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E-book
Author Gajda, Amy

Title The trials of academe : the new era of campus litigation / Amy Gajda
Published Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2009

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Description 1 online resource (x, 334 pages)
Contents An introduction -- A world apart : a short history of the rise of academic deference -- Battles over bias : anti-discrimination law on campus -- Free speech free-for-all : the First Amendment on campus -- Prerogative and profit : battles over intellectual property -- Privacy in peril : peer review meets judicial review -- War of the words : the rise of academic defamation -- Of injuries and insults : tort law on campus -- Promises, promises : contracts on campus -- Looking forward
Summary This title explores the origins and causes of the litigation trend, its implication for academic freedom, and what lawyers, judges, and academics themselves can do to limit the potential damage. Once upon a time, virtually no one in the academy thought to sue over campus disputes, and, if they dared, judges bounced the case on grounds that it was no business of the courts. Tenure decisions, grading curves, course content, and committee assignments were the stuff of faculty meetings, not lawsuits. Not so today. As Amy Gajda shows in this witty yet troubling book, litigation is now common on campus, and perhaps even more commonly feared. Professors sue each other for defamation based on assertions in research articles or tenure review letters; students sue professors for breach of contract when an F prevents them from graduating; professors threaten to sue students for unfairly criticizing their teaching. Gajda's lively account introduces the new duo driving the changes: the litigious academic who sees academic prerogative as a matter of legal entitlement and the skeptical judge who is increasingly willing to set aside decades of academic deference to pronounce campus rights and responsibilities. This turn to the courts is changing campus life, eroding traditional notions of academic autonomy and confidentiality, and encouraging courts to micromanage course content, admissions standards, exam policies, graduation requirements, and peer review. This book explores the origins and causes of the litigation trend, its implications for academic freedom, and what lawyers, judges, and academics themselves can do to limit the potential damage
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes In English
Print version record
Subject Universities and colleges -- Law and legislation -- United States
LAW -- Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice.
LAW -- Litigation.
Universities and colleges -- Law and legislation
Hochschule
Hochschulrecht
United States
USA
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780674053861
0674053869