Hello friends and colleagues. Happy New Year. Welcome to the Winter 2006 NCHERM Newsletter. In this issue, you will find:

1) An Update on NCHERM Happenings and Activities
2) Upcoming NCHERM Seminar Announced
3) NCHERM Spring 2006 Schedule of Campus Visits
4) Subscribe to the Chronicle of Campus Conduct
5) New Training & Risk Management Resources Available from NCHERM
6) Free Article — The NCHERM 2006 Whitepaper: Our Duty of Care is a Duty to Care

View the Winter 2006 Newsletter in PDF format.

If you would prefer not to receive our quarterly newsletter, please e-mail us at NCHERM@aol.com and ask to be removed from the subscription list.

1) An Update on NCHERM Happenings and Activities

• Fall 2005 was our busiest semester ever, thanks to you. Brett Sokolow made 57 campus visits, served as an expert witness in two cases, and revised conduct codes for five campuses. He is recuperating quietly at home with his family.

• NCHERM was an Institute Partner for the 2005 Higher Education Law & Policy Institute in San Diego in December. Brett continues to believe that this is one of the most valuable conferences he attends, and strongly encourages all of you to put this event on your list for next December.

• In November 2005, Suzanne Savedoff (pronounced “Sav-a-doff”) joined the NCHERM staff as our new Director of Communications. Hopefully, you will meet Suzanne at an upcoming conference this spring.

• NCHERM will again be a sponsor at the 2006 ASJA Conference in February in Clearwater, Florida. NCHERM offers to pay the conference registration fee for one person whose institutional budget makes it tough for them to afford to go this year. If you want to apply for this grant, please send a letter via email to ncherm@aol.com expressing your interest and need. The grant will be awarded on January 13th.

• Brett will be Keynoting the Missouri College Personnel Association meeting on January 27th. He will be addressing Liability Trends for Colleges in the Keynote and Criminal Background Check Best Practices in a breakout session.

• Brett will be presenting at the 2006 ASJA Conference. He will be presenting a pre-con on First Amendment and Harassment issues. He will be presenting a concurrent session on best practices when campus hearings and criminal prosecutions overlap. He will also be facilitating a concurrent session debate on the role that rules of evidence should play in campus hearings. The debate features a panel of presenters, including Brett, Mary Lou Antieau, Heather Kestian, Daniel Kast, Michael Zajac and Jessica Wickiewicz.

• Brett will be attending the 2006 NASPA conference. Please visit us at the Friends of NCHERM reception on March 14th from 6:00pm to 7:30pm in the Truman Room at the Marriott Wardman Park.

• Brett will be attending the 2006 ACPA conference. He will be co-presenting the Judicial Training Pre-Con sponsored by the ACPA Commission on Campus Judicial Affairs and Legal Issues. Additionally, Brett and Saundra Schuster will be co-presenting a session on The Collision Course of Free Speech and Campus Harassment Policies.

2) Upcoming NCHERM Seminars and Presentations

On February 2nd and 3rd, Brett Sokolow and Saundra Schuster will be co-presenting a two-day seminar event at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina.

DAY ONE — Thursday, February 2nd will focus on legal liability by examining cases arising from student affairs operations and the lessons we can take from them. Cases will focus on a wide range of liability areas, including due process claims, contractual claims, civil rights deprivation claims, first amendment cases, Title IX cases, negligence claims, FERPA violations, ADA complaints, and more. The presenters will share the pertinent facts of more than a dozen cases, the holdings, and discussions of the implications for practices on our campuses. Cases include:

• Wrongful Death and Suicide – a discussion of Schieszler v. Ferrum College, Shin v. MIT, and the OCR decision in the Bluffton University complaint.
• Judicial Affairs Cases – a discussion of Gauder v. Leckrone, Verni v. Cleveland Chiropractic College, Ackerman v. Holy Cross, Flaim v. Medical College of Ohio, Gomes v. Univ. of Maine.
• Sexual Misconduct Cases – OCR Investigation of Georgetown University, Department of Education Investigation of Clery Violations at Miami University of Ohio, Shivers v. University of Cincinnati, Ruane v. Shippensburg University, Simpson v. University of Colorado, Boulder, Fellheimer v. Middlebury College, Stanton v. University of Maine, Murrell v. the College of Mt. St. Clare, and Jane Doe v. Ohio State University.
• Free Speech Cases – ACLU v. Mote (Univ. of Maryland), Hosty v. Carter (Governors State Univ.), Roberts v. Haragan (Texas Tech Univ.), FIRE v. Cal State San Bernardino.
• Negligence – University of Maryland, Eastern Shore v. Rhaney
• Search & Seizure – Grubbs v. Texas
• FERPA – Part of our day will feature an “Interactive FERPA Experience” with a hands-on, practical exploration of the FERPA topics relevant to everyday student affairs practices.

DAY TWO — Friday, February 3rd will focus on best practices for administrative investigations of campus civil rights violations by students, including discrimination claims, sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, relationship violence, and hate acts. Discrimination and civil rights claims are fundamentally different from other conduct code violations, because they involve potential violations of federal laws. Because of the interpersonal nature of most such claims, they are especially amenable to resolution via investigation, rather than the hearing model used for other conduct code violations. The topics for the day will be split into thirds.

• In the first segment, the presenters will discuss several models for utilizing a civil rights investigation approach within student affairs, distinct from police investigations.
• In the second segment, participants will learn best practices for conducting civil rights investigations, including meeting federal legal requirements, recordkeeping, questioning skills, strategy issues, presenting findings, confidentiality, mediation, promptness and remedies.
• In the third and final segment, participants will work in small groups to investigate challenging complaints, involving computer harassment and sexual misconduct. Facts will be shared, and participants will collaborate to clarify issues, keep records, question witnesses, make deductive conclusions and present findings.

Registration forms and details are available within Regional Seminars.

3) NCHERM SPRING 2006 SCHEDULE OF CAMPUS VISITS

Here is our spring 2006 schedule, as it is coming together. We have noted available dates in bold. There are three in January, four in February, and four in March. We have noted states where Brett will be nearby the day before or after, and we can provide a discount to you if you take an available date and are in the nearby states indicated. Take a look—maybe Brett will be nearby to your campus in the near future. To schedule a visit, please contact NCHERM at (610) 993-0229 or ncherm@aol.com.

Schedule Posted January 9, 2006

JANUARY

12TH – UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
13TH – ECKERD COLLEGE
15TH – TULANE UNIVERSITY
16TH – TRAVEL DAY (EVENING AVAILABLE)
17TH – AVAILABLE DATE (DISCOUNT FOR PA, NJ, DE COLLEGES)
18TH – DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY
19TH – ON HOLD PHILADELPHIA
24TH – US AIR FORCE ACADEMY
25TH – PARK UNIVERSITY (MO)
26TH – AVAILABLE DATE IN MO, IA OR KS – HALF PRICE
27TH – MISSOURI COLLEGE PERSONNEL ASSOCIATION
30TH – AVAILABLE DATE (DISCOUNT FOR CALIFORNIA COLLEGES)
31ST – CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, CHANNEL ISLANDS
31ST – WHITTIER COLLEGE

FEBRUARY

1ST – LANDER UNIVERSITY
2ND – CATAWBA COLLEGE
3RD – CATAWBA COLLEGE
6TH – AVAILABLE DATE
7TH – TRAVEL DAY
8TH – ASJA CONFERENCE
9TH – ASJA CONFERENCE
10TH – ASJA CONFERENCE
13TH – MORAVIAN COLLEGE
14TH – AVAILABLE DATE (DISCOUNT FOR PA, NJ COLLEGES)
15TH – GANNON UNIVERSITY
16TH – NEUMANN COLLEGE
20TH – AVAILABLE DATE (DISCOUNT FOR TEXAS COLLEGES)
21ST – TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, CORPUS CHRISTI
22ND – ON HOLD NEBRASKA
23RD – TRUMAN STATE UNIVERSITY
24TH – TRUMAN STATE UNIVERSITY
25TH – ON HOLD NEW JERSEY
27TH – AVAILABLE DATE (DISCOUNT FOR PA, NJ, NY, CT)
28TH – YALE UNIVERSITY

MARCH

1ST – QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY
2ND – ON HOLD NY
4TH – WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
6TH – UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, CHATTANOOGA
7TH – GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
8TH – ON HOLD GEORGIA
9TH – AVAILABLE DATE (DISCOUNT FOR GEORGIA COLLEGES)
12TH-15TH – NASPA CONFERENCE
16TH – AVAILABLE DATE (DISCOUNT FOR DC, MD, VA COLLEGES)
19TH-22ND – ACPA CONFERENCE
23RD – AVAILABLE DATE (DISCOUNT FOR INDIANA COLLEGES)
27TH – SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
28TH – ON HOLD OKLAHOMA
29TH – ON HOLD ALABAMA
30TH – AVAILABLE DATE (DISCOUNT FOR ALABAMA COLLEGES)

APRIL, MAY AND JUNE WILL BE POSTED IN THE NEXT NEWSLETTER. PLEASE CALL FOR AVAILABLE DATES.

4) Subscribe to The Chronicle of Campus Conduct

The Chronicle of Campus Conduct is NCHERM’s weekly, quick-reading, practical publication, dedicated solely to the topic of the administration of campus conduct. The first eight issues are archived in the Newsletters section. Take a look. We now have over 130 subscribers! An individual subscription is $229.99 for a year. An institutional subscription is $299.99, and you will be entitled to add as many e-mail addresses to our distribution list from your institution as you want. Brett Sokolow is CCC's Editor-in-Chief and CCC’s staff of a dozen contributing editors delivers challenging and engaging topics for you each week. Read more about The Chronicle of Campus Conduct and download an order form.

5) Exciting!!! – New Training & Risk Management Resources from NCHERM

THE NCHERM AUDIOSEMINAR CONDUCT TRAINING SERIES. Each seminar is 90 minutes on CD-ROM. More information and order forms are available within the NCHERM Audioseminars section.

1. BASIC FAIRNESS AND PROCEEDINGS Don Gehring and Brett Sokolow offer a basic introduction to procedural fairness and decision-making, including the legal underpinnings of fundamental fairness and due process.
   SKILL LEVEL = BASIC
2. THE SKILL OF ANALYZING AND APPLYING POLICY offers participants a chance to work with Brett Sokolow and Saundra Schuster on policy analysis, complex complaints, multiple violation complaints and group violations.
   SKILL LEVEL = INTERMEDIATE
3. DELIBERATION SKILLS AND SANCTIONING PRINCIPLES Don Gehring and Brett Sokolow talk about the philosophy of using progressive, developmental sanctions. Deliberation skills and three models of deliberation (Adversarial, Consensus and Hierarchical) are presented.
   SKILL LEVEL = INTERMEDIATE
4. SEXUAL MISCONDUCT JUDICIAL TRAINING Brett Sokolow and Saundra Schuster focus on special considerations for sexual misconduct complaints.
   SKILL LEVEL = ADVANCED
5. QUESTIONING SKILLS AND GESTICS Brett Sokolow and Scott Lewis discuss the science of interpreting body language and affect and the skill of questioning witnesses.
   SKILL LEVEL = INTERMEDIATE
6. EVALUATING AND WEIGHING EVIDENCE Mary Lou Antieau and Brett Sokolow talk about simple, informal evidence rules to guide decision-making in campus hearings.
   SKILL LEVEL = ALL

6) Free Article: Our Duty of Care is a Duty to Care

As with every issue, we try to provide you with a thought-provoking article. Below, please find the 2006 NCHERM Whitepaper, our fifth annual policy paper. Whitepapers from previous years are archived within our Whitepapers section.

Our Duty of Care is a Duty to Care (*PDF)

© The NCHERM Newsletter. Winter 2006. All rights reserved.

BACK TO TOP