Handbook for Student Law for Higher Education Administrators (review)

As American society grows increasingly litigious and courts less deferential to the academy, colleges and universities find themselves mired in an onslaught of litigation that spans a wide array of issues, from student concerns through indemnification to employment disputes and far beyond. Higher education administrators are faced with daily decisions that may result in litigation and are liable in both personal and professional capacities, based on the nature of the claim, for their decisions.

James Ottavio Castagnera has written an accessible, easily readable handbook that is intended to provide busy administrators with a resource for assessing questions and developing an understanding of the relevant legal issues regularly encountered in the course of their practice. The book’s 10 chapters focus on the treatment of student-related legal issues facing postsecondary institutions, and student affairs administrators will find the book’s easily readable tone and practical advice following topical discussion of key cases a useful starting point for exploring important legal issues.

The book’s introduction provides a brief survey of the origins and present status of U.S. higher education, then transitions into a practical discussion of the hierarchy of the law and the legal environment surrounding higher education administration. New administrators or those who would enjoy a brief refresher on the legal structures under which colleges and universities operate will find this introduction informative.

The first chapter treats issues associated with the admissions process, including relevant discussions of the importance of avoiding fraudulent misrepresentation in marketing and recruitment. Although legal concerns regarding fraudulence have primarily focused on the for-profit sector, administrators in public and private not-for-profit institutions should understand the fundamentals of avoiding liability through the conscientious observance of transparency and fair dealing with students. A helpful discussion of the influence of the federal Higher Education Opportunity Act (2008), which has imposed substantial new requirements for colleges and universities in this area, supplements this discussion.

Chapter 2’s focus on federal financial aid and tuition policy is well placed and is intended to provide a framework for understanding the system and its function. Reproductions of federal websites related to financial aid programs illustrate that system, but this discussion would have been better served had Castagnera summarized the various programs. Also, the chapter does not extensively treat the major federal regulatory shift in the administration of financial aid resulting from the Student Aid and Financial Responsibility Act (2010) as part of health-care reform. Because the book was published in 2010, the absence of this discussion is not surprising but remains important nonetheless.

Subsequent chapters focus on student activities, student academic standing, and academic dishonesty. These chapters provide a useful discussion of the issues surrounding the administration of student life, including tort liability arising from student organization activities and the due process requirements to be provided in student judicial cases in both the public and private sectors.

On the latter score, the chapter discusses a key U.S. Supreme Court case, Board of Curators of the University of Missouri v. Horowitz, in which the Supreme Court set the bar for academic due process at a lower level than the due process to be provided a student in judicial proceedings. A discussion of Regents of University of Michigan v. Ewing, in which the Supreme Court determined that the judiciary should defer to the expertise of academia when possible, would be a useful addition to this section.

Although the doctrine of judicial deference appears to be eroding, administrators would benefit from a background in the legal position on leaving administrative decisions undisturbed when the institution has not engaged in arbitrary or capricious behavior. Nevertheless, these chapters provide a useful discussion of key issues, including a brief discussion of undocumented students, which is a subject of considerable current national debate.

The book then shifts to a focus on student issues related to alcohol and illegal drug use, discrimination, hazing, and student-to-student harassment. The cases mentioned...