CASE LAW UPDATE Silk v. Board of Trustees, Moraine Valley Community College 795 F.3d 678 (July 30, 2015) Mr. Silk was an adjunct professor at the College and he began working there in 1986. As an adjunct professor he was non-tenured and an at-will employee. Mr. Silk’s typical teaching load included four courses during the fall and spring semester and two or three classes during the summer. In March of […]

CASE LAW UPDATE Minnis v. Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College 2015 WL 3941846 (June 29, 2015) Mr. Minnis, the former coach of the LSU women’s tennis team sued the University claiming Title VII and Title IX discrimination when the University failed to renew his contract in June of 2012. Minnis was hired in 1991 and was the first African-American coach of any sport […]

MICHIGAN CASE LAW UPDATE ESPN v. Michigan State University Court of Appeals Docket No. 326773 (August 18, 2015) In September of 2014, ESPN submitted a request under FOIA to the University asking it to provide ESPN with incident reports involving a list of student-athletes over a specified period of time. The University produced two sets of records but redacted the names and identifying information of the suspects, victims and witnesses. […]

MICHIGAN CASE LAW UPDATE DeMartin v. University of Michigan Regents 2015 WL 2412450 (May 19, 2015) This is a governmental immunity case where the issue is whether the public building exception applies to defeat governmental immunity. In this case, the Plaintiff and her daughter were leaving the University of Michigan Dental Clinic through an automatic door operated by a push button device. Before the Plaintiff could clear the door, it […]

MICHIGAN CASE LAW UPDATE Harris v. Mott Community College 497 Mich 903 (November 25, 2014) On November 25, 2014, the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of a case filed by a former nursing student against Mott Community College and Nursing Program Administrators. The former student sued the College after he was dismissed from the Nursing Program due to safety violations in the clinical component of the program. The College […]

MICHIGAN CASE LAW UPDATE Sterrett v. Heather Cowan and several employees of the University of Michigan, sued in their personal and official capacities 85 F. Supp. 3d.916 (February 4, 2015) This case involves a University of Michigan student (now suspended) who sued several officials employed by the University after he was suspended for violating the University’s Sexual Misconduct Policy. The facts reveal that the Plaintiff was a freshman in the […]

The U.S. Department of Education issued for public comment a college ratings system framework. The proposed system will rely upon broad categories that highlight particular institutional successes and weaknesses employing metrics that might include: percentage of students receiving Pell Grants; average net cost of attendance; and completion rates, among others. The system proposed would group institutions for comparison purposes according to whether they grant two-year or four-year degrees.

The Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter providing guidance on competency-based education programs and addressing the differences between direct assessment and credit hour competency-based education, requirements for establishing credit hour equivalencies, and the role of accrediting agencies, among other issues.

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) has issued a draft discussion guide on measuring college outcomes. The guide focuses on a strategic framework designed to enable colleges and universities, policymakers, and the public to discuss and create measurement tools for reporting student outcomes after college.

President Barack Obama announced a proposal that would allow students enrolled in community college to earn the first half of a bachelor’s degree or the technical skills needed in the workforce at no cost. To be eligible, a student must attend community college at least half-time, maintain at least a 2.5 GPA, and make steady progress toward completing his or her program. Federal funding would cover three-quarters of the average […]