews almost every decision for liability.
Long before I became a dean, I had the unusual opportunity to complete a postdoc in higher-education administration that included extensive work in legal issues. I am frequently grateful for that training, but I also wonder how most administrators, including department chairs, gain such information. In fact, I wonder how many professors actually know about things like FERPA, ADA, and many other important legal issues. Has our society's litigious nature affected your campus?
Comments
1. 11119787 - September 02, 2009 at 09:28 am
The legal atmosphere has created a kind of moral paranoia at my institution. People are afraid to voice opinions, offer advice, make honest evaluations, or make decisions.
2. ric_weibl - September 02, 2009 at 01:30 pm
Strikes me that some of this is puutting the horse before the wagon. One reason litigation has become a part of our lives is the irresponsible behavior of some of our peers, a increasingly narrow view of our responsibility to the communities that nuture and sustain us, AND an unwillingness to engage and confront such behavior. Having failed to hold peers to minimum standards, we all are faced with the intrusion of external bodies prepared to redress grievances - both perceived and real.
3. 11119787 - September 03, 2009 at 09:41 am
ric_weibl makes a valid point. When I was an undergraduate in the late 60's and early 70's, faculty members pretty much had free reign over students and it is obvious that some took advantage their situations. Remember Donald Sutherland and Karen Allen in "Animal House"? It was a parody of a faculty-student relationship, but one based in reality. My concern is simply that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. If "Animal House" were remade today, it would star Kiefer Sutherland as a faculty member being blackmailed by a female student (is this a role for Meghan Fox?)who is threatening to claim sexual harassment if she doesn't get a good grade. So it goes.
4. aandsdean - September 03, 2009 at 12:16 pm
11119787, read "Blue Angel" by Francine Prose. It's just as you say.
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