Case in Point:
Lessons for the proactive manager

As we enter the final quarter of 2015 it is hard to believe we are nearing the completion of our seventh year of publishing Case in Point. We began by sending this publication to about 70 administrators all on the Auburn University campus in 2009. Today's distribution will reach about 1,200 people (even more through those who redistribute at their institution) in over 40 states and Canada. We never anticipated or intended this to be anything other than an on-campus resource to help encourage faculty, staff, and administrators to proactively manage risk. We are pleased that others within higher education have found this publication useful. We believe our industry is important and even life changing, so if we can assist in some small way in helping others avoid potential pitfalls, we are happy to serve our industry.

This month marks several changes and improvements for Case in Point. We will continue to send our publication on the last business day of each month but you can now view live newsfeeds for each of the categories listed in our publication at any time on our web site. Visit our web site www.auburn.edu/oacp and click the Case in Point archives link on the left side of the page. We hope you find these resources useful. You will note you can also add subscribe to our RSS feeds or add the feeds to your own web pages.

We face numerous important risks within higher education. We continue to believe it is important to understand what issues are occurring at institutions across the country and think about whether these same issues need attention or proactive action here at Auburn University. As always, we welcome your feedback, comments, and suggestions.

M. Kevin Robinson, CIA, CFE
Associate Vice President
Office of Audit, Compliance & Privacy

Information Security & Technology Events

October 30, 2015: Prosecutors say a Nebraska man who didn't get the promotion he wanted at an Iowa college has been convicted of hacking without authorization into several of the university's computers and email accounts. (link)

October 14, 2015: University of Oklahoma College of Medicine notified 9,300 patients of a possible HIPAA breach after a laptop was stolen from a physician's car. The laptop included personal information and medical records. (link)

October 12, 2015: A rash of hacking attacks on U.S. companies over the past two years has prompted insurers to massively increase cyber premiums for some companies, leaving firms that are perceived to be a high risk scrambling for cover. The price of cyber coverage - which helps cover costs like forensic investigations, credit monitoring, legal fees and settlements - varies widely, depending on the strength of a company's security. But the overall trend is sharply up. (link)

Fraud & Ethics Related Events

October 30, 2015: Embezzlement originating from any corner of campus can threaten any college and university. As for the losses, they can be big. (link)

October 28, 2015: Twenty-five years after it was first published, one of the world's top medical journals is retracting a study by a once-renowned Canadian researcher after an internal university report surfaced, revealing the paper is the result of scientific fraud. (link)

October 1, 2015: A Harvard Kennedy School professor wrote a widely disseminated policy paper last year in support of genetically modified organisms at the behest of seed giant Monsanto, without disclosing his connection, e-mails show. (link)

September 26, 2015: The state board that licenses psychologists moved Friday to reprimand the head of the University of Oregon's counseling center, fine her $5,000 and make her take ethics classes for breaching a student's confidentiality. (link)

Compliance/Regulatory & Legal Events

October 29, 2015: Tyrone Mushatt, the former head coach of the Westchester Community College men's basketball team, was arraigned in Mount Pleasant Town Court Thursday on charges he used forged transcripts to help star players earn NCAA Division I scholarships. (link)

October 29, 2015: A Chinese woman pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to have two other women take college admissions examinations in her place to help her get accepted to Virginia Tech. (link)

October 28, 2015: The Pima County Sheriff's Department says a University of Arizona administrator has been charged with sexual assault, sexual abuse and aggravated assault. (link)

October 28, 2015: A former Auburn University lab tech pleaded guilty today to four charges related to distributing a large quantity of drug rape drugs. (link)

October 19, 2015: The renovation and expansion project at the University of Oklahoma's Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium could come to a halt temporarily if a Cleveland County judge grants a motion for temporary injunction. The lowest bidder for the project, HME, is claiming OU and general contractor Flintco awarded the bid to W&W Steel and violated Oklahoma's Public Competitive Bidding Act, court records show. (link)

October 19, 2015: The nation's colleges and universities collectively spend an estimated $27 billion each year trying to comply with federal requirements. Or so says the latest Vanderbilt University report aimed at highlighting the burden of federal regulation on institutions of higher education. (link)

October 16, 2015: A former University of Miami graduate student filed a federal lawsuit Thursday alleging that Colin McGinn, a philosophy professor, sexually harassed her over several months in 2011 and 2012. She's claiming the school violated its Title IX responsibilities by failing to fully investigate her sexual harassment claims against McGinn in 2012 and failing to stop his retaliation against her. (link)

October 12, 2015: Geoffrey Marcy, an acclaimed astronomer and leader in the hunt for planets around other stars, has been found guilty of violating the sexual harassment policies of the University of California, Berkeley. In June, the university concluded that Dr. Marcy had engaged in inappropriate behavior with students, including groping them, kissing them and touching or massaging them. (link)

October 8, 2015: A state appeals court says a woman who was attacked by a classmate at UCLA cannot hold the university responsible. A division of the 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled this week that a public university has no general obligation to protect its students from crimes committed by other students. (link)

October 3, 2015: Three Nyack College women's softball players who allege a head softball coach inappropriately touched them hundreds of times have filed a federal lawsuit against the Rockland County college. (link)

October 2, 2015: The University of Louisville is looking into salacious allegations in a new book that say a former Cardinals men's basketball staffer paid escorts thousands of dollars to have sexual relations with both players and recruits during his time at the university. (link)

October 2, 2015: A Rutgers University professor accused of sexually assaulting a disabled man she said had consented to the relationship by communicating on a keyboard was convicted on Friday. The state said the sexual assaults occurred in 2011 at Stubblefield's campus office, where she took the man claiming to help him with his communication. (link)

September 30, 2015: Investigators say an economics professor at Stephen F. Austin University has been charged with having child pornography on a college computer. Michael Dean Stroup, 52, was held Wednesday on a charge of possession of child pornography, Nacogdoches County jail records showed. Stroup was arrested Tuesday on campus. (link)

Campus Life & Safety Events

October 25, 2015: Four people are dead and 47 hurt in a car crash involving spectators Saturday morning at an Oklahoma State University homecoming parade. (link)

October 22, 2015: Two young men have been charged in the death of a 19-year-old New York state university student who drank an excessive amount of alcohol as a part of an initiation for an unsanctioned fraternity. (link)

October 21, 2015: Five University of Mississippi students were arrested Friday in connection with an assault that left one Sigma Pi fraternity member with multiple injuries including a concussion, ruptured eardrum and broken teeth. The Daily Mississippian reported the charges range from felony assault to hazing. (link)

October 20, 2015: Indiana University has expelled a 19-year-old sophomore accused of attacking a Muslim woman over the weekend, trying to remove her headscarf and shouting racial slurs, a school official said Tuesday. (link)

October 19, 2015: The University of West Georgia's chapter of the Delta Delta Delta sorority has been shut down following a hazing investigation. (link)

October 19, 2015: Villanova University is adding another level of campus security. The school will create its own police department, with some officers undergoing the same training as public law enforcement. The officers will also be armed. (link)

October 17, 2015: Towson University police have launched an investigation after members of the women's swimming and diving team reported finding a smartphone that had apparently been recording them in a locker room, the school said in a statement Saturday. (link)

October 16, 2015: University of Minnesota football players have been accused of sexual assault, sexual harassment and retaliation in the past academic year, but the allegations didn't result in criminal charges, a university administrator said Thursday. (link)

October 15, 2015: The NOPD has arrested a 20-year-old man in connection with the armed robbery of three students inside of the Tulane Student Center on campus on Oct. 10. (link)

October 9, 2015: One fraternity member was killed and three others wounded in a fight that escalated into a shooting early Friday near a Greek-life dorm at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz. (link)

October 9, 2015: Chanting ''Black Bruins matter,'' UCLA students crammed into Chancellor Gene Block's office Thursday, demanding a response after some students wore blackface to a Kanye West-themed fraternity party. (link)

October 8, 2015: Indiana University has suspended a fraternity over alleged hazing video that appeared online. Alpha Tau Omega is now suspended after a disturbing video starting making the rounds online. (link)

October 8, 2015: Graffiti on a bathroom wall -- with the message "KILL ALL BY 10/8/15 THIS BU OOP" -- prompted officials at Eastern Kentucky University to shut down the school into next week. The threatening vandalism was found Monday morning in the school's Powell Building. The school's president issued a statement later that day, acknowledging the message had particular resonance coming so soon after the shooting at Oregon's Umpqua Community College, where a gunman killed nine people. (link)

October 4, 2015: A Rocky River, Ohio, man was arrested today on a warrant charging him with raping a female student in an Ohio University dormitory on Sept. 26, university police reported. (link)

October 3, 2015: A man accused of inappropriately touching two female Rider University students while they slept in their dorm rooms is now facing numerous charges. (link)

October 2, 2015: Two students were robbed at gunpoint and beaten inside a dorm room at Dillard University overnight, New Orleans police said. (link)

October 1, 2015: Eleven more suspects have been charged in Pennsylvania in the hazing death of a New York City fraternity pledge. Police say fraternity members at Baruch College physically abused Chun "Michael" Deng during a December 2013 hazing ritual in the Pocono Mountains and then tried to cover it up. (link)

October 1, 2015: Preliminary information indicates 10 people were killed and more than 20 others injured in a shooting at Oregon's Umpqua Community College on Thursday, said Oregon State Police spokesman Bill Fugate. (link)

September 30, 2015: Police have arrested two 22-year-old men on suspicion of murder in the death of a University of California, Los Angeles, sorority member found dead in her burning apartment near campus, authorities said. (link)

September 30, 2015: The University of Alabama placed sanctions on the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity after five members were arrested Wednesday for hazing. No details about the hazing allegations were divulged in a press release issued by the university Wednesday night. (link)

Other News & Events

If you have any suggestions, questions or feedback, please e-mail me at robinmk@auburn.edu. We hope you find this information useful and would appreciate hearing your thoughts. Feel free to forward this email to your direct reports, colleagues, employees or others who might find it of value. Back issues of this newsletter are available on our web site at https://www.auburn.edu/administration/oacp.

If you have any suggestions for items to include in future newsletters, please e-mail Robert Gottesman at gotterw@auburn.edu.

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