Course Overview:
This course examines the basic components of due process as applied in disciplinary and academic decisionmaking at public and private
institutions of higher education. Special attention will be paid to the educational nature of the student disciplinary process, and the
distinction between disciplinary and academic judgments.
Course Outline:
The course is divided into three modules, concluding with a detailed case study involving a contested sexual assault case. The first module
focuses on the basic components of due process, and the distinction between academic and disciplinary decisions. The second module will focus on
the design of campus disciplinary systems, especially a model code of student conduct. The third module consists of analysis of a sexual assault
case study (class members will be asked to respond to various objections and arguments made my legal counsel).
Learning Outcomes:
Active participants in the course will:
- Have a better understanding of the origins and nature of due process, as defined by the courts.
- Distinguish between due process requirements at public and private institutions of higher education.
- Identify due process requirements in academic and disciplinary decisionmaking.
- Better understand the educational role of the college and university disciplinary process.
- Learn how to design and administer streamlined administrative procedures for fair, efficient, and timely resolution of disciplinary allegations.
- Explore ways to use the disciplinary process to engage students in ethical dialogue.
- Examine the legal and ethical obligations of students and staff members serving on campus judicial boards.
Participant Expectations:
Participants will be expected to devote approximately fifteen hours to the course (five hours for each of the three week modules).
Assignments will include selected readings and discussions. Active participation in online discussions will enhance learning outcomes. At the close of
the course, each participant will be asked to respond to questions in a sexual assault case study.
Individuals registering for CEUs will receive 1.0 CEU upon successful
completion of the course.
Instructor Bio:
Gary Pavela, is Director of Judicial Programs at the University of Maryland-College
Park, and edits the national quarterly Synthesis: Law and Policy in Higher Education
as well as its sister publication, Synfax Weekly Report-- publications to which over
1,000 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada subscribe.
He holds an M.A. in intellectual history from Wesleyan University, a law degree from
the University of Illinois, and has been a Fellow at the University of Wisconsin
Center for Behavioral Science and Law.
Pavela worked as a staff attorney for the State University of New York--Central
Administration, was a law clerk to the late Chief Judge Alfred P. Murrah of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and served as a faculty member
for the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C. (the training arm of the United
States Courts).
Identified by the New York Times as an "authority on academic ethics," Gary Pavela
is a member of the Advisory Board of the Kenan Ethics Institute at Duke University
and is a past President of the National Center for Academic Integrity, a consortium
of 200 universities that collaborate on academic integrity policies and procedures.
He has been a consultant on legal issues and student conduct policies at many
leading universities, including Stanford University, the University of Michigan, The
University of California at San Diego, The University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, Rutgers University, Georgetown University, The United States Naval Academy,
Lehigh University, Brown University, Colgate University, and Smith College.
Gary Pavela is a NASPA "Pillar of the Profession." In 1995 he was awarded the
American College Personnel Association "Tracy R. Teele Memorial Award" for
"contributions to the area of judicial affairs and legal issues." In 1996 he
received the "D. Parker Young Award" for "outstanding scholarly and research
contributions in the area of higher education law and judicial affairs" from the
Association for Student Judicial Affairs. In 1999 he was awarded the "Thomas S.
Biggs Award" for "dedicated legal service" in the field of law and higher education;
presented at the Twentieth Annual National Conference on Law and Higher Education.
Last year Gary Pavela was designated the year 2002 "Fellow" of the National
Association of College and University Attorneys. Fellows of the Association are
identified by NACUA as individuals who have "brought distinction to higher education
and to the practice of law on behalf of colleges and universities across the nation."
