On January 2, 2024, the Department of Education (DOE) released six issue papers that contain a range of proposals to ensure institutions of higher education and federal student aid programs best serve students. The issue...more
On April 19, 2024, the Department of Education released final Title IX regulations. The significant revisions expand the definition of sexual harassment, attempt to remove barriers to reporting sexual harassment and extend...more
4/24/2024
/ Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender Identity ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
A recent federal court Title IX decision could affect private and independent schools nationwide. In Buttner-Hartsoe v. Balt. Lutheran High Sch. Ass’n, No. RDB-20-3229 (D. Md. July 21, 2022), five women brought a Title IX...more
On June 23, 2022, the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the Department of Education (DOE) released proposed major changes to the current Title IX regulations made effective in August 2020. The proposed revisions...more
6/28/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Education ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender Identity ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
Last month, the president signed Executive Order 14021, directing the Department of Education (DOE) to review the Trump administration’s controversial Title IX regulations and provide findings within 100 days. As we noted in...more
The FBI recently issued a Flash alert warning higher education institutions, k-12 schools, and seminaries about increasing numbers of ransomware attacks affecting the education industry....more
4/7/2021
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Educational Institutions ,
FBI ,
Hackers ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management ,
Vulnerability Assessments
During the presidential campaign, President Biden indicated that he would revive Obama-era guidance to schools on how to investigate sexual harassment and assault under Title IX, including the 2011 “Dear Colleague Letter”...more
3/9/2021
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Biden Administration ,
Colleges ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
LGBTQ ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities
In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, many independent schools applied for and received funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Small Business...more
11/19/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Educational Institutions ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Small Business ,
Title IX
Criminals are apparently not taking any time off during this pandemic, and in fact by all accounts have increased their attacks, particularly targeting entities whose attention is diverted to dealing with the fallout of the...more
11/5/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Educational Institutions ,
Hackers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Phishing Scams ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Remote Learning ,
Risk Management
The COVID-19 virus is having an unprecedented effect on all aspects of our daily lives, and has hit the educational system especially hard with forced closures and cancellations....more
DHS Warns Businesses of Risk of Iranian-Backed Wiper Malware Attacks -
The tension with Iran has generally increased, and it has been reported that the U.S. has launched a cyber-attack against Iran. In retaliation, the risk...more
7/5/2019
/ Biometric Information ,
Canada ,
Closing a Business ,
Colleges ,
Connected Items ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Data Management ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Drones ,
Educational Institutions ,
Information Technology ,
Internet of Things ,
Iran ,
Malware ,
Medical Devices ,
Personal Data ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Universities
Just before the new year, the Department of Health and Human Resources (HHS) released voluntary cybersecurity practices for health care organizations, which consists of a main document, two technical volumes, and resources...more
1/7/2019
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Wallets ,
Dispensaries ,
Drones ,
Educational Institutions ,
Hackers ,
Harassment ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Online Platforms ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Safety Inspections ,
Shell Oil ,
Title IX ,
Virtual Currency
The Fourth Circuit recently held that universities could be liable for Title IX violations if they fail to adequately respond to harassment that occurs through anonymous-messaging apps....more
As the myriad of FERPA interpretation issues continues to cloud many educators’ understanding of what is permissible and not permissible under the statute, some assistance was recently provided by the U.S. Department of...more
Stating the obvious, college is one of the most important and expensive investments Americans make. In addition to tuition costs, from a consumer perspective, other factors should be important in deciding on a college,...more
The Connecticut State Department of Education (DOE) recently published guidance on implementing civil rights protections for transgender students. The guidance, in part, provides information on issues related to requests that...more
On May 9, 2017, the Illinois Appellate Court held that the College of Du Page Foundation (Foundation), a fundraising organization for the public College of Du Page (College), is subject to the state’s open records law. In...more
On February 22, 2017, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Education (DOE) withdrew their May 13, 2016 “Dear Colleague” letter that provided guidance on steps to protect transgender students under Title IX of the...more
3/3/2017
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Department of Education ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discrimination ,
Educational Institutions ,
FERPA ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Identity ,
Gloucester County School Board v G.G. ,
LGBTQ ,
School Restrooms ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title IX ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration
This year has been a busy year for education law in the area of data privacy. Educational institutions continue to be a rich target for hackers. Additionally, there were some important developments in the interpretation of...more
12/29/2016
/ ATDS ,
Colleges ,
Data Breach ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Department of Education ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Emergency Alerts ,
FCC ,
FERPA ,
Hackers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Hiring Statistics ,
LGBTQ ,
Malware ,
Medical Records ,
Obama Administration ,
OCR ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Phishing Scams ,
Right to Privacy ,
Robocalling ,
Student Records ,
TCPA ,
Text Messages ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Universities
On September 14, 2016, the Department of Education (DOE) issued a “Dear Colleague Letter” to provide guidance on the application of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to the disclosure of student medical...more
10/19/2016
/ Dear Colleague Letter ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Educational Institutions ,
FERPA ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Medical Records ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Student Privacy ,
Student Records ,
Students
On August 11, 2016, a Florida state court judge held that the University Central Florida Board of Trustees (“UCF”) must produce Budget Request forms and Activity and Service Fee Database records to Knight News, Inc. (“KNI”)...more
A federal judge in North Carolina sealed a transcript of a University of North Carolina (UNC) hearing to determine whether the plaintiff was responsible for committing sexual acts without consent. In the case in question, the...more
Universities are an attractive target for hackers because they contain many access points in their networks, and the networks contain financial and personal data as well as intellectual property. Last summer, hackers breached...more