Do you understand the legal relationship between your campus and students?

Madison, Wis.—June 9, 2009 — Brett A. Sokolow and co-presenters Jacqueline Wiebe and Carolyn Wolf presented an update today to the law that is going to bring us a “fundamental change in the relationship we have with our students.”

According to Sokolow, the American Law Institute publishes an update every generation or so, called the “Restatement of torts.” We are now transitioning from the second restatement to the third restatement.

It’s a major change. While the previous restatement said that colleges generally have no duty to the general welfare, health and safety of students, the new restatement says that colleges and universities as schools stand in a “special relationship” to all of our students.

And that really is a sea change, Sokolow said, because that puts on the table the potential that we have a “duty of reasonable care” to every student member of our community.

“Some of you,” Sokolow said, “might find this objectionable. You might think that it’s over-reaching by the law. You might ask the question, ‘Why is the law taking us and changing our fundamental relationship with our students?’ To that question – and it’s one that I get quite frequently – I say that I think that the law is finally catching up to the fact that we have changed our relationship with students.

“A generation ago, we gave students a chance to get a degree, we occasionally housed them, and sometimes provided opportunities to participate in sports. Now, we feed them, we clothe them, we house them, we care for their mental health and their physical health. We send them on trips abroad and on externships. As colleges have become all things to all students, we have changed our relationships with students. And the law is just catching up to reflect that.”

In a 90-minute online seminar, the three presenters described what the courts are coming to say about the “duty of reasonable care” that we now owe to the members of our campus community – including suicidal students, who are now regarded as having a disability.

If you missed the seminar and would like to purchase it for your institution, you can order the program in CD or print transcript format, both of which include the presenters' handouts.

Magna Publications is a leading publisher of newsletters and other information products in the higher education segment. Magna also manages onsite and online conferences on topics of interest to higher education.

For more information please contact David Burns, Publisher, Magna Publications, Inc., at 608-227-8109, or dburns@magnapubs.com.