Course Overview:
This is the first in a sequence of courses designed to give participants an in-depth view of critical law and policy issues in higher education. The first course ( "The student-university-parent relationship") reviews the evolution and direction of the concept of in loco parentis, considers alternative formulations, and concludes with analysis of the growing role of parents in campus governance.
Course Outline:
Each week of the course will entail a reading and discussion of a chapter in the book. The first week will discuss the methodology (constructivist inquiry) used to generate the case studies. Subsequent weeks will involve a reading and discussion of the individual cases. The chapters will define the course topic (e.g., alcohol related death of a residence hall student, student suicide, acquaintance rape, adult child of an alcoholic, tri-racial identity, and class issues in the academy) for that week.
Participant Expectations:
Students will be expected to read the chapters, prepare questions and discussion topics for the instructor and other course participants, and respond to the discussion questions provided on the discussion board. Participants can significantly add to the knowledge of course participants by offering insights (e.g., ideas for practice, suggestions for interventions) through the discussion board.
The optimum course experience can be gained by being an active, regular participant in the discussion. This commitment will entail a minimum of five hours a week on course activities including reading, discussion preparation and participation. All discussion will be asynchronous.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants who meet competency standards in the course will:
- Understand the nature and evolution of the concept of in loco parentis.
- Be familiar with competing models of the student-university relationship.
- Be able to identify key social forces driving change in the student-university-parent relationship.
- Better understand and anticipate the growing role of parents in campus governance.
- Define and defend a model of the student-university-parent relationship, based on their own informed analysis.
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. A brief, competency-based essay examination will be required. Students will be given one opportunity to retake a failed examination, after consultation with the instructor.
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. In 2002 Pavela was designated one of 24 "Fellows" of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, individuals "who brought distinction to the practice of law on behalf of college and university clients."
