Leadership Exchange - Summer 2010

LIABILITIES
Keeping Your Institution Out of Court
BY PETER KUSHIBAB

It is 3 a.m., and you cannot sleep. As a senior student affairs officer (SSAO), you always have a ready supply of issues to keep you awake at night. You turn on your television, tune in to a local channel, and unwittingly subject yourself to the barrage of commercials that are unavoidable at that hour, many of which promote the services of various law firms. Chances are a law firm com- mercial will visually depict a calamitous event, such as an automobile accident, with an avuncular voice-over reassuring
that: “One call…that’s all.”
Ideally, SSAOs are doing everything in their power to
prevent such calamitous events from ever occurring. But
when they do, it is not unusual for college administrators to
make that “one call” to an attorney, although probably not
one who advertises on television at 3 a.m. All senior manag-
ers understand the best way to keep an institution out of the
courtroom: Foster a culture that aspires to comport with legal
mandates and control risk.

Motivating and Inspiring college students to become leaders of tomorrow Program Topics include but are not limited to: Program Topics are delivered in the following formats:

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