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Upon completion of a Master of Education in Guidance and Counseling, I hope to be employed as an academic advisor at a university in New York.

(The Truth Behind College Application Fabrication, 2017)

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Exploration Option 2- The Association of American Universities Legal and Ethical Issues

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Exploration Option 2- The Association of American Universities Legal and Ethical Issues

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In my review of the AAU website, I noticed a great deal of discussion on the upcoming re-authorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). The HEA provides support to institutes of Higher Education and students purposing higher education through the sanctioning of federal aid programs. The AAU in a combined effort with other higher education organizations, proposed a list of re-authorization principles including individual institutional control for defining academic programs and efforts to reduce abuse and fraud in higher education (Association of American Universities, 2018).

The AAU also highlights its concerns with the Promoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform (PROSPER) act. The proposed act seeks to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 by making changes to student federal aid programs. The AAU outlines its concerns about the act, including increased costs of student loans and the elimination of federal grants for millions of students (Association of American Universities, 2018).

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Higher Education Legislation | Association of American Universities

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Higher education legislation is one of the primary areas in which AAU engages federal policymakers. AAU supports legislation that advances society through education, research and discovery.

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Exploration Option 3- The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Exploration Option 3- The Chronicle of Higher Education

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An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (Zamudio-Suarez, 2017), discusses the Democratic push for the Title IX Protection Act to be written into Law. He describes how the proposal would require investigations to be completed in two months, as well as changing the responsibility standard in sexual misconduct cases.

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A group of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives wants details of the Obama-era guidance on campus sexual assault to be written into law, Politico reports.

Their legislation, the Title IX Protection Act, would codify parts of the recently rescinded guidance on the gender-equity law known as Title IX. In September the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights rescinded a 2011 letter on how colleges should handle campus sexual assault and a 2014 question-and-answer document about colleges' compliance with the law.

The new measure would require colleges and universities to use the "preponderance of the evidence" standard in determining responsibility in an incident of sexual misconduct, a standard meaning that sexual violence or harassment was more likely than not to have happened. Critics of the standard have argued for a higher standard, known as "clear and convincing evidence."

The proposal would also require that investigations be completed in 60 days, and would discourage cross examination during the grievance proceedings. Under the legislation, colleges would not have to allow either the accuser or the accused to have a lawyer during any part of the proceedings.

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House Democrats Propose Making Obama-Era Title IX Guidance Into Law

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A group of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives wants details of the Obama-era guidance on campus sexual assault to be written into law, Politico reports. Their legislation, the Title IX Protection Act, would codify parts of the recently rescinded guidance on the gender-equity law known as Title IX.

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Exploration Option 3- Inside Higher Education

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Exploration Option 3- Inside Higher Education

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An article in, Inside Higher Education (Seltzer, 2018) discusses New York financial aid administrators call for more guidance on the administration of the Excelsior Scholarship. The Excelsior Scholarship is a New York state program that provides free tuition for qualified students enrolled in public colleges, starting in the Fall of 2019.

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A group of financial aid administrators at public colleges in New York drew a surprisingly sharp rebuke last week after asking for more guidance on the state's free-tuition program, the Excelsior Scholarship.

To some officials, the financial aid administrators drove a wedge into what is supposed to be a unified effort to make successful an ambitious free-tuition program that is only entering its second year. Others weren't so surprised that the professionals who are charged with making the wide-ranging, complex program work for students are encountering difficulties navigating between the public universities, state agencies and politicians involved in Excelsior.

Excelsior has been closely watched as a leading example of the free college movement, one that covers students at both two- and four-year public colleges. It is also a signature achievement of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is up for re-election this year and has long been rumored as a presidential hopeful.

The program is ambitious as well, having provided tens of thousands of students with free tuition before it has even scaled up to its eventual income limit of $125,000 in the fall of 2019. It is being rolled out rapidly, having only been created by law last year. And it is complex, with its requirement that most students complete 30 credits per year, then live and work in the state for the same number of years after graduation as they received scholarships.

With all that pressure heaped on the program, were the financial aid administrators out of line? Or did officials throw the financial aid officials under the bus?

Financial aid officers have frequently pointed out over the last year that they had no go-to document outlining how they should administer the Excelsior program. Still, ask an administrator in a financial aid office about Excelsior, and a reply might come back that it required a lot of work but can be a great program for the students who qualify.

The issue of implementation vaulted into the press last week when a representative from the State University of New York Financial Aid Professionals (SUNYFAP) spoke before a meeting of the state's Higher Education Services Corp. Board of Trustees. Sarah Buell, assistant coordinator of financial aid at SUNY Erie Community College and SUNYFAP vice president, said financial aid officers have gone months without formal written guidance, according to the Times Union.

"We are essentially, in our 64 campuses, establishing 64 different versions of this program," Buell said.

HESC's president acknowledged that putting the program in place was an enormous task posing multiple challenges. Other officials soon issued critical statements.

The Times Union quoted a Cuomo spokesman saying that it is shocking that financial aid officers don't yet understand the program. The day after the HESC meeting, SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson issued a statement calling the program a great success with increasing applications -- and taking the financial aid administrators to task.

"Yesterday, misstatements were aired by a handful of financial aid administrators about the process in implementing the program," Johnson's statement said. "Unofficial statements such as these create unnecessary confusion and are not productive in ensuring that this scholarship benefits as many students as possible. We are pleased with our strong partnership with the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation and the multitude of resources they continue to provide."

Then on Saturday, the Times Union reported that financial aid officers had been instructed not to answer media questions about Excelsior. Instead, they were directed to refer to Johnson's statement.

Pressed on what specific misstatements had been aired at the meeting, a SUNY spokeswoman pointed to the comments about 64 campuses establishing 64 different versions of the program and the idea that financial aid administrators were not receiving information they needed from HESC.

But when Buell spoke, she said that HESC had been answering questions. Inquiries for guidance were sent via email and answered by HESC staff members, and that guidance was then disseminated by listserv from colleague to colleague, Buell said, according to a recording of the HESC board meeting. When she starts speaking, Buell says she will read a statement from the SUNYFAP president, then thanks "our colleagues at HESC," referencing them "providing support, putting in long hours and offering unwavering professional responses to questions during Excelsior's first year."

Her point appeared to be that financial aid administrators were receiving guidance in an inefficient way.

"It is extremely cumbersome, and it is difficult to refer back or look to the guidance at a later date, and there is no efficient way to track down what the most recent guidance is," she said. She went on to detail a history of the group asking for formal, written, comprehensive guidance covering the Excelsior program.

Without more guidance to fall back on, financial aid administrators are left telling students they "believe" HESC will take certain actions or that students will be eligible. That strains their relationships with families, Buell said.

Buell declined comment when reached by email Friday.

Cuomo's office maintains that the program is being rolled out with coordination. It provided a 21-bullet list of fact sheets, FAQs, in-person training for financial aid professionals, webinars and HESC bulletins. The list included a guidance document issued in July of last year addressing questions such as when to charge 2016 to 2017 tuition, when to charge "current year" tuition, how to calculate an Excelsior award and the conditions impacting scholarship recipient's eligibility.

"The state is working in lockstep with school administrators and financial aid officers -- offering webinars, conference calls, regular bulletins and memos -- to ensure they have the necessary guidance to implement this first-in-the-nation program, and we will continue those efforts until every eligible student is enrolled in our free-tuition scholarship," a spokesperson in the governor's office said in a statement.

From the moment of Excelsior's creation, policy wonks and groups concerned with higher education have wondered how easily its many moving parts could be put into play on short notice in the real world. Several were unsurprised to hear about the flare-up over guidance for financial aid administrators.

"It was rolled out so quickly, and really, it was confusing to so many students," said Marissa Martin, Northeast Director for the group Young Invincibles, which supports policies to expand accessibility to higher education. "Even now, I'm sure financial aid administrators and schools are getting used to the process."

The issue with financial aid administrators echoes other concerns Young Invincibles has flagged with Excelsior, like the program's requirements that students complete 15 credits per semester to remain eligible and the fact that it is a last-dollar program that doesn't go to non-tuition-related costs like textbooks. While important exceptions were added to many of the program's requirements, Martin expressed continued unease with the credit requirement at a time when more and more students in New York State and New York City are nontraditional students who may have to work part time.

She also pointed out that this is not the first time someone has raised concerns about the level of resources available for putting Excelsior in place on such a tight timeline.

"We were saying this is an issue," Martin said. "There are not enough counselors, advisors, financial aid and regular counselors to support a rollout of this program in a real way that ensures students succeed."

Some problems could have been anticipated, said Yan Cao, a fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive group. Those problems include those with Excelsior and with a public financial aid program for private colleges that was enacted alongside it, called the Enhanced Tuition Awards (ETA) program.

"It's no surprise that financial aid professionals are voicing frustration with the implementation of the Excelsior and ETA programs," she said in a statement. "The promise of 'free college' is a visionary idea, but, as the Century Foundation has reported, the devil is in the details. In this past year, the roll-out of Excelsior and ETA has left existing participants from public and private non-profit colleges confused, even as policymakers have rushed to expand the program to include the problematic for-profit college sector."

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Squabble over guidance brings focus onto difficulties of putting New York free tuition program into place

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A group of financial aid administrators at public colleges in New York drew a surprisingly sharp rebuke last week after asking for more guidance on the state's free-tuition program, the Excelsior Scholarship. To some officials, the financial aid administrators drove a wedge into what is supposed to be a unified effort to make successful an ambitious free-tuition program that is only entering its second year.

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Legal and Ethical Issue of Interest to Me- Title IX Protection Act

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Legal and Ethical Issue of Interest to Me- Title IX Protection Act

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After my exploration of legal and ethical issues in the field of higher education, I am most interested in exploring how colleges are addressing and responding to sexual assault and the changes proposed in the Title IX Protection Act. This is interesting to me because I have known several individuals who experienced sexual harassment on college campuses. I believe that there needs to more legislation to educate and protect students against sexual assault and harassment on college campuses.

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Exploration Option 2- The American Association of State Colleges and Universities Legal and Ethical Issues

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Exploration Option 2- The American Association of State Colleges and Universities Legal and Ethical Issues

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In my review of the AASCU website, I noticed a great deal of discussion on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. DACA is an immigration policy that allows individuals brought to the United States illegally as children, deferred action from deportation and eligibility for work permits. The AASCU proposed legislation for providing permanent legal status to individuals protect under DACA and the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) act (American Association of State Colleges and Universities, 2018).

The AASCU also highlights several discussions on combating college campus sexual assault. In a recent AASCU State Higher Education Policy Update, there was an increase in state-level policy development to combat sexual assault on college campuses. The update highlights recent changes to Michigan state law which included the introduction of 30 bills to address this issue after the recent scandal of a Michigan State University employee (American Association of State Colleges and Universities, 2018).

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American Association of State Colleges and Universities - Policy and Advocacy

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What I Learned About Title IX Protection Act

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What I Learned About Title IX Protection Act

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Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 has had a profound impact on combating gender discrimination in education. It is a central part of the legal campaign to correct gender stereotypes. In recent years, under the Obama Administration, there have also been mandates on sexual harassment in schools and colleges (Melnick, 2018).

Title IX Protection Act is a bill that amends the Department of Education Organization Act. This bill was introduced by Jackie Speier in 2017 and it requires compliance with specific procedures when federal aid recipients are dealing with sexual harassment and assault. The prevalence of widespread sexual misconduct on college campuses prompted H.R. 4030, Title IX Protection Act. The act seeks to clarify colleges’ responsibilities for responding to and preventing these incidents. The bill standardizes and codes requirements including the use of “preponderance of evidence” standard, the right to confidentiality, and insuring the adherence of prompt investigations of sexual misconduct (Congresswoman Jackie Speier, 2017).

As an Academic Advisor, I would need to be knowledgeable of the requirements of colleges to prevent and respond to incidents of sexual harassment, assault, and discrimination. This includes the knowledge of various laws and policies that govern these standards, including the Title IX Protection Act. Advisors need to understand how to respond these issues as they are usually the first line of defense for addressing these issues. When presented with incident of sexual misconduct, advisors need to report the incident, refer the student to the proper department/authorities, and support the needs of the student. This is an important issue that educators will continue to face in years to come.

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Association of American Universities, (2018). Higher Education Legislation. Retrieved from www.aau.edu/key-issues/higher-education-legislation

American Association of State Colleges and Universities. (2018). Policy and Advocacy. Retrieved from www.aascu.org/policy/

Congresswoman Jackie Speier. (2017, October 12). Congresswoman speier, democratic leadership unveil  bill to defend title IX protections for sexual assault survivors [Press release]. Retrieved from  https://speier.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-speier-democratic-leadership-unveil-bill-defend-title-ix

Melnick, R. S. (2018). The transformation of title IX: Regulating gender equality in education. Washington, D.C.: Brooking Institution Press.

Seltzer, R. (2018, August 6). Where the rhetoric meets the road. Inside Higher Education. Retrieved from    https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/08/06/squabble-over-guidance-brings-focus-difficulties-putting-new-york-free-tuition

The Truth Behind College Application Fabrication. (2017). [Image] Available at http://www.slohsexpressions.com/2017/06/06/truth-behind-college-application-fabricationthe-truth-behind-college-application-fabrication/ [Accessed 21 Aug. 2018]

Zamudio-Suarez, F. (2017, October 12). House democrats propose making Obama-era title IX Guidance into law. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/house-democrats-propose-making-obama-era-title-ix-guidance-into-law/120615

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When I performed an internet search on this topic, I identified a press release on the Title IX Protection Act presented on Congresswoman, Jackie Speier’s website. The press release discusses a new bill that codifies protections for sexual assault survivors on college campuses.

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Washington, DC - Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14) was joined today by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Women's Working Group Chair Lois Frankel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Bobby Scott, and other Democratic Members of Congress to unveil her new bill to codify Title IX protections for sexual assault survivors. The introduction of H.R. 4030, The Title IX Protection Act was prompted by the egregious decision by the Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to rescind the Department's 2011and 2014 guidance, which clarified schools' responsibilities under Title IX.

"Today, we introduced The Title IX Protection Act for one reason: We aren't going back. We aren't going back to a time when women who were raped were too afraid to come forward because no one believed them, or because the system was rigged to sweep their cases under the rug. We aren't going back to a time where a woman could be violated and her university would make pitiful excuses about being unable to take her side over her attacker's side or, worse yet, blame the survivor for her assault because of so-called honor code violations. Going to a party, having a drink, or letting a date into your room isn't a crime. And the law is clear: students have the right to an education free from discrimination and sexual violence. We are calling today on Sec. DeVos and the Trump Administration to respect the law and these basic civil rights."

The Title IX Protection Act codifies into law guidance released under the Obama, George W. Bush, and Clinton Administrations to provide clarity for schools and students regarding what schools are required to do under Title IX to prevent and respond to sexual harassment, including sexual violence. H.R. 4030 is needed because Secretary DeVos' recent actions allow schools to discriminate against survivors, contradict long-standing Department precedent, and have already caused confusion for schools and students.

Rep. Speier's bill reiterates and codifies portions of the 2001 Guidance, 2011 Dear Colleague Letter, and 2014 Question and Answers document to address these issues. For example, it codifies the use of the "preponderance of evidence" standard in Title IX grievance proceedings. This is the same standard used in civil rights law, and in most civil suits, even in civil suits that could be considered criminal in nature, such as wrongful death. It also reiterates the need for adequate, reliable, and impartial investigations of complaints. This includes making sure the investigations are prompt and adhere to a 60-calendar day time frame. Furthermore, the bill reaffirms the rights of the survivor to confidentiality. It also clarifies the circumstances under which mediation and cross examination - which have been shown to be intimidating and cause even further trauma for survivors - are not appropriate and offers alternatives. Finally, it reiterates the rights of both the complainant and respondent, such as if a school offers the right to appeal or access to counsel, it must do so for both parties. Additional provisions can be found in the text of the bill, which be viewed here. A one-page summary of the bill can be found here.

In unveiling the bill, Leader Pelosi and Reps. Speier, Frankel, and Scott were joined by the following Members of Congress: Judy Chu, Susan Davis, Pramila Jayapal, Ann McLane Kuster, Carolyn B. Maloney, Jan Schakowsky, and Mark Takano. Organizations present included The National Women's Law Center, The American Association of University Women, Know Your IX, End Rape on Campus, Girls Inc., Futures Without Violence, The Human Rights Campaign, Feminist Majority Foundation, The National Partnership for Women and Families, and The National Alliance to End Sexual Violence.

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Congresswoman Speier, Democratic Leadership Unveil Bill to Defend Title IX Protections for Sexual Assault Survivors

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Washington, DC - Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14) was joined today by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Women's Working Group Chair Lois Frankel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Bobby Scott, and other Democratic Members of Congress to unveil her new bill to codify Title IX protections for sexual assault survivors.

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In my search of the Angelo State University Library, I found a book titled, “The Transformation of Title IX: Regulating Gender Equality in Education” by R. Shep Melnick (2018) that examines the impact of Title IX on anti-discrimination policies, mandates on sexual harassment, and correcting gender stereotypes.
https://easydb.angelo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1701867&site=eds-live