Law, Policy, & Governance

The Law, Policy, and Governance competency area includes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes relating to policy development processes used in various contexts, the application of legal constructs, and the understanding of governance structures and their impact on one’s professional practice.

     Within the area of student affairs it is important that I, as a student affairs practitioner, understand the ways that the law, university policy, and governance structures affect me and the work I do within my department. In CSP 6010: Foundations and Functions of College Student Personnel I was introduced to basic legal issues in higher education including affirmative action, race in admissions decisions, as well as liability in higher education such as the Clery Act.  Through this course I learned “concepts of risk management and liability reduction strategies” and what it means to “act in accordance with federal and state/province law and institutional polices regarding nondiscrimination” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 20)

     As an academic advisor I am required to work within the confines of FERPA with my daily interactions with students.  Because a portion of the academic advising I do is through the internet and email, I must be careful with the information I am sharing and who I am sharing it with.  I also had an incident through our online chat software in which I needed to consult with my immediate supervisor and campus legal counsel about an incident in which a student was worried about the “stalking” behaviors of another student on campus (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 20) (link to email correspondence).

     Lastly, through HIED: Issues in Higher Education: Change, I explored how change within higher education is facilitated by the ongoing federal and state changes.  For the majority of the semester I focused on the missions of institutions of higher education (link to paper) and how they affect the development of policies on institutional and departmental levels.  In addition to facilitating change within institutions, mission might also facilitate external change at the local, state, and federal levels (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 20).  Having an understanding of institutional mission and how if facilitates or is facilitated by change aids in my understanding of how “policy is developed in one’s department and institution (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 20)