UNT law conference to address issues affecting higher education in Texas

UNT will host its sixth annual Texas Higher Education Law Conference March 4-5 in the Ballroom of the Gateway Center.

Some 250 representatives from more than 50 Texas colleges and universities are expected to attend the conference, which is acknowledged as the premier legal briefing for Texas higher education board members, administrators, faculty and staff in the public and private sectors.

The annual conference is designed to provide practical information on how Texas colleges and universities can address today's most challenging legal issues. Sessions will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. each day. Conference director Richard Rafes, UNT System vice chancellor and general counsel, notes that participants will receive valuable and practical information from an outstanding conference faculty that includes several of the state's and the nation's leading authorities on topics presented.

The keynote speaker for the conference will be Chris Griesel, staff attorney for rules for the Supreme Court of Texas. His address, "The Courts, the Legislature and Higher Education: Recent Trends and Predictions," will consider recent Texas Supreme Court rulings, legislative predictions and judicial trends.

Other sessions will cover topics such as:

• The impact of Sept. 11 on institutions of higher education;
• New federal laws and regulations affecting higher education;
• Conditions that warrant investigating employees and students and proper procedures for such investigations;
• Challenges facing higher education concerning access to technology, distance learning and the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA);
• Defining individuals with disabilities in higher education;
• Military leaves and other leaves of absence;
• Consensual relationships and sexual harassment;
• FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act);
• Fair use and copyright issues concerning materials used in the classroom and over the web;
• Liability, from field trips to spring break;
• Student academic and disciplinary issues;
• Handling violence and threats of violence in the workplace;
• Defending employment practices; and
• How to handle a tragedy on campus.

Featured speakers include:

• LeRoy Rooker, director of the U.S. Department of Education's Family Policy Compliance Office. He is responsible for administering FERPA and other laws and policies designed to help protect the rights of America's 58 million students;
• Paul Grossman, chief regional attorney for the San Francisco regional office of the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and a national expert on disability law;
• Katherine Antwi, general counsel for the Texas Commission on Human Rights and an expert on labor and employment topics;
• Jim Boren, author of How to be a Sincere Phony: A Handbook for Politicians and Bureaucrats and professor and scholar in residence at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma;
• Jean Demchak, managing director and practicing leader for Marsh Higher Education Group and an internationally recognized authority on insurance and risk management topics;
• Thomas Henneberry, assistant director for industrial contracting in the Office of Sponsored Programs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
• Marilyn Moller, a training specialist with the Texas Department of Public Safety and a certified crime prevention specialist;
• Allan Saxe, assistant professor of political science at the University of Texas at Arlington and an expert on national politics; and
• Sarah Woelk, director of advisory opinions and education for the Texas Ethics Commission and former assistant attorney general with the Opinion Committee in the Office of the Attorney General of Texas.

The cost is $195 for both days or $145 for one day only. Continuing education credit is available on request. For additional registration information, contact Shirley White at 565-3628 or e-mail swhite@unt.edu.

The conference is sponsored by the Center for Education Law, Administration and Policy; the College of Education; the Office of the Vice Chancellor and General Counsel; the Department of Counseling, Development and Higher Education; the North Texas Community College Consortium; and the Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators.

BY RODDY WOLPER rwolper@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• Former regent contributes $8 million to UNT campaign
• Solidarity leader and former president of Poland to speak at UNT April 16
• Commission on the Status of Women conference at UNT in early March
• Rec center construction to start in March
• UNT student named finalist for Truman Scholarship
• Columnist to sign book copies at UNT Feb. 26
• Program features research
• A real sweet deal: Hershey's candy bar nets UNT staff member a new Jeep Liberty
• Faculty Senate reconvenes for first semester meeting

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