HPC 5751 2.0
SP 17
Page 8
HPC - 5751-101 Ethics and Law in Professional Practice
Spring 2017 Tuesday 11:30 – 2:20 RCOE 301
Dr. James Lancaster – Associate Professor, College Student Development
Room 334-C RCOE (828) 262-6055 (O) (336) 314-0714 (C)
Mr. James Lorello – Adjunct Instructor, Associate Director of Student Conduct
PSU Room 320 (828) 262-6898 (O) 727-204 3334
Office Hours: Generally, by appointment. We look forward to working with you this semester. It is important that this class be as positive and beneficial for you as possible. You and your concerns are important to us. We invite you to make an appointment, call or email us. If you have questions about the course, experience other difficulties or have need of special accommodation, your early discussion with us will reduce the possibility of later problems.
Technology: Many students will bring technology to use in class – laptops, tablets, smart phones and other forms of technology are permissible for class use, providing they are used for class purposes and not for recreation during class. Students are welcomed to bring these devices to class but should know that non-class uses, during class, will be subject to loss of points for the participation grade. Cell phones can disrupt class for everyone. Please turn off such devices if you bring them to class. If you have special circumstances, please discuss these with us.
Course Description
This class is an effort to engage you in cooperative and co-facilitated learning. Studies of learning styles have demonstrated that students various learning styles are best served when they are engaged in the process of their learning. We will therefore engage together in lectures, presentations, audio-visual and other forms designed to accomplish the following tasks: A study of current ethical and legal issues confronting the student development specialists. Topics include tort liability, confidentiality, privacy, libel and slander, due process, and other important concepts and actions resulting in legal and ethical questions.
Course Goal and Competencies Addressed
This course is designed to offer future practitioners a working knowledge of ethical and legal issues so as to inform good practice and decision-making. To accomplish this, and in accord with the ACPA and NASPA Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Practitioners, this course is designed to offer you a beginning competence in law, policy, and governance including the “knowledge, skills, and attitudes relating to policy development processes used in various contexts, the application of legal constructs, and the understanding of governance structures and their impact on one’s professional practice.” (ACPA/NASPA Competencies)
▪ Knowledge of primary ethical and legal issues arising from student development practice.
▪ Differences between public and private institutions and their meaning in legal and ethical issues for the community.
▪ Ability to describe current and emerging legal and ethical issues as they affect the student-institutional relationship.
▪ Knowledge of the general ethical and legal constraints of student development practice.
▪ Knowledge of constitutional, case law and institutional policies affecting practice, including the “universe” of law surrounding institutional practice.
▪ Understanding of policy making at institutional, local and federal levels.
▪ Ability to engage in ethical/legal decision making in practice.
▪ Understanding of the relationships and authority bases in SD practice.
▪ Knowledge of working relationships between practitioners, supervisors and counsel.
▪ An understanding of topical ethical and legal issues including:
o Confidentiality and Record Keeping.
o Enrollment & Retention Concerns Related to Student Risk
o Risk Management and Student Safety
o Campus Community Issues Including Housing, Security, Support & Auxiliaries, Freedom Of Expression, Student Organizations & Activities, Town, Gown & Government Relations And Religious Concerns
o Conduct and Judicial Concerns
o Social Justice and Inclusion Issues relevant to law and ethics
o Government Mandates
▪ Knowledge of future issues and trends
(Based, in part on the ACPA and NASPA Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Practitioners, 2015)
Texts
Required:
Kaplin, W.A. & Lee, B.A. (2009). A legal guide for student affairs professionals, 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kaplin, W.A. & Lee, B.A. (2011). The supplement to a legal guide for student affairs professionals, 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Lake, P. (2011). Foundations of Higher Education Law & Policy: Basic legal rules , concepts and principles for student affairs. Washington, D.C.: NASPA
Nash, R. (2002). Real world ethics: frameworks for educators and human service professionals, 2nd edition. New York: Teacher’s College Press.
Other readings will be assigned.
Recommended
American Psychological Association [APA]. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) Washington, DC: Author.
On-line @ http://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx or a nice resource “The Owl” found at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Other Resources
Professional associations are a good source of information on various legal and ethical issues. The following associations especially are recommended for their focus on general legal issues or specific concerns in higher education law and ethics:
American College Personnel Association - http://www.acpa.nche.edu/
Association for Student Conduct Administration - http://www.theasca.org/
International Center for Academic Integrity - http://www.academicintegrity.org/
FindLaw - http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/
Govtrack.us - https://www.govtrack.us/
Institute for Global Ethics - http://www.globalethics.org/
LexisNexis Academic - http://0-web.lexis-nexis.com.wncln.wncln.org/universe
Congress.Gov https://www.congress.gov/
Course Requirements, Grades and Miscellaneous Information
Requirements
Class participants should keep in mind that every assignment, every discussion and every presentation focuses first on legal or ethical issues and their applications. Articles submitted for discussion as well as presentations should consistently seek the legal/ethical issues that are inherent.
Attendance & Participation: Classes will sometimes begin with a brief discussion (approximately 20 - 30 minutes) in which all class members should prepare to participate. It is therefore critical that all be on time. Repeated tardiness or absences will reduce the attendance and participation scores. The general nature of this class is that of a seminar. This requires that each student be prepared to engage in dialogue about the daily topics, present and defend viewpoints as well as critique in a positive and knowledgeable manner the ideas of others. Physical and cognitive presence is required to create this seminar environment and to succeed in this class. Each class member should read the material assigned as well as other relevant media and be prepared to present articles or dilemmas relevant to the topics of the class. Good sources for articles include The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Journal of Student Affairs Research & Practice, the Journal of College Student Development, The Pavela Report (or Law and Policy, via ASCA membership), Legal News (LexisNexis), Inside Higher Education, publications and website for ASCA (Association for Student Conduct Administration), or other scholarly or professional journals/newspapers. Your own professional dilemmas, thoughtfully framed, also are rich sources. If you find that you will not be able to join us for a class, you should contact me by phone or e-mail with that notification. You will, of course, be responsible for all assignments on time and for making up any material missed during the class. Repeated absences or tardiness inhibit this discussion and will result in a reduction in the final course grade. All ASU students are allowed a minimum of two absences per year for religious observances. Up to two absences for such observances will be excused, without penalty to the student, provided that the student has informed the instructor in the manner specified in the syllabus. Notice must be given by the student to the instructor before the absence occurs and no later than three weeks after the start of the semester in which the absence(s) will occur. Arrangements will be made to make up work missed by these religious observances, without penalty to the student. For the purposes of this policy, ASU defines the term “religious observance” to include religious holidays, holy days, or similar observances associated with a student’s faith that require absence from class. You will, of course, be responsible for all assignments on time and for making up any material missed during the class. (10pts./10pts.)
As a part of your attendance grade, you will attend “A conversation with Dr. Lee Bird, co-Author of “The First Amendment on Campus: A Handbook for College and University Administrators” (2006) and Vice President for Student Affairs at Oklahoma State University - March 30, from 2:00 – 3:30, location TBA required attendance for credit). Unexcused absence from this session will result in a 5 pt reduction in your attendance grade.
Briefs: Beginning February 14th we will begin a series of classes shaped around topical legal/ethical issues. The topical presentation for the day will provide a narrative lesson on the subject by the instructor, integrating the case, act or amendment briefs provided by students. The instructor will give the presentation and students will be responsible for filling out the presentation with the briefs as assigned. All students will brief a total of two cases to meet this requirement. Students who have signed up to brief cases within the weekly topic will prepare and present one written brief of the case for that topical area of the day. Everyone must read cases listed under each topic. Student briefs should be “brief” but thorough and should supplement the general class understanding obtained from reading the case. You should prepare the brief as a written document (3 – 5 pages) that will be presented to the class verbally and in written form to the instructor. Following grading, the brief will be returned to you and you will share it with the class, copying the instructor, in email form following corrections. These briefs will become useful study guides for this course and for future professional practice. For guidance, see “How to Prepare a Brief/Act/Amendment”. (10 oral/10 written pts. for each brief.) Due: on date as assigned via e-mail no later than 5:00 pm.
NOTE: Briefers should plan to meet (briefly!) with the instructors the week prior to their assigned briefs in order to discuss their presentation plan and their understanding of the material. These meetings will usually be held following class unless otherwise notified.
Resource Compendium: On (or before) April 4, students will send their completed resource compendium as a MSWord file evidencing their completion. This resource should contain all information regarding ethical & legal issues covered during the class, including briefs of cases, related articles, research and resources developed over the semester and handouts. This resource should be a well-organized and sequential manual, including:
o Table of contents – this is generally organized by assignments on the syllabus for the course plus any appendices you wish to include.
o Sections designating each segment of the course as per the syllabus section headings and, within headings, organized by
o Syllabus
o case opinions
o briefs
o class notes
o ethical models, materials and guidelines
o additional resources, including articles you have reviewed and workshops attended.
NOTE: Any documents that are not already in electronic format and which cannot be easily uploaded may be submitted on this date as an appendix, referenced in the table of contents.
The final comprehensive resource will be presented so as to be useful for future practice and as a reference point for the CPL presentations in this area. It will also demonstrate the student’s final integration of the material covered in HPC 5751. The resource will be graded based on inclusion of these points, quality of presentation, and scope of coverage. While worth 10 points, it is also an opportunity to obtain added course credit with the inclusion of materials relevant to yet beyond the basic requirements of the assignment. Following review by the instructor, additional resources will be returned.
(10 pts.) Due: April 4
Final Examination: The take home final examination will present a case study for you to answer. The study will be open book and will offer the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding and application of legal and ethical issues in general. (10 pts). Due: April 11, in place of final class meeting and via e-mail to both instructors: () ()
Grades
Grades are my best effort to evaluate where you are in your understanding and in your communication of that understanding of your work in this course. Because this is a developmental and iterative process, not every grade should or does reflect perfection. According to the Graduate School Bulletin, a “B” reflects “Adequate graduate accomplishment” while an “A” reflects “Superior graduate accomplishment”. If you complete the assignments for this course adequately, you’ll get full credit (the numerical value assigned to the assignment) and receive a “B” for the course. If you go beyond this standard, you’ll be eligible for additional credit up to an “A”. While most of us hope for “perfect grades” the reality is that grades are an artificial and superficial measurement of what you know – not all of what you know but simply those things that you know and that we happen to ask of you related to this course. Good people often get “lower” grades. Typically we expect students in this course to obtain at least B’s, reflective of having met the basic standard objectives of this course. Students in this course will sometimes receive A’s and when this occurs it will be based on sustained, superior accomplishment – having gone successfully beyond the minimum expectations for the assignments. An occasional low grade is likely to occur; recurrent poor grades are a more serious concern and one that we will raise with you should that time come. If a particular grade is of concern to you, feel free to discuss it with us. Grades are not a measure of who you are but of what you bring to a particular inquiry on a given day.
If it is important to you to receive an “A” grade, know that in this course, we am looking for evidence that your understanding and application of the course material is more than “adequate” – that you are successfully integrating this material into your thinking and your practice. Without this integration, the content of the course will quickly fade, enhancing the possibility that in your practice, you may be more likely to risk harm to yourself or others. Some suggestions that might reflect “superior graduate accomplishment and lead to additional credit: regular participation in meaningful fashion in class discussions (which does not mean simply saying something but saying something of meaning to the discussion on various occasions); briefing additional cases/acts as assigned; consistently bringing in articles or other readings that illustrate material from the syllabus and your interpretation of that material; preparation for class discussions in which you bring forward examples of practice from your experience or observation that offer deeper insight into the ethical and legal concerns of practitioners; looking for actual ethical dilemmas in everyday practice and illustrating these with a brief essay or email to the class (including the instructor); finding cases “off the beaten path” that add to our understanding of a particular topical area or traditional cases that have been applied in unusual ways by the court to practice; constructing a case “scenario” based on an event you’ve experienced or read about. Such items as these minimally may lead us to a “rounding-up” of your final grade if it is on the edge of a higher grade; they may also, in sufficient quality or quantity, lead us to assign other additional credit. Keep in mind that grading is both a quantitative as well as a qualitative process.