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NCHERM Newsletter

Fall 2010

Welcome

Hello friends and colleagues.  Welcome to the FALL 2010 NCHERM Newsletter.

The sections in this newsletter include:

1.  AN UPDATE ON NCHERM HAPPENINGS AND ACTIVITIES

  • Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D., the Director of Counseling and Testing at Western Kentucky University, NCHERM-Affiliated Consultant and NaBITA Advisory Board Member has taken office as the President of the American College Counseling Association (ACCA). We wish Brian good luck with his year of service to ACCA.
  • The 2010 NaBITA Conference has been scheduled for December 1st-3rd, 2010 hosted by Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. A few of this year’s upcoming highlights include Keynotes by Gary Pavela on Student Mental Health and the Law, and Mary Ellen O’Toole, who recently retired from serving as a key FBI Threat Assessment expert. New this year is the addition of the four-day NaBITA Threat Assessment Institute, a certification course. Details on the conference and institute are posted on the NaBITA website.
  • NCHERM’s Campus Sexual Misconduct Institutes, which were co-sponsored by ACPA and held in July were very popular. Over 300 administrators attended sessions at Drew University, Stanford University, and Loyola University, Chicago. Thanks very much to our host campuses. From these events have come plans for a series of one-day investigation trainings and conduct board trainings in Massachusetts, Colorado, Washington and California. Please see below or view our webinars for details on these upcoming fall 2010 events.
  • The NCHERM staff has worked diligently this summer to update our consulting workshop offerings. There are now well more than 100, including some new programs for students (and student-athletes), skill-enhancing professional development opportunities for staff and faculty, and enhanced conduct and appeals board trainings. View a complete list of workshop topics.
  • The NCHERM Behavioral Mental Health Concerns Team (BMHCT) program is growing in popularity, with several NCHERM consultants serving as permanent and/or ad hoc members of campus behavioral intervention and threat assessment teams. Read more about our Behavioral Mental Health Consultation Team.
  • The reprieve on Red Flags Rule implementation buys us some time, but we still need to be ready, with the policies in place by December 21st, 2010. NCHERM Partner Saunie Schuster is a Red Flags expert, and is available to guide or advise your campus compliance efforts. Click here for more details.
  • And, to keep with our Saunie theme, you know she’s a 1st Amendment expert, right? Campus conduct codes are still being struck down as speech codes by the courts, with the 3rd Circuit decision against the University of the Virgin Islands being the most recent example. Calling on Saunie can help to ensure your policies strike the right balance of setting boundaries without overstepping rights. Are you wondering about the effects of the Supreme Court decision in Martinez on discrimination by your student organizations? Saunie’s got that. Click here for details on her 1st Amendment consultation offerings and workshops.
  • NCHERM Managing Partner Brett Sokolow recently keynoted conferences for the Missouri Safe Schools Coalition and the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services. NCHERM Partners Scott Lewis and Saunie Schuster recently provided a pre-conference session for the NASPA Region 2 conference on Critical Issues in Student Affairs Risk Management.

For questions about any of the services or events listed in this newsletter, please feel free to call on the NCHERM Client Relations staff:

You may call NCHERM HQ anytime at (610) 993-0229 or email any NCHERM consultant or staff member by sending email to their firstname@ncherm.org address.

2.  UPCOMING WEBINARS AND SEMINARS

WEBINARS and VIDEOSEMINARS

  • Threat Assessment and Behavioral Intervention in the Community College Setting - An NCHERM/NaBITA webinar to be held in December 2010, date TBA.

          SEMINARS

  • 10/25/10 - Threat Assessment Training - An NCHERM/NABITA regional seminar featuring Brett A. Sokolow, J.D. Hosted by The University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL. 10:00am to 3:00pm.
  • 10/29/10 - Red Flags Rule Compliance Training - An NCHERM regional seminar featuring Saundra K. Schuster, J.D. Hosted by Columbus State Community College, Columbus, OH. 10:00am to 1:00pm.
  • 11/2/10 - Investigating Campus Sexual Misconduct - An NCHERM regional seminar featuring W. Scott Lewis, J.D. and Saundra K. Schuster, J.D. Hosted by University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA. 9:00am to 5:00pm.
  • 11/9/10 - Investigating Campus Sexual Misconduct - An NCHERM regional seminar featuring Brett A. Sokolow, J.D., W. Scott Lewis, J.D. and Saundra K. Schuster, J.D. Hosted by Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA. 9:00am to 5:00pm.
  • 11/15/10 - Investigating Campus Sexual Misconduct - An NCHERM regional seminar featuring Brett A. Sokolow, J.D., W. Scott Lewis, J.D. and Saundra K. Schuster, J.D. Hosted by University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO. 9:00am to 5:00pm.

NATIONAL CONFERENCES

  • NCHERM is sponsoring and providing plenary and concurrent sessions at the 2010 Safe Society Zone Conference in Atlanta, GA. October 22 - 24, 2010. Click here for more details.
  • Scott will be presenting with Bill Fischer and Daniel Swinton at the University of Vermont's annual Law & Policy Conference on "BIT and the Law" and on "Sexual Misconduct, Personal Liability and Athletics." Click here for more details.
  • Saunie will be conducting a full day pre-conference workshop on the Higher Education Act Amendments for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) at their Strategic Enrollment Management Conference on November 7 in Nashville, TN. Click here for more details.
  • Brett will provide the Keynote Address on the Role of Counselors in Campus Behavioral Intervention for the annual conference of the American College Counseling Association (ACCA) in St. Louis Missouri, along with a pre-conference session on behavioral intervention and threat assessment on October 7th and 8th, 2010.  Click here for more details.
  • Scott will be presenting at the South Carolina State Boards of Trustees annual meeting in October.

NOW AVAILABLE

Campus Safety 101 -- Online Course

NCHERM and MAGNA Publications have released Campus Safety 101.  This 6-part online course is designed for faculty, staff and administrators and their role in identifying troubled students, getting them the help they need, and protecting the campus community.  Campus Safety 101 is innovative, affordable, and interactive.  For details, click here.

3. NCHERM 2010 CAMPUS VISITS

NCHERM consultants are scheduled to visit 85 campuses this fall. Perhaps they might visit your campus if they’ll be nearby? The schedule of campus visits may be accessed by clicking here. To schedule a visit, please contact Kate Halligan, NCHERM’s Director of Client Relationships at (610) 579-3725 or kate@ncherm.org.

4. EXPERT WITNESS AND LITIGATION SUPPORT SERVICES

Unfortunately for higher education, this past year has been fraught with more lawsuits than ever, a typical phenomenon in a recession. As our clients have called on us, we have expanded our litigation support and expert witness services. We are proud to report our amicus curiae brief recently helped Widener University to obtain summary judgment in the premises liability and wrongful death case, Lacey v. Widener. Our current involvement includes expert witness service in four ongoing cases, litigation support in two cases, and service as part of the defense team in an OCR Title IX sexual harassment investigation of a small, private college. Click here for more details on our recent case activities and available services.

5. NCHERM SPECIAL PROJECTS

The last year has been an active one for special projects commissioned by our clients. We’ve found these new challenges to be engaging and our clients have been pleased with the results. So, we thought we’d share with you some of the interesting projects we have been involved with, and invite you to bring your creative challenges, projects and ideas our way. Click here for a new section of the NCHERM website dedicated to special projects.

NCHERM partners are presenting state-wide trainings for the Department of Justice Violence Against Women Project for Iowa, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

NCHERM's expert consultants are also available to conduct Sexual Misconduct Policy and Program reviews, re-writes and development, as well as Code of Conduct reviews. Don't forget that this is also the season to train your hearing and conduct boards.

6.  FREE CHECKLIST

As with every issue of the NCHERM Newsletter, we provide you with what we hope is a useful, free resource. Access the new 2010 NCHERM Clery Act Compliance Checklist  PDF. This tool gives a handy overview of everything you need to do to get Clery right, and is recently updated to include the 2008 HEOA changes that just went into effect, and the recent Department of Education revisions to the classification of burglary statistics under the law.

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Thanks for reading!  We hope you have a great fall.  Please do not hesitate to call on NCHERM if you need us.

If you would prefer not to receive our quarterly newsletter, please e-mail us at NCHERM@ncherm.org and ask to be removed from the subscription list, or use the remove feature within this email.

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