SYALLBUS
GENERAL INFORMATION
Course Title:
Course Number:
Course Term:
Law and Higher Education
EDA 7236
Spring 2009
Instructor:
Benjamin Baez
364A ZEB
(305) 348-3214 (voice)
Fax: (305) 348-1515 (Fax)
Meeting Times:
Tuesdays, 5-7:40pm
Office Hours:
Tuesday, Noon-4 pm; Wednesday, 10:30-noon; other times by
appointment
Location:
Ziff Education Building, Room 101
Texts:
William Kaplin and Barbara Lee, The Law of Higher Education
(4th Edition, Student Version). Jossey-Bass, 2009
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course will help students gain understanding of legal issues in higher
education. It is not possible to address all legal issues, but with readings, written
assignments, class discussions, and case scenarios, the students should gain better
insight into these issues and how they inform practice. Some of the questions that
will be addressed during the course are: (1) Which forces have led to the increase
of the law’s influence in higher education? (2) What supports the ways in which
legal issues are framed and handled? (3) How do legal issues affect practice? (4)
What is the legal difference between public and private institutions? (5) Which
legal issues are significant to key individuals in higher education? (6) What has
been the role of the courts and state and federal governments in shaping policy?
COURSE GOALS
To acquire a working understanding of the broad field of higher education law,
the role of law on campus, and the relationship between law and academe;
To develop problem-solving skills related to legal issues in higher education;
To review and analyze case studies;
To research a topic in higher education law and write an in-depth paper; and
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To develop confidence in analyzing and discussing legal issues in higher
education.
ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES AND GRADING SYSTEM
Assignments
Due Date
Self Assessment of Class Participation
Law Quiz # 1
Law Quiz # 2
Case Scenarios
Legal Paper
Student-Developed Quizzes
April 15
January 13
March 31
January 20, February 3, February 10,
February 24, March 3 & March 10
March 31
March 31, April 7 & April 14
(quizzes must be posted one-week
prior - see course requirements)
Grade Scale
96-100
90-95
85-89
81-84
78-80
73-77
69-72
65-68
60-64
Below 60
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD
F
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1) Class Participation and Attendance (20 points): Your participation and
contribution will determine the success of this course and your experience in it.
We all must be in attendance, on time, prepared, and there for the entire class in
order to participate fully and contribute to class discussions. Please let me know if
circumstances preclude your attendance, will cause you to be late, or require you
to leave early. If your participation is inadequate, I will try to address the matter
with you. However, it is ultimately your responsibility to let me know how I can
help you in this regard.
Self Assessment of Class Participation and Attendance: Although I will do
so, you are responsible for keeping track of your attendance and
participation. At the end of the course, you must submit a self assessment
of your participation, indicating the number of absences and the number of
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times you were late. You will grade yourself in this area (up to 20 points)
and give a justification for that grade.
Please follow these guidelines in assessing your participation:
Deduct 2 points for one absence;
Deduct 4 points for two absences;
Deduct 10 points for three absences;
Deduct 20 points for four or more absences;
Medical excuses are only subject to a 2-point rule; that is, deduct 2
points for every absence properly justified for medical reasons.
Excessive tardies should be considered in your assessments.
Your self-assessment is simply a recommendation. I will take into
consideration your assessment in your grade for this requirement.
2) Law Quizzes (10 points): There will be two short quizzes available on
BLACKBOARD. These are intended to prepare you for the class discussion and
will not be graded; in other words, you will receive full credit for doing them (5
points each). Because they are intended to prepare you for the class discussion, I
will not accept them after the class has started. Please download the quizzes,
answer the questions, and post your answers when indicated on the Course
Calendar. Post your answers on the appropriate assignments page in
BLACKBOARD. Please limit your answers to each question to one or two
sentences. For these questions, you can use any source at your disposal.
3) Six (6) Case Scenarios (30 points): Please answer the questions associated with
the fact pattern. These scenarios are intended to prepare you for the class
discussion and will not be graded; in other words, if you do it you will receive full
credit for each (5 points each). Because they are intended to prepare you for the
class discussion, I will not accept them after the class has started. These answers
need not be in essay form. You must cite direct pages for your justification. Limit
yourself to 1 page for your answer; do not include a cover or reference page. See
“Course Calendar” for due dates. Please use only your text to answer the
questions -- do not use any outside source to answer the questions. More details
will be discussed in class. These will be available for download on
BLACKBOARD. Please post your answers on the appropriate assignments page
on BLACKBOARD.
4) Legal Paper (25 points): This assignment involves an analysis of one of the
legal cases available on BLACKBOARD. This paper is a research paper; that is,
it must include legal sources (cases and statutes) as justification, and it must be
written in essay form. You can use your text as the source of evidence for your
paper, but at any rate use only sources for which you can cite a direct page
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reference. That is, you must cite a direct page for every reference you use. If our
text is your source, please cite direct pages from the text but refer only to the case
or the law, not to a generic “Kaplin and Lee” (e.g., use Baez v. Florida
International University, p. 5, or Title IX of the Education Amendments, p. 10).
This assignment may not exceed 10 pages. Please post this assignment on
BLACKBOARD in the appropriate assignments page.
I will grade the paper as follows: 10 points for the quality of the argument
(i.e., how well you construct your argument); 8 points for the quality of
the evidence used (i.e., how well you make use of cases and laws to
support your arguments); 4 points for the quality of the writing and style;
and 3 points for proper referencing of pages.
5) Student-Developed Quizzes (15 points): For this assignment, you will get into
groups of 4-5 (depending on the size of the class), and develop a 20- or 25question quiz that measures how well a student has read in a particular area of the
text. The areas of the text coincide with the subject areas covered in class. They
are: (1) Discrimination Involving Students; (2) Freedom of Speech Involving
Students; (3) Due Process Involving Students; (4) Tort Liability; (5) Freedom of
Speech Involving Faculty; (6) Discrimination Involving Faculty; and (7)
Intellectual Property.
I will not assign students to particular groups (you may choose your comembers), but I will assign to each group a particular area of focus. You
should make use of various quiz techniques, such as true/false, fill-in-theblank, and multiple-choice (do not use more than 10 of any one
technique). The answers should derive from the text, and they should not
be completely obvious. Each group must include in its quiz at 5 questions
per group member. Please see the course calendar for the pages of the text
that correspond to each area.
Each group must administer the quiz to the class, and it will post its quiz
on the Discussion Page on BLACKBOARD at least one week prior to the
class in which the quiz is due. Each group will also submit a copy of its
quiz without answers and an answer sheet with direct page citations by the
date in which quiz is to be presented. Each group member should note on
the answer sheet which questions he or she developed.
The quiz will be graded, and I will judge them on the basis of how well
they cover the key aspects of the subject area (10 points), as well as how
they make use of each of the various quiz techniques (5 points). Each
group should inform me of which member will be posting the quiz and the
answer sheet on BLACKBOARD (not all members need to post, but the
names of all group members should be on the submitted assignment).
I will assume that each group will take care of ensuring that each member
participates adequately. If a problem arises, it is the responsibility of the
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group to bring it to my attention prior to the presentation and submission
of the assignment.
POLICY ON REVISIONS AND EXTENSIONS
My policy is to allow students to re-write graded papers, provided that the papers
were submitted by the due date. Except as noted above with regard to the 2 law
quizzes and the 6 case scenarios, I will grant students extensions (until April 17)
for the legal paper, no questions asked and there is no need for you to inform me
that you are taking the extension. (The student-developed quizzes must be
administered in class, so extensions are not applicable.) But for such extensions, I
will not read the paper until after the last day of class, and there will be no
opportunity for a revision.
Course Calendar
** Please be prepared for the required readings and assignments on the date
listed. Also, assignments must be submitted on the appropriate assignment page
on BLACKBOARD. If you cannot submit them to the assignments page, then
please send them to me via the BLACKBOARD e-mail system. Please do not use
my FIU e-mail address for submitting assignments. **
January 6, 2009:
Introduction
No readings or assignments.
January 13, 2009
Legal Foundations
Kaplin and Lee, 1-55 (skim 55-79).
Quiz # 1.
January 20, 2009
Discrimination Involving Students
Kaplin and Lee, 293-302; 317-358 (skim 358-361); 369-374.
.Case Scenario # 1 due.
January 27, 2009
Discrimination Involving Students
Kaplin and Lee, 312-317; 361-369; 429-457 (skim 403-406).
Group Members Identified; Quiz Areas assigned.
February 3, 2009
Freedom of Speech Involving Students
Kaplin and Lee, 475-503 (skim 302-312; 374-392); 513-542; 546-585.
Case Scenario # 2 due.
February 10, 2009
Due Process Involving Students
Kaplin and Lee, 407-429; 458-474 (skim 380-384; 503-512).
Case Scenario # 3 due.
February 17, 2009
Tort Liability
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Kaplin and Lee, 87-105; 124-135; 585-589 (skim 83-87; 392-402; 542546).
February 24, 2009
Freedom of Speech Involving Faculty and Employees
Kaplin and Lee, 239-289.
Case Scenario # 4 due.
March 3, 2009
Discrimination Involving Faculty and Employees
Kaplin and Lee, 135-182 (skim 117-124; 185-238).
Case Scenario # 5 due.
March 10, 2009
Intellectual Property
Kaplin and Lee, 616-622.
Handout (see BLACKBOARD)
Case Scenario # 6 due.
March 17, 2009
No Class - Spring Break
March 24, 2009
No Class - Conference
March 31, 2009
Employment-Related Issues
Quiz # 2 due.
Legal Paper, Part 3 - Legal Paper due.
Student-Developed Quiz - Discrimination Against Students (must be
posted on BLACKBOARD at one week prior)
April 7, 2009
Student-Developed Quizzes
Freedom of Speech Involving Students (must be posted on
BLACKBOARD at one week prior)
Due Process Involving Students (must be posted on BLACKBOARD at
one week prior)
Tort Liability (must be posted on BLACKBOARD at one week prior)
April 14, 2009
Student-Developed Quizzes
Freedom of Speech Involving Faculty and Employees (must be posted on
BLACKBOARD at one week prior)
Discrimination Involving Faculty and Employees (must be posted on
BLACKBOARD at one week prior)
Intellectual Property (must be posted on BLACKBOARD at one week
prior)
April 15, 2009
No Class
Self Assessment of Participation due.
April 17, 2009
No Class
** Last Day to Submit Late Papers and Revisions**
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