Data collected by the US Department of Education in 2008 indicate that US colleges and universities enrolled 707,000 students with disabilities, divided roughly equally between public and private institutions. The survey found that 31 percent of these students reported learning disabilities, 18 percent ADD or ADHD, 15 percent mental illness or…

Reviews key cases concerning employment discrimination in higher education handed down by courts in 1997. Cases touched on race, gender, age, religious, and marital status discrimination. (EV)

Reviewed academic employment discrimination cases decided in 1998. Concludes that such cases added little to civil rights jurisprudence, but demonstrated the frustration felt by many over the fact that federal employment discrimination statures were not designed with universities in mind. The complexity of academic employment decisions ensures…

A study of lawsuits filed by college faculty against their institutions looked at the effects of litigation on the people and institutions involved. The discussion examines standards of judicial review and construction of a fair personnel decision-making process. Careful planning, conscientious application of policies, and meaningful internal…

This paper provides a comparative snapshot of the current state of the law in the US and UK with respect to potential liability of university and college students for use (and misuse) of social networking sites. It reviews the limited case law on this topic, highlights the differences in the two nations' laws of defamation and the various possible…

Laws in the UK and the USA protect college students with disabilities from discrimination. The laws of both nations are complex and require institutions of higher education to accommodate qualified students. This article examines the requirements of both nations' laws with respect to the kinds of inquiries that may be made of students with…

Analyzes the Supreme Court's decision prohibiting faculty members at New York's Yeshiva University from unionizing because they were decision-making, managerial employees. Explores the implications of the court decision on the actual nature and degree of power among university faculty and others who consider themselves both professionals and…

Questions assumptions by Schoenfeld and Zirkel in a study reviewing gender discrimination cases against institutions of higher education. Critiques the methodology used in that study, cautions about the overall utility of "outcomes analysis," and reports more promising routes of empirical legal research. (15 references) (MLF)

The number of discrimination lawsuits appears to be growing, although many suits are settled out of court without any public record. A study of all federal court decisions on academic discrimination published between 1972 and 1984 is presented, and trustee involvement in court cases is discussed. (MLW)

The Yeshiva decision shows that several actions must be taken to clarify or resolve issues: several legal terms must be redefined, more comprehensive fact-finding is needed, and higher education collective bargaining must be better understood to distinguish faculty governance roles more clearly. (MSE)

Fourteen university claims filed in the wake of the Yeshiva decision, to avoid collective bargaining with faculty, are analyzed. It is concluded that neither the National Labor Relations Board nor any regional board has created, in these dispositions, a governance model typefying the "mature" university needed to evaluate faculty…

The application of the comparable worth doctrine to faculty positions in higher education is examined and the political, legal, legislative, and collective bargaining approaches taken towards its adoption are reviewed and analyzed. Recommendations for enhancing salary equity in academe are postulated. (Author/MLW)

The extension of Title VII to college faculty provided a mechanism for relief in cases where faculty were denied reappointment, promotion, or tenure for reasons unrelated to their job performance. The standards of review in Title VII cases and the court's role in academic Title VII cases are discussed. (MLW)

The issue of qualifications for tenure is examined with attention to judicial tests for qualification in lawsuits in which faculty alleged that negative tenure decisions were infected with illegal discrimination. The focus is the degree to which a faculty plaintiff must demonstrate at the first stage of the lawsuit that he or she was qualified for…

Six articles review and analyze 1996 court litigation concerning higher education. Topics include: federal immunity law; tort-accident cases (traditional tort rules in the college or university setting); disciplinary and academic decisions pertaining to students; employment discrimination; and disability discrimination. (MSE)