Quotable .....
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We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience
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-- John Dewey
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We come to you for the final time in 2024 with hopes that you have benefited from our 16th year of attempting to educate our industry on risk trends and emerging issues. We would never have guessed when we began issuing Case In Point that we would still be doing this 16 years later—and continuing to grow each year across our industry. We appreciate you reading our publication and always welcome comments and suggestions for how we can improve.
Every couple of years I like to remind our readers of the purpose of CIP, which we wrote early on in our history.
CIP's Primary Goal
Our goal has always been very simple: we believe it's cheaper to proactively manage risk than to react and remediate crises from risk management failures. We provide an overview that allows you to scan the news events occurring throughout our industry each month and ask yourself, ''How can I prevent this from happening here?'' If you realize you have a similar high-risk exposure at your institution, you can do something to proactively reduce the risk. What that ''something'' is will depend on the risk, your role, and many other factors; however, doing nothing is a dangerous thing in the world in which we now operate. Our larger goal is to help develop risk-intelligent institutions. We should note that we are not anti-risk. Risk is always going to be with us in life, but we can consider risk and be wise in the actions we take. This is important because any money we spend on remediation, settlements, and investigations is money we are not spending on education, research, and outreach.
As we look toward 2025, we will continue to examine the trends and changes that are sure to come with a change in administration in January. We hope that you have a great holiday season, and we again invite you to review the events across our industry with a view toward proactively managing risk.
M. Kevin Robinson, CIA, CFE
Vice President
Institutional Compliance & Security
Office of Audit, Compliance & Privacy
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Information Security & Technology Events
Dec 14: Cyberattack: Boston University’s renowned Framingham Heart Study (FHS) was breached by hackers, who gained access to the data of participants--both living and deceased--of the country’s longest running, multigenerational heart study. BU officials say the hackers gained access to the study’s server, but that information technology specialists from BU and FHS were able to intervene and quarantine the servers, stopping the attack as it was occurring. However, the hackers still copied, downloaded, and transferred files that contained study participants’ personal and medical information, BU officials said. Information relating to all 15,448 participants was affected; officials confirmed that the breach involved the Social Security numbers of less than 2 percent of the participants. (link)
Dec 06: Web Accessibility: Public colleges nationwide will enter 2025 with a pressing mandate to make their web and mobile-app content accessible for all students. The U.S. Department of Justice earlier this year formally added new language to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act that -- for the first time -- lays out specific technical standards for web content that public colleges and other government entities need to meet. That means colleges must remediate existing digital content, which includes course materials, to meet those standards, and will also need to apply the standards to any new content they create or use. And many have just under a year and a half to do it. (link)
Fraud & Ethics Related Events
Dec 04: Conflict of Interest: In a 4-to-3 split vote, Mott Community College’s Board of Trustees voted to move forward with the hiring of interim president, Shaunda Richardson-Snell, as the permanent president of the institution. This comes amid a potential conflict of interest brought to the attention of Board Chair Andy Everman. The board’s attorney, Bill Brickley, said the daughter of Janet Couch, trustee and vice chair, had been retained by Richardson-Snell to help her buy a home in Genesee County. "The standard arrangement of any type situation is that a financial benefit would go to Dana and/or her realty firm, which therefore could trigger, and since Dana is a family member of trustee Couch, this, therefore, could trigger the provisions of the conflict of interest policy," said Brickley. (link)
Dec 01: Fiscal Management: In July 2022, as the University of North Carolina System’s new online degree startup Project Kitty Hawk was just getting on its feet, CEO Wil Zemp took a business trip to Miami. On his expense report for the trip, he described meeting with Venture Hive, a company that builds corporate and university innovation programs, to "stress test the business plan." More than two years and $72 million in spending later, Project Kitty Hawk--often called PKH--has 639 students in 11 online programs. Enrollment goals have been cut by half amid changing federal guidance, and a state audit released last month found the UNC System had violated "federal and state laws, rules, and regulations" that require it to monitor the nonprofit. (link)
Compliance/Regulatory & Legal Events
Dec 13: Hazing Legislation: A bill concerning hazing on college campuses is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner announced on Friday that the U.S. Senate has passed the Stop Campus Hazing Act. According to a release, this bill improves the reporting and prevention of prevalent hazing on college campuses. There have been hazing incidents on U.S. college campuses for years, and more than 50 hazing-related deaths since 2000. Those deaths include that of Adam Oakes, a Virginia Commonwealth University student who died in a 2021 fraternity hazing incident. The legislation aims to improve hazing reporting by requiring colleges to include incidents in an Annual Security Report. It also works to prevent hazing by creating campus-wide, research-based hazing education and prevention programs. (link)
Dec 12: Employee Conduct: The University of Michigan has fired an administrator who worked on diversity initiatives over accusations that she made antisemitic comments, according to her lawyer. The lawyer said she planned to sue the school. The administrator was director of the university’s office of academic multicultural initiatives. She was accused of saying in a conversation at a conference in March that the university was "controlled by wealthy Jews," according to documents obtained by The New York Times through a freedom of information request. She was also accused of saying that Jewish students were "wealthy and privileged" and not in need of her office’s diversity services, and that "Jewish people have no genetic DNA that would connect them to the land of Israel," according to the documents, which were part of a complaint from the Anti-Defamation League of Michigan. (link)
Dec 12: Employee Conduct: Amidst allegations of inappropriate, non-consensual touching from multiple students, [a Washington University in St. Louis] Associate Professor of Chemistry is no longer teaching his section of organic chemistry for the rest of the semester, as of Nov. 14. Student Life spoke to four students who allegedly experienced non-consensual touching from [the professor] on the arms, lower back, and upper thigh. Three of the students are currently enrolled in [his] organic chemistry class, and one took the same course two years ago. According to [the professor’s] attorney, Christopher Combs, [he] was temporarily relieved of teaching duties, following University policy, in order to "ensure all parties feel safe and supported," but [he] is still employed by the University and is continuing to carry out his research with students. (link)
Dec 07: Seven people have been arrested and charged in connection with an alleged social media drug ring at Rutgers University, authorities announced this week. The sweeping undercover narcotics operation, known as "Operation RU Pharm," uncovered a "closed and private social media network utilized by Rutgers University students to sell and purchase" drugs, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said in a statement Thursday. The sting operation found that an alumnus of Rutgers created a private social media network where "narcotics distributors could post menus for drugs and solicit buyers from within the Rutgers University community." (link)
Dec 04: State Law: The University of Florida board of trustees, the political appointees who govern the state’s flagship university, has repeatedly met since 2018 in private settings where the public was not permitted to attend. Those meetings include a two-day retreat earlier this fall when it discussed UF's budget, which it expects to formally approve this month. Florida’s Sunshine Law says all government bodies must meet openly to take official actions -- and allow the public to attend. The university confirmed that the public has not been allowed to attend the board’s private retreats. It initially said the law didn’t apply to those because board members don’t vote or take official actions in those sessions. Three legal experts said the board’s private retreats violated Florida law based on a review of the board’s agendas and presentations during closed-door meetings over the years. (link)
Dec 04: Lawsuit: The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is facing a whistleblower lawsuit filed by its former chief of staff. Hannah Rivera, who worked in many capacities at KCTCS over a decade, alleges she faced retaliation for making "numerous good faith reports of waste, mismanagement, and violations of the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky." She is suing the college system for violating the Kentucky Whistleblower Act and also for wrongful termination. KCTCS has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, which is in Franklin County Circuit Court. Blair Hess, a spokesperson for the college system said in an email that "KCTCS refutes Ms. Rivera’s claims." (link)
Dec 03: FLSA: The Ohio State University is rolling back raises to 306 workers whose salaries were adjusted following the U.S. Department of Labor’s expanded overtime rule, a university spokesperson confirmed to HR Dive. The rule, which was recently overturned, had raised the minimum wage threshold for overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act to $43,888 on July 1 and would have raised it to $58,656 on Jan. 1, 2025. The university had made salary adjustments totaling about $2 million after the rule’s passage but is walking them back after a Texas federal judge ruled last month "the 2024 Rule exceeds the Department’s authority and is unlawful." That ruling effectively reset the threshold at which workers qualified for overtime to $35,568. (link)
Dec 02: Title VI: A U.S. Department of Education (DOE) investigation into Temple University’s handling of complaints related to antisemitic, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian discrimination found the university consistently took "proactive" steps to address complaints when they arose. But the DOE said in a statement that concerns about Title VI compliance -- relating to discrimination based on shared ancestry -- remain. Philadelphia-based Temple entered into an agreement with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to ensure compliance with Title VI in the future, effectively ending its investigation. (link)
Dec 01: Title VI: Occidental College in Los Angeles has agreed to "sweeping reforms" of its handling of antisemitism to settle a civil rights complaint brought by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. According to both groups, which issued an announcement of the agreement on Tuesday, the college will refer to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism during its investigations of antisemitic conduct and add a section on antisemitism to its educational programming on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prevents education institutions receiving federal funds from practicing or allowing the practice of discrimination based on race, religion, and ethnic origin. (link)
Campus Life & Safety Events
Dec 17: Hate Crime: The New York Police Department arrested a suspect in the Dec. 9 alleged robbery and hate crime against a Columbia student on Monday morning and charged him with robbery in the third degree and robbery in the third degree as a hate crime. The complainant, Jonathan Lederer, CC ’26, accused the suspect of punching him in the face at a Dec. 9 pro-Palestinian protest on West 116th Street and Broadway. His twin brother, David Lederer, SEAS ’26, told Spectator that the assailant stole the brothers’ shared Israeli flag. Public Safety sent a Clery Crime Alert to the University community on Dec. 11, informing students that an alleged robbery and hate crime had taken place during a demonstration and was currently under investigation by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force. (link)
Dec 16: Campus Climate: This report explores insights from a national survey of 6,269 tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure track faculty across 55 four-year colleges and universities in the United States, conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). As the largest survey of faculty ever conducted on this topic, the data reveal faculty attitudes and experiences concerning free expression and academic freedom. While many faculty remain confident in higher education, and few report explicit threats or experiences of discipline for speech, the broader climate reflects that of rampant self-censorship, worry, and fear, particularly among faculty in the political minority. (link)
Dec 11: Natural Disaster: Fire activity around Pepperdine University's Malibu campus has "greatly diminished" as students remain on campus. When the fire was reported, Pepperdine University established an on-campus command center. Within an hour of the fire's ignition, it became visible from campus, "with spot fires affecting some parts of the campus itself," President Jim Gash said in a statement sent to Newsweek. The school went in a shelter-in-place protocol, with students relocating to the library and campus center. The Franklin Fire began around 11 p.m. PST on Monday along Malibu Canyon Road, which is in the hills north of Pepperdine University. The fire has since spread throughout 3,983 acres in Los Angeles County. The blaze is only 7 percent contained as of press time, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The cause is still under investigation. (link)
Dec 04: Campus Journalism: On the evening of June 4, the Stanford Daily’s Slack channel was bursting with energy. Student journalists had just learned that the past eight months of standoffs between pro-Palestinian protesters and university administrators were coming to a head with some kind of occupation or sit-in the next morning--the last class day of the school year. One student--freshman Dilan Gohill, nineteen--was especially engaged, according to the text threads. "Hey guys!! I heard y’all are in contact with SAAP [Students Against Apartheid in Palestine] abt a possible action tmrw--I was planning on covering tmrw morn and have been talking with them... Is it cool if I cover?" A bit later, Gohill added a prescient line. He said protesters would be "letting us be inside and will support us if arrested too (which i’m comfortable with too)." (link)
Dec 04: Hazing: As of Monday, Ohio State’s chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity has been placed on interim suspension due to hazing allegations, university spokesperson Dave Isaacs said in an email. An email obtained by The Lantern -- sent Monday from the Interfraternity Council to Interfraternity Council chapter presidents and other leaders -- stated the potential violations include "hazing" and "student conduct abuse." Isaacs said he cannot provide further information regarding the potential violations while the investigation is ongoing. (link)
Dec 03: Campus Speech: Nearly 100 MIT students rallied on the Cambridge campus Thursday following a university decision to ban the distribution of a pro-Palestinian student-run magazine and discipline one of its editors. The latest issue of the publication, Written Revolution, included the article "On Pacifism," which featured imagery and language that "could be interpreted as a call for more violent or destructive forms of protest at MIT," according to an email sent by MIT Dean of Student Life David Warren Randall to the editors of the magazine. (link)
Dec 01: Academic Freedom: Three weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel, a Jewish professor at Cornell University named Eric Cheyfitz offered a "teach-in" titled "Gaza, Settler Colonialism, and the Global War Against Indigenous People." Just before the teach-in, the school’s Jewish provost called him and asked if he wanted extra security. Now, Cheyfitz is turning that teach-in into a full-on course titled "Gaza, Indigeneity, Resistance," which he’ll teach next term. And that same provost, who has since become Cornell’s interim president, is opposed to the idea. The apparent shift in Kotlikoff’s thinking comes after a year in which administrators have been inundated with legal and political pressure -- including calls from donors, activists and students -- to protect Jewish and Israeli students. (link)
If you have any suggestions, questions or feedback, please e-mail Kevin Robinson at robinmk@auburn.edu or Robert Gottesman at gotterw@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.
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