Higher Ed Law Prof Blog

Involved in continuing ed? Here's news of a new service

I'm writing to invite your participation in the inauguration of UCEA's new online
membership service: UCEAConnect.

The address is: http://connect.ucea.edu.

UCEAConnect offers a new opportunity for members to interact with each other via
Association-wide blogs/discussions, personal blogs, and podcasts. Each member
maintains a profile page and can have his or her own photo album. In particular,
the site offers opportunities for members to discuss issues of relevance to specific
Association groups, such as Regions or Communities of Practice, as well as topics of
interest to the Association at-large.

UCEAConnect also will enable committees, Commissioners, and other Association groups
to conduct private conversations. A File Library will make resources from past
conferences and meetings readily available to members. The site also includes an
Association Calendar, a handy way to see all upcoming association dates for
conferences, award nomination deadlines, and more.

There are two documents we've written that you can download to help you along: a
short piece on How to Register, and the UCEAConnect Quick Start Guide. I hope that
these will be helpful to you. Both of these are linked from the main page at
http://connect.ucea.edu and are also available by clicking on the File Library menu
item. We will also be conducting a webinar soon on using UCEAConnect, and will let
you know when it is scheduled. This information will also be posted on
http://connect.ucea.edu so visit the site for announcements.

Should you have any questions on the new site or wish to offer feedback, please
contact UCEA's Webmaster, Mark Richer, at mricher@ucea.edu.

Thank you for taking part in UCEAConnect!

Fighting Sioux must return to the Rez in three years

That's the gist of a settlement between the NCAA and two Sious tribes over the University of North Dakota's mascot. The two tribes also have a say in the adoption of a new maskot for the school's athletic teams.
Background on mascot disputes nationally

Partnership for Public Service recruits for Uncle Sam

The Partnership for Public Service today launched a nation-wide public education campaign – Making the Difference, to persuade talented young people to enter federal service. The campaign kicks off on hundreds of college and university campuses, nationwide—already signed up to spread the news of public service opportunities among their students. The campaign is the culmination of a two-year Congressionally-funded research project with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the Call to Serve Recruitment Initiative. Campaign resources are available to universities through the Call to Serve toolkit.website

For Christ's sake

You are invited to attend a Christian Specific Interest Group (C-SIG)
Meeting during the NAFSA Region X Conference in Brooklyn.

Place: New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge
Room: Brooklyn Singers (Club Tower)
Date: Sunday November 11
Time: 4:30-5:30 PM.

This gathering will be followed by dinner together at a local
restaurant. All are welcome - come join us!

For info contact Tom Sirinides at tsirinides@cse.edu or 973-202-0643.

SAP on the grow

SAP | Americas

Dear Customer,

I am very pleased to announce that SAP AG intends to acquire Business Objects S.A.,
a market leader in business intelligence software. Let me take this opportunity to
share our long term plans for this acquisition and highlight some of the benefits
you can expect.

SAP’s primary objectives are to expand and improve the overall portfolio and
services in our core enterprise application software business as well as our
offering for the small and midsize enterprise segment. We recognize the growing need
for analysis in your organization to support all parts of your business around the
world quickly and efficiently.

With our planned acquisition of Business Objects, we will be able to offer a winning
combination of business intelligence solutions, functionality for Corporate
Performance Management and Governance Risk and Compliance and embedded analytics.
The solutions will address decision support, business processes enriched by
analytics applications, on demand reporting, and innovative business user offerings
to help turn your organization into a performance driven enterprise.

Product excellence has always been one of the cornerstones of SAP’s company
culture and it underpins all our efforts to maintain your confidence in our systems
and in our ability to continuously provide innovative offerings. Responding
appropriately to market drivers is a requirement for continuing this tradition of
excellence. Even as we plan to bring additional value to you through this
acquisition, I would like to assure you we remain deeply committed to providing
stable long-term IT security and protection for your investment in SAP's current
solution portfolio.

We are still several steps away from closing this transaction. In due course, SAP
will file with the necessary regulatory agencies in France, the United States and
other jurisdictions. When all required regulatory approvals are cleared, SAP will
commence a tender offer. We expect the closure of the transaction within Q1 2008.

Additional information regarding specific product, go-to-market and other details
will be provided after the transaction has been closed.

Best regards,

Bill McDermott
President & CEO
SAP Americas & Asia Pacific Japan

==================================================

SAP Americas
3999 West Chester Pike
Newtown Square, PA 19073

Subscribe:
http://www.sap.com/mk/get/us_subscribe

Don't call us, we'll call you

Time for you us all to register again:

----- Original Message -----
From: slobodzj@wellsfargo.com
To: joanns430@comcast.net ;
jsokolowski@rider.edu ;
drslobodzien@gmail.com
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2007 10:54 AM
Subject: National Do Not Call Registry - 5 year registration for
Telemarketers

FYI.............

1-888-382-1222 You must call from the phone number that you
want to register or go to:

https://www.donotcall.gov

Joe Slobodzien
PC/LAN Analyst, MCSE, AVP
Enterprise Field Operations - EFOREG1-N
TIG-Technology Infrastructure Group
San Francisco: 415-243-5892
Cell 415-716-8666

Health Insurance Plans for International Students

Dear James,

Greetings from ISO.

We would like to invite you to join our representative at the upcoming
NAFSA regional conference - 2007, review and discuss our health
insurance plans for International Students and
American students on a Study Abroad
program. Our plans are underwritten by leading insurance companies such
as AIG and ACE.

For your convenience, you may review our plans online at www.isoa.org
and www.isoabroad.com
.

If you are not attending the conference, but would like information on
our plans please email us or forward this email to the advisor attending
the conference and our dedicated customer service representatives will
be glad to assist you.

Sincerely,

Niraj Jani

ISO Campus Relations

International Student Organization

250 West 49th Street, Suite 806

New York, NY 10019

Phone: 212.262.8922

Fax: 212.262.8920

www.isoa.org

www.isoabroad.com

EU Newsbrief: A call for applications

Call for Applications: 2009 EU Visitors Program

The European Union Visitors Program (EUVP) provides professionals in their
mid-twenties to mid-forties who have career-related interests in the EU with a
unique opportunity to spend 5-8 days in Brussels learning how the EU works from the
inside through an extensive program, which includes meeting specialists in fields of
their choice.

Since its institution in 1974, more than 600 Americans have participated in the
EUVP, which provides an invaluable career-enhancing opportunity - especially for
those interested in the policy areas with which the European Union is concerned.
These range from classic foreign policy issues, like the Middle East, to consumer
protection, product safety, trade, anti-trust law, agriculture, public health and
cross-border crimes.

All programs are coordinated and arranged by the EUVP Secretariat, taking individual
participants' professional interests and future involvement with the European
institutions into consideration. The deadline for 2009 participation is March 1,
2008.

To read more, go to: http://www.eurunion.org/delegati/ppd/euvp.htm

Watch for my new article, "The Last Good Job in America?" and more...

... in the November issue of the Greentree Gazette:

Dear James,
>
> Thank you for writing The Last Good Job in America? for The Greentree
> Gazette magazine.
>
> A copy of the article is attached.
>
> We value your contribution and look forward to more.
>
> Best,
>
> Florence Kizza
> Editor
> The Greentree Gazette
> 609 Datura Street
> West Palm Beach, FL 33401
> 561.630.4300
> www.greentreegazette.com
The Greentree Gazette

Research-misconduct study reaches out

Dear Dr. James Ottavio Castagnera,

Rebecca Ann Lind and Brenda Russell at the University of Illinois at Chicago's
Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research are conducting research on university
research misconduct policies. This research has been co-funded by the National
Institutes of Health and the Office of Research Integrity.

This is a friendly reminder asking you to please help us by completing a short
survey providing your opinions about research misconduct policies. If you have
already participated, thank you.

The survey is available online at http://icarus.uic.edu/~nearix2/RMPolicySurvey .
If you see a yellow information bar at the top of the survey saying your browser
has blocked active content, please click on the information bar and select the
option allowing the content. This allows your browser to use the javascript
navigation in the survey.

This is a friendly reminder to participate in this study. Our survey includes the
Integrity Officers at 100 NIH-funded and 100 NSF-funded institutions. We randomly
selected institutions across all funding levels. Given your role in an institution
of higher education, you understand the importance of achieving a high response
rate on this survey. Your opinions are very important to us, even if you have
little or no experience with research misconduct. We purposely selected our sample
to include as wide a variety of institutions as possible.

This survey only asks for your opinions, so there are no right or wrong answers.
We do not ask about any research misconduct cases. Even if you don't have much to
say, your participation will have a very positive impact on the study. Although
you may not directly benefit from participation in this research, the information
you provide may help us understand more about research misconduct policies. We
hope to present the results of this research in traditional academic venues.

The web-based survey should take about 5-10 minutes to complete and will not
collect any information other than what you provide. We will not ask you to
provide any directly identifying information. We will not know who you are or
which institution you represent unless you provide identifying information in
response to an open-ended question. If you do provide directly identifiable
information, we will redact it before beginning data analysis. The data collected
will be held confidential. No harms are anticipated, but although confidentiality
will be protected it cannot be guaranteed. Data will only be reported in
aggregate, and in a way in which individual participants cannot be identified.

If you'd like to participate, please complete the survey by the end of the month.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either one of us. If you
have questions about your rights as a research subject you may contact the UIC
Office for the Protection of Research Subjects at 312-996-1711.

After you have participated, or if for any reason you prefer we not contact you
again, please mail the post card we sent in the mail. This card does not ask you to
tell us whether you have participated, but if we receive it we will not send you
additional reminders.

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Ann Lind, Ph.D. (rebecca@uic.edu; 312/996-3533)
Brenda Russell, Ph.D. (russell@uic.edu; 312/996-1311)

IRB #2005-0603

Conference on recruiting minority students

Greetings Academic Affairs colleagues,

Please accept this invitation to our "How to Recruit Minority Faculty
Candidates" Professional Development Workshop on Friday, November 2, 2007 at
the Marriott DFW Airport North from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. in Dallas, TX.

Our fall 2007 workshops have become extraordinarily popular in examining
strategies of locating, recruiting and retaining minority faculty
candidates. All of our workshops thus far, including this week's Charlotte,
NC location, have reach full capacity. We have two general workshops
remaining on our fall 2007 calendar (Dallas - Nov. 2nd & Seattle - Dec. 8),
but will continue conducting personal campus workshops on this topic through
summer 2008. See our directory of schools who attended our workshops at
www.needacademicdiversity.com.

Due to the workshop's popularity, we have added more seats to our Dallas
venue. Should you decide to attend; you can register by sending an e-mail to
info@needacademicdiversity.com or by calling 661.943.4239.

Best regards,

Dr. Sonel Shropshire
President
The Academic Network, Inc.
2010 West Avenue K # 646
Lancaster, CA 93536-5229
661.943.4239 tel
661.943.4259 fax

Turkish-student magazine on offer

Turkish Student - the Turkish magazine for study abroad!

Turkish Student is the magazine designed specifically for Turkish students seeking
relevant information about studying abroad. It is published by Akarmedia, whose team
has worked in international education for years: It is a knowledge-based, neutral
forum from which readers will learn how to prepare for a successful and memorable
experience abroad.

Published in the Turkish language twice a year, each edition of Turkish Student will
contain editorials from education providers, interviews with education-related
government officials, feature destination and program offering decriptions, as well
as up-beat student testimonials. With the targetted range of distribution throughout
Turkey and Northern Cyprus, the Turkish Student will be read by your future
students.

Turkish Student is distributed for free to all Turkish high schools, univeristies,
key education fairs, job information centres, education counselling agents and
embassies.

Upwards of 30,000 Turkish students go abroad annually to study. Now you can reach
this prolific market by advertising in, and contributing your editorial content to,
the innovative Turkish Student magazine.

Ad bookings, copy and artwork are requested by March 5, 2008, to ensure timely
distribution of the Spring issue of Turkish Student - the Turkish magazine for
international education. For details, contact us on info@turkishstudent.net, visit
our website on www.turkishstudent.net or view the full Media Kit below.

Akarmedia
Istanbul, Turkey

Google loses Face(book) to Microsoft

The Seattle-based giant continues to dominate our desktops.From the LA Times

Students disappointed by Cal Legislature

California students who are illegal immigrants were deeply disappointed by the California legislature's failure to pass a law that would be a pathway to US citizenship. Following college, many now assume they will have to export their taxpayer-supported educations back home to Mexico.From the LA Times

Judge blows the whistle on whisteblower case

And Chapman U. avoids threat to its accreditation ala a False Claims Act claim.From the Chronicle of Higher Education

Time to start spending?

As higher education looks more and more like any other business, pressure is building for non-profits to start spending more of those big nest eggs.From the Chronicle of Higher Education

Princeton mostly wins

Princeton U. was largely triumphant in a New Jersey courtroom today in its legal battle against major donors.Daily Princetonian story

More Bad Science Bites the Dust

Researcher retracts errors relied on by creationists... bad science an example of Darwinism in action.Chronicle of Higher Ed story

Researcher retracts paper, ending controversy

From the Chronicle of Higher Ed:
October 25, 2007

Researcher at Japanese University Stands By His Work as 'Science' Retracts Paper

Tokyo — A group of Japanese scientists led by a researcher at Osaka University, Iichiro Shimomura, has agreed to retract a paper from Science magazine, ending a dispute that at one stage seemed to be heading for the courtroom. Science said it felt a retraction was “the appropriate course of action” after working with Mr. Shimomura and his co-authors to construct a statement that “all could agree on.”

The Controversial Paper

Speaking f Southwestern, the new edition from your Higher Ed Law Editors

Dear Professor Castagnera:

At South-Western Legal Studies in Business, we strive to make sure you
have all you need to lead a successful course. For your convenience, I
wanted to make sure you know about our latest offerings for your Labor
and Employment Law courses:

New! Employment and Labor Law, Sixth Edition
49970&topicid=2752&disciplinenumber=404>

Patrick Cihon, Syracuse University
James Ottavio Castagnera, Pinnacle Employment Law Institute and Rider
University
©2008. ISBN: 0-324-64997-5
New Edition

If Learning Outcomes are Your Cup of Tea...

Sharing Responsibility for Essential Learning Outcomes:
New Partnerships across Departments, Academic Affairs, and Student Affairs
A Network for Academic Renewal Conference

November 1-3, 2007
Savannah, Georgia

This conference will illustrate new and emerging institutional strategies for
supporting, rewarding, and sustaining collaborations that advance educational
excellence. Beverly Daniel Tatum, President of Spelman College, will deliver the
opening plenary – "'Integrated' Learning in an Era of School Resegregation."

**http://www.aacu.org/meetings/SharingResponsibility/index.cfm**

A Promo from Southwestern Legal Studies in Biz

Dear Professor Castagnera:

For over 100 years, South-Western Legal Studies in
Business (formerly West Legal Studies in Business) has been a proud
partner of academics and professionals who work together to create a
vast array of products and services to meet the varied and changing
needs of educators and students.

Our dynamic selection of texts and learning tools offer the widest
variety of choices from the publisher that set the standard of
excellence and innovation in business law. One hundred year’s of
publishing experience is incorporated into each and every course
offering we
provide. Each selection can be tailored to meet specific needs including
content, teaching and leaning solutions, and even price.

At South-Western Legal Studies in Business, we are proud to be your
Partner in Practice.

For a complete listing of materials to meet your curriculum demands
visit us online at: www.academic.cengage.com

Rob Dewey
Editor-in-Chief
Rob.dewey@cengage.com

Lisa Lysne
Executive Marketing Manager
Lisa.lysne@cengage.com

Jennifer Garamy
Marketing Manager
Jennifer.garamy@cengage.com

10 tips on avoiding conflicts of interest...

... compliments of a colleague:

Jim,

Did you happen to see this? I wonder if they read your piece this
summer!--Dennis

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Fwd: 10 Rules for Avoiding conflicts of Interest
Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:17:52 -0400
From: JAMES ANDERSON
To: dlevy@rider.edu
References:
<8CF6A92CB628444FB3C757618CD280390594A024@exbe1.cmpcntr.tc.trincoll.edu>

FYI. I thought this was interesting.

>>> "Baker, Elizabeth G" 10/23/2007 10:41 AM >>>
Good Morning,

As mentioned at yesterday's CAPFAA event, attached please find a copy of
the article 10 Rules for Avoiding Conflicts of Interest that appeared in
the Chronicle of Higher Education on October 12, 2007.

Beth Baker

Director of Operations

Financial Aid

Trinity CollegeDownload 10_rules_for_avoiding_conflicts_of_interests_chronicle_101207.pdf

Developments on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

Compliments of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies:

FISA Deal on the
Horizon?(http://www.defenddemocracy.org/in_the_media/in_the_media_show.htm?doc_id=555915)

Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review Online
, The administration and Senate leaders have struck a deal to revamp the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The deal would extend for six years the
temporary measure reached this summer, which reaffirmed government's authority to
conduct warrantless eavesdropping on aliens outside the United States.

Senators sensitive about data sharing per dangerous students

Compliments of the Chronicle of Higher Ed:

October 23, 2007

Senate Calls for Clarity on Colleges' Sharing Data About Dangerous Students

Washington — The U.S. Senate has approved an amendment that would require the Education Department to provide college administrators with better guidance on how to identify and report students at risk of committing violence.

The amendment, which was adopted last night during debate on an education-spending bill for the 2008 fiscal year, was prompted by the April shootings at Virgina Tech, in which a student, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people and himself.

After the tragedy, a federal panel issued a report recommending that the Department of Education update its guidance on privacy laws, so that colleges would know when they could share information on potentially dangerous students.

The amendment, if it is enacted into law, would instruct the department to provide colleges with new guidance within three months. —Kelly Field

Congressmen smoking over researchers' alleged conflict of interest

Decades-long study of tobacco and lung scans may be in jeopardy.Wall Street Journal story

For IP Lawyers, compliments of NACUA

NACUA Fall 2007 Workshop

Law and Electrons: Computers, Copyright, Telecommunications, Privacy and Security on
Campus

November 7-9, 2007

In Cooperation with EDUCAUSE

Topics Include:
The File Sharing Wars, Phase II $B!&(J Beyond Facebook: New Virtual Technologies &
Their Impact on Campus $B!&(J Patent Law Update--From the Courts to Congress
$B!&(J Preventing and Responding to Information Security Breaches $B!&(J
Creating IP Policies & Emerging Challenges in Using Digital and On-Line Resources
$B!&(J Computer Forensics on Campus $B!&(J Copyright Wars: What's at Stake for
the Academy & Publishers $B!&(J Flexing Fair Use Muscles $B!&(J Technology
Contracting $B!&(J Legal Ethics Email, Electronic Records & E-Discovery $B!&(J
FCC Telecommunications Law & Policy Update

For international lawyers, compliments of IIE

Dear IIENetwork Members,

We are pleased to share with you a new opportunity and source of funding for
U.S. institutions to develop innovative partnerships with institutions in
France.

The Partner University Fund (PUF), a new public-private partnership recently
launched by the Embassy of France to the United States, aims to promote
innovative collaborations in research and education between French and
American institutions of higher education.

Thanks to the generosity of private donors and the multiyear commitment of
the French government, the Partner University Fund (PUF) offers a new source
of funding for imaginative partnerships and creates the opportunity for new
generations of sustained collaborations between institutions of higher
learning in each of the two countries.

With a budget of $1.4 million allocated for its first call for projects, PUF
aims to fund lasting partnerships in all disciplines in order to promote
sustainable academic cooperation and mutual understanding between France and
the United States.

Requirements:
PUF supports emerging transatlantic partnerships with a potential to be
sustained after the phasing out of the grant. Partnerships may combine
elements such as: joint initiatives in research and publications, faculty
and postdoctoral mobility, collaboration in teaching, shared programs, joint
and dual degrees at the master's and Ph.D level. They can naturally include
various forms of mobility for students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty and
researchers. Projects need to be jointly submitted by at least one American
and one French university. They can be funded over a 3 year period, subject
to annual review by the selection committee.

Guidelines:
Interested parties are invited to refer to the application guidelines at
http://www.facecouncil.org/puf.

Project applications must be submitted by December 15, 2007.

Funding decisions will be announced in March 2008 for the Academic Year of
2008-2009.

More Information:
For more information, application guidelines and the application form,
please go to:
http://www.facecouncil.org/puf or contact puf@ambafrance-us.org.

For Visa Lawyers, compliments of NAFSA

GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC AFFAIRS UPDATE
Vermont Service Center Changes Process for Expedite Requests and Service Errors

As of November 1, the Vermont Service Center
will no longer accept expedite requests or
service errors via fax. Customers should use
the National Customer Service Center or mail
service errors directly to VSC.

New York Times reception coming up

For whatever it's worth:

Dear James Castagnera,

Join us on October 24, 5 - 8 pm

The New York Times
EPSILEN COCKTAIL RECEPTION AT
EDUCAUSE 2007

The New York Times is proud to announce the launch of Epsilen
The next generation of e-learning and networking
Global learning platform
ePortfolio
Learning matrix
Assessment
Collaborate
Connect

Crowne Plaza Downtown (just
4 blocks from the convention
center) 1113 Sixth Avenue, 30/F
To attend our reception, please
RSVP to mailto:college@nytimes.com

If you are not attending Educause this year, and would like more information about
The New York Times Knowledge Network and Epsilen, please contact us at 212-556-8300,
or mailto:college@nytimes.com

This outfit is offering an IP Law Firm directory

For whatever it's worth:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Theft of intellectual property is a serious problem, costing businesses billions of
U.S. dollars every year. The United States and China have taken collaborative steps
to strengthen enforcement of intellectual property rights, but much more needs to be
done, especially considering that China will host the Olympic Games in Beijing next
year.

That's where we at Tunff Media Corporation come in. In 2000, we began annually
publishing the International Intellectual Property (IP) Profiles directory. We're
currently compiling the 2008 edition, which promises to be the most comprehensive
listing ever of law firms that handle international intellectual property matters.
Our profiles staff intends to work closely with the State Intellectual Property
Office of the PRC.

We believe that you and your company will benefit from subscribing to the 2008
edition of the International IP Law Firm directory-the perfect bilingual guide for
all engaged in business, commerce and the law. And, if you are an overseas IP law
firm, we offer you an opportunity to establish your names within the China IP
market, adding to the 375 law firms currently listed.

If you agree that the 2008 International IP Law Firms Directory will provide you
with the opportunity to join and make powerful alliances with other companies doing
business in China, please fill out and forward the attached Booking Form by mail or
fax back to us at +86-10-6421-6729. The proof will be returned to you within one
week for your approval prior to publication.

We look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to contact me with any
questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Jiessie Zhou
Tunff Media Corporation Limited
www.tunff.com

Obama on Immigration

October 22, 2007

Obama Speaks Up on Immigration, Again

It’s Round 3 in Obama vs. Schwarzenegger on college scholarships for illegal immigrants.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate visited Garfield High School, setting for the movie Stand and Deliver, about a math teacher’s efforts to inspire his Latino students. There, he criticized Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s veto of a measure that would have made some illegal immigrants eligible for the state’s need-based aid program and for fee waivers provided to low-income students at community colleges.

Mr. Obama, who has spoken out repeatedly on the issue, said
during a question-and-answer session that if a student had been brought to this country illegally but had been going to school “like every other American child, it is cruel and stupid for us to suddenly say to them: ‘We’re not going to give you college scholarships. We’re not going to let you finance your college education.’”
From the Chronicle of Higher Ed

My own recent comments on immigration

History News Network

Speaking of Blogs

What Is a 'Successful' Blog?

Is a blog successful if it gets a lot of page views? And, using the same logic, is it a failure if only a handful of people actually read it?

That’s what Another Damned Medievalist, who has been blogging for more than five years (an eternity in Internet time), asked recently. By all means add a few hits to ADM’s counter by clicking through.

Judging the success of a blog by its page views is sort of like rating a movie by its box-office tallies, a TV show by its Neilsen ratings, or a book by its place on the best-seller list.

By that standard, the best movie in the country is “30 Days of Night,” the best TV show is “Dancing With the Stars,” and the best novel is World Without End, by Ken Follett.

(shudder)

From the Chronicle of Higher Ed

International students: A SEVIS update

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program
posted an important revision to its FAQ on
F-1 student transfers. Two highlights of the
revised FAQ include:

* New rule for transfer of terminated
SEVIS records. [FAQ 2.3 and 5.5.2] In a
reversal of the position SEVP took in its
prior FAQ, SEVP now confirms that it is
possible to transfer a terminated SEVIS
record to another school. The FAQ also
provides the procedures to do
so.
* Limitation on the transfer of new
initial records. [FAQ 2.4] The prior FAQ set
forth procedures and justification for
transferring the SEVIS record of new initial
students who requested a transfer without
ever enrolling at the original school. The
revised FAQ retains that procedure, but now
says that a student is eligible for such a
transfer only if he or she has been accepted
by another SEVP-certified school with a
program start date that is within 30 days of
the student's initial admission into the
United States. If the new program start date
is not within 30 days of entry, the student
must study at the original school until
eligible for a regular transfer, or withdraw
from the program and have his or her SEVIS
record terminated for reason "Authorized
Early Withdrawal," leave the United States
within 15 days, and reenter later with a new
I-20 from a new school.

Whistleblower's criticism of dean no cause of action

Taylor v. Regents of University of Colorado, (Colo.App.)
westlaw.com/find/default.wl&serialnum=2013223230&dbe=RL%5E+LAY6LF%40F&SV
=FULL&findtype=Y&sp=nacua%2D1000&spou=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enacua%2Eorg%2Fw
estlaw%2Fnewcases%2Fwestredirect%2Easp&rs=WNL2.0&vr=1.0>
October 16, 2007: Labor and Employment - A professor, who alleged that
the university and the dean of its business school had retaliated
against him as a result of comments he had made about her during the
search process for a new dean, was required to make out a prima facie
case under Colorado's whistleblower statute. However, even if the
professor met his burden, the university could still rebut the
professor's claim by demonstrating that it would have reached the same
employment decision in the absence of the protected conduct.

Griping Prof not entitled to raise

Hong v. Grant, (C.D.Cal.)
westlaw.com/find/default.wl&serialnum=2013223853&dbe=RL%5E+LAY6LF%40F&SV
=FULL&findtype=Y&sp=nacua%2D1000&spou=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enacua%2Eorg%2Fw
estlaw%2Fnewcases%2Fwestredirect%2Easp&rs=WNL2.0&vr=1.0>
October 17, 2007: Labor and Employment - California regents were
entitled to summary judgment on professor's 1983 claim based on First
Amendment retaliation. The Regents of the University of California, and
six individual officials and administrators of the University of
California, Irvine ((UCI), were entitled to summary judgment in a UCI
professor's 1983 action. The professor claimed his First Amendment right
to free speech was violated when he was denied a merit salary increase
because of his critical statements regarding the hiring and promotion of
other UCI professors as well as the use of lecturers to teach courses at
the university. The court ruled that because all of the professor's
criticisms were made in the course of doing his job as a UCI professor,
the speech was not protected from discipline by university
administrators. Moreover, his statements regarding faculty performance
reviews, departmental staffing, and faculty hiring did not relate to a
"matter of public concern." His criticisms pertained to internal hiring,
promotion, and staffing practices and were of very little concern to the
public. The court noted that the professor was not left without
recourse, in that he could resort to whistleblower protection laws and
labor codes to address conduct he believed to be retaliatory.

Website and Viewbooks don't amount to minimum contacts

Jurisdiction
Johns Hopkins University v. Nath, (Tex.App.-Hous. (14 Dist.))
westlaw.com/find/default.wl&serialnum=2013255100&dbe=RL%5E+LAY6LF%40F&SV
=FULL&findtype=Y&sp=nacua%2D1000&spou=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enacua%2Eorg%2Fw
estlaw%2Fnewcases%2Fwestredirect%2Easp&rs=WNL2.0&vr=1.0>
October 16, 2007: Jurisdiction - A Maryland university's purposeful
contacts with Texas were not sufficiently continuous and systematic to
allow a Texas court to exercise general personal jurisdiction over the
university in a defamation action by a Texas surgeon. The university's
status as a defendant in an unrelated will-contest suit was not a
systematic or continuous contact. In addition, its recruiting literature
and website were not specifically aimed at Texas students, and its
website was informational and not designed to conduct business. Also not
substantial as a factor were oil and gas interests owned by the
university, which represented only .08% of the university's investment
income in a year. Finally, the university's Texas agent for service of
process was registered a decade ago, due to long-since terminated work
with Texas school districts.

Disabled doctoral candidate deserves equal opportunity

McInerney v. Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., (C.A.2 (N.Y.))
westlaw.com/find/default.wl&serialnum=2013674929&dbe=RL%5E+LAY6LF%40F&SV
=FULL&findtype=Y&sp=nacua%2D1000&spou=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enacua%2Eorg%2Fw
estlaw%2Fnewcases%2Fwestredirect%2Easp&rs=WNL2.0&vr=1.0>
October 16, 2007: Disabled Students - A university's alleged failure to
appoint a disabled doctoral student an adequate thesis advisor, to
assist the student with funding for research as provided to other
students, to provide extra instruction or a tutor, and to accommodate
the student's disability at or after the doctoral candidacy exam
supported the disabled student's public accommodation ADA claim against
the University.

City can't abbrogate state's immunity

Khalil v. State, (N.Y.Sup.)
westlaw.com/find/default.wl&serialnum=2013592206&dbe=RL%5E+LAY6LF%40F&SV
=FULL&findtype=Y&sp=nacua%2D1000&spou=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enacua%2Eorg%2Fw
estlaw%2Fnewcases%2Fwestredirect%2Easp&rs=WNL2.0&vr=1.0>
October 16, 2007: Civil Rights - The City University of New York (CUNY),
as a state instrumentality, was not subject to New York City Human
Rights Law (NYCHRL). New York City was not empowered to waive the
State's immunity. Even if it were, the NYCHRL lacked the language
required to effectuate such waiver.

No property right to graduate-faculty status

Civil Rights
Gunasekera v. Irwin, (S.D.Ohio)
westlaw.com/find/default.wl&serialnum=2013269877&dbe=RL%5E+LAY6LF%40F&SV
=FULL&findtype=Y&sp=nacua%2D1000&spou=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enacua%2Eorg%2Fw
estlaw%2Fnewcases%2Fwestredirect%2Easp&rs=WNL2.0&vr=1.0>
October 17, 2007: Civil Rights - University administrators were entitled
to qualified immunity from a professor's claim that they violated due
process when they suspended him from graduate faculty status without
notice and an opportunity to be heard. The professor did not have a
constitutionally protected property interest in graduate faculty status,
and even if he had such an interest, it was not clearly established.