Q. As a staff member, I was recently asked to serve on the board of directors of a campus service corporation. It’s a non-profit group, affiliated with the college, which provides supplemental services to students, faculty and staff, like the bookstore and food services. As a board member, just what are my personal responsibilities?

It’s five years of probation and one year of home confinement for the former president of Morris Brown College (GA). She pled guilty in 2006 to the embezzlement of $3.4 million from the school. She and the college’s ex-financial aid director fraudulently obtained the funds in student loans. The pair of officials apparently used the money to try to help their financially troubled school.

Only two weeks into her college career, the 18-year-old Boston University student was sexually assaulted in her residence hall. In the aftermath of the September 1999 crime, her family provided support to the undergraduate victim, helping her deal with the trauma of the attack and the criminal trial that followed. Her parents needed to travel to be with her often and leave their homes for an extended period of time during the trial. It was an exhausting and expensive experience. Fortunately, they had the financial means needed to leave jobs, travel, and obtain the support needed for their daughter. But when their trial was over, they wondered how other families could afford to give assault victims in their families that same level of support? How could others support a “loved one when it was needed the most?”