Case in Point: Lessons for the proactive manager

Volume 16 Number 04 | April 2024

This month we continue our review of 2023 events with a focus on the Compliance, Legal & Regulatory Category. For many years running this has been the category with the largest number of stories. Last year was no exception with over 250 stories linked, covering over 65 specific topics. There is little question that higher education is a highly regulated industry, and regulations are more likely to increase than decrease in the future.

The top five most common topics in this category in 2023 were:

1. Title IX
2. Discrimination Litigation
3. NCAA Compliance
4. Contract Litigation
5. Wrongful Death Litigation

The leader is by far Title IX—which comes as little surprise. The much anticipated new guidance has finally been released and will take effect August 1, 2024. We are still reviewing the changes and will have an assessment later this summer on what the changes really mean for higher education. Multiple lawsuits have already been filed in an attempt to prevent the changes from taking effect, so that litigation will also need to be monitored as we prepare for the changes. Stay tuned for updates on this vitally important topic.

I thought it might be interesting to list some of the diverse areas we covered in our Compliance, Legal & Regulatory Category:

The ways we can encounter compliance issues are vast. One of the best ways to avoid becoming the headline is to educate employees and create avenues where questions can be asked when faculty and staff are unsure of the correct approach. This is the basis of a strong compliance culture for the institution.

As always, there are many other risks that we must remain vigilant in managing within higher education. We again invite you to review these risks with a view toward proactively managing them and avoiding the headlines.