Transcript The Catholic University of America

Legal Issues Abroad
2013
Common Law
Negligence defined:
• Doing something a reasonably
prudent person would not do or
• The failure to do something a
reasonable person would do.
Negligence
•
•
•
•
•
What did you know?
What should you have known?
How much control did you have?
Were best practices followed?
In loco parentis as possible standard
IES Abroad Best Practices
Standards for managing a crisis
• Develop and maintain extensive crisis management
protocols
• Trained, experienced and tested team
• Local management plan in place for each site
• Train all staff, faculty & students on plan
• Monitor news and consular alerts for risks
• Respond immediately when a crisis occurs
IES Best Practices cont.
• Communicate swiftly, effectively and accurately with
parents, students, and DPS
• Partner with global health and safety group. Conduct post
crisis review.
• Designate a trained spokesperson
• Build redundancy into plan
• Entire IES document online at
http://counsel.cua.edu/security/publications/index.cfm
Most Common Risks
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Road Accidents
Sexual Harassment or Assault
Inadequate Supervision
Inadequate Medical Care
Significant Leader Error
Alcohol (including drugs in drinks)
Psychological Problems
Negligence
• Failure to exercise reasonable care w/respect
to safety and supervision of students.
• This was a non-delegable duty.
• Semester at Sea had a duty to warn Casey that
the tour operator had little or no experience
organizing tours for college students, or
knowledge of safeguards.
• Duty to Casey was breached.
Prevention of Risk
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Follow Policies and Procedures
Know Best Practices
Can always contact CUAbroad with questions
Know your students and any unique issues
Separate or sanction disruptive students
Implement emergency plan
Onsite Orientation
Expectations
Program Director not expected to be
omniscient, but, there is an expectation that
• Participating in trip relatively free from harm
• Students informed on reasonable precautions
• Faculty there to provide support and guidance
as needed
Emergencies
• If emergency contact Dept. of Public Safety at
202-319-5111 ( or local police/fire as needed)
• or Frontier MedEx for medical emergency
• # on Travel ID card
Laws to Know
Title IX (non-discrimination on basis of gender)
• Prohibits Sexual Harassment
• Program Directors report complaints of
harassment to CUA EO Officer at 202-3196594 or [email protected]
Laws to Know
Americans with Disabilities Act
• Ideally students identify the need for
accommodations through Disability Support
Services (DSS) prior to departure
• If disability brought up while abroad refer to
DSS
[email protected]
Laws to Know
Clery Act (Campus Security Act)
Crime reporting obligations applies to
• Catholic University owned or controlled
property (includes leasing)
• Hotels used by program on a regular basis but
only report crimes for time period in use by
program
Laws to Know
Program Directors are Campus Security
Authorities for Clery Purposes
• Security Authorities must report crimes that
occur abroad to Dept. of Public Safety
• Report to [email protected]
Laws to Know
What Crimes Must Be Reported?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Homicide
Sex Offenses, Forcible or Non-forcible
Robbery
Aggravated Assault
Burglary
Arson
Motor Vehicle Theft
Alcohol, drugs, weapons
Hate crimes in connection with above, as well as
Domestic violence, stalking and dating violence
Laws to Know
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
• Student must consent for CUA to release education records to
a third party. with certain exceptions contained in the law.
• Directory information may be released without permission of
the student unless the student has specifically said no.
• College officials with a legitimate educational interest in the
record may have access to the record.
• In a health or safety emergency, FERPA does not
prevent release of necessary data.
CUA policies to review
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reasonable Accommodations
Contract Approval and Signatory Authority
Global Education
Student Records
Sexual Assault and Harassment
Travel