Talking Stick - March/April 2017 - 40

Next Steps on the Road
One overriding theme of the State of the Profession event was that the educational
landscape is shifting quickly and that it is incumbent upon professionals to stay
informed and prepared for what may emerge. The following is an introductory list
of resources that address the more prominent topics discussed.



FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

In 2015, 8.5 percent of surveyed first-year students indicated a "very good chance"
that they would be part of a protest while in college, the highest level recorded for
this question since 1967. In this sphere of heightened student activism, safe spaces,
and diversity initiatives, campuses must be prepared more than ever.
* Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, "The American Freshman:
National Norms Fall 2015," https://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/
TheAmericanFreshman2015.pdf
* PEN America, "And Campus for All: Diversity, Inclusion, and Free Speech at
U.S. Universities," https://pen.org/and-campus-for-all-diversity-inclusion-andfree-speech-at-u-s-universities/



WORKPLACE CONDITIONS

While the future of FLSA salary exemption is cloudy, questions about workplace
conditions, fair wages, employee morale, work/life balance, and other issues
continue.
* Christian Schappel, "OT Rule Injunction: 5 Things You May Not (but Should)
Know About It," HR Morning (November 20, 2016), http://www.hrmorning.
com/overtime-rule-injunction-5-things-you-may-not-but-should-know-about-it/
* Missy Kline, "CUPA-HR Andy Brantley Testifies Before House Subcommittee on
Overtime Rule," CUPA-HR, The Higher Ed Workplace Blog (February 20, 2017),
http://blog.cupahr.org/2017/02/cupa-hr-ceo-andy-brantley-testifies-housesubcommittee-overtime-rule/

 TITLE IX
This summer will mark the 45th anniversary of Title IX, the amendment that
prohibited sex discrimination in any educational program or activity that received
federal financial aid. Today it is often referred to on campuses in cases of sexual
assault and the rights of trans students.
* Jake New, "Do Not Step Away," Inside Higher Ed (January 26, 2017), https://
www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/01/26/college-leaders-discuss-futuretitle-ix-sexual-assault-prevention-efforts
* The Chronicle of Higher Education, "Diversity in Academe: Transgender
on Campus" (October 18, 2015), http://www.chronicle.com/specialreport/
Diversity-in-Academe-/11



BIG DATA

Moving forward, decisions will not be made based upon hunches or purely
anecdotal evidence. Data will continue to take a larger role in leadership choices,
meaning that campuses need to better understand what data matters and how to
best interpret what it says.
* Joseph B. Treaster, "Will You Graduate? Ask Big Data," New York Times
(February 2, 2017), https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/education/edlife/
will-you-graduate-ask-big-data.html?_r=0&referer=https://t.co/0IxQcc8r6N
* Kirsten Kennedy (Ed.), Making a Difference: Improving Residence Life
Assessment Practices (2016)

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TALKING
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view. "Freedom of conscience is violated
when educational programming
crosses that line," she said.
In areas such as freedom of
expression, where lines between what
may or may not be appropriate or even
legal can be blurry, it is important
to establish clear and context-free
guidelines that can be applied in all
situations. For example, the First
Amendment, in its protection of
free speech, still allows reasonable
restrictions based on time, place,
and manner. In practice this means,
for example, that a campus can
establish rules that prohibit all
posters on residence hall doors
or in exterior windows, based on
concerns about safety or appearance.
To avoid appearing reactionary to
the messages on the displays, rather
than the displays themselves, such
policies must be in place before an
incident such as a student hanging a
Confederate Flag in a window occurs.
Similarly, policies with broad
guidelines such as "posters may not
contain offensive language or images"
are problematic as they leave too much
open to interpretation. Even terms like
"hate speech" are insufficient as they
lack a specified legal definition in the
way that harassment does. Groves used
the example of a demonstration on
his campus where a group of students
chanted, "Build that wall, build that
wall" (referring to a proposed wall
along the United States and Mexico
border). Regardless of whether
one thought it was appropriate, he
said, it was protected public speech.
Conversely, a sign reading "Terrorist"
posted outside a Muslim student's
room would be directed harassment
and, therefore, not protected.

IDENTITY ISSUES
In many cases, freedom of
expression issues on college and

https://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/TheAmericanFreshman2015.pdf https://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/TheAmericanFreshman2015.pdf https://www.pen.org/and-campus-for-all-diversity-inclusion-and-free-speech-at-u-s-universities/ https://www.pen.org/and-campus-for-all-diversity-inclusion-and-free-speech-at-u-s-universities/ http://www.hrmorning.com/overtime-rule-injunction-5-things-you-may-not-but-should-know-about-it/ http://www.hrmorning.com/overtime-rule-injunction-5-things-you-may-not-but-should-know-about-it/ http://blog.cupahr.org/2017/02/cupa-hr-ceo-andy-brantley-testifies-house-subcommittee-overtime-rule/ http://blog.cupahr.org/2017/02/cupa-hr-ceo-andy-brantley-testifies-house-subcommittee-overtime-rule/ http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/01/26/college-leaders-discuss-future-title-ix-sexual-assault-prevention-efforts http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/01/26/college-leaders-discuss-future-title-ix-sexual-assault-prevention-efforts http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/01/26/college-leaders-discuss-future-title-ix-sexual-assault-prevention-efforts http://www.chronicle.com/specialreport/diversity-in-academe-/11 http://www.chronicle.com/specialreport/diversity-in-academe-/11 https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/education/edlife/will-you-graduate-ask-big-data.html?_r=0&referer=https://t.co/olxqcc8r6n https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/education/edlife/will-you-graduate-ask-big-data.html?_r=0&referer=https://t.co/olxqcc8r6n

Talking Stick - March/April 2017

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