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SACS Compliance – Assessment Plan March 2003
What
are we trying to do? The
overall goal of the department?
The
Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) is responsible for all institutional
legal advice and works with the Office of the Attorney General,
which represents the university in litigation.
OLA has three main functions:
1)
Legal
advice and counsel (includes but is not limited to contract drafting,
negotiation and review; negotiating and drafting documents, interpretation
of federal and state laws; handling internal and external administrative
and regulatory matters and grievances; policy review and development;
general legal education of the campus community); and
2)
Litigation
support (gathering factual information and assisting the Office
of the Attorney General in the development and furtherance of
the university’s position in judicial and administrative forums).
3) Serve all units of the university
through preventive counseling, i.e., the provision of timely and
effective legal advice before legal problems arise in order to
prevent or minimize legal liability.
Mission
Statement The
Office of Legal Affairs provides, manages and coordinates all
legal services for NC State University in a collegial, positive
and professional manner. We are committed to rendering high quality
and responsive legal advice to facilitate the achievement of NC
State University’s mission in teaching, research and extension.
Vision
Statement The
Office of Legal Affairs is recognized as integral to the university’s
strategic operations and as a premier legal office that provides
leadership to the university and facilitates the accomplishment
of the university’s goals.
How
do we do this? What are
our key activities? OLA has identified the following major subject areas based on the business and academic practices of the university. These key activities are proactive and reactive initiatives, which fit within the overall strategic plan developed by the office. The major subject areas are: 1) Athletics 2) Business Transactions 3) Employment 4) Regulatory Compliance 5) Sponsored Research and Other Sponsored
Programs 6) Student Affairs 7) Technology Transfer and Economic Development 8)
Preventive Law/Professional Development
How
well are we doing it? How do we know? OLA
continually reviews its activities and procedures to identify
efficiencies and areas for improvement.
This includes our strategic planning process and internal
reviews. As our strategic planning process includes three annual reports
(Performance Assessment, Compact
Plan, Annual
Report) that are our main product output, the process used
to derive the reporting information is a key function to ensure
this office is monitoring the quality and quantity of legal services
provided to the campus community. Assessment Plan
OLA
is striving to achieve a level of service which would identify
it as a premier legal office.
It is difficult if not impossible to measure minimizing
legal liabilities or to measure successful legal negotiations.
OLA can measure, generally, the productivity of the office
by the volume of work: number of contracts reviewed, number of internal
grievances committees advised, number of civil rights cases defended,
number of advice memoranda prepared, number of policies reviewed
and drafted, number of training and education workshops conducted
on various legal topics. However, the outcomes of those matters
depend on numerous variables which are beyond our control.
To measure performance, OLA’s Assessment Plan identifies the following
key expected impacts:
1)
NC State
officials, deans, directors, department heads and faculty will
have an enlightened understanding of the legal implications of
their actions;
2)
NC State
employees will transact business consistent (whenever legally
possible) with their stated objectives, with appropriate and reasonable
allocation of business and legal risk and in compliance with federal,
state and local laws and regulations;
3)
NC State
will be zealously and competently defended in legal proceedings;
4)
NC State’s
legal liabilities will be reduced and minimized;
5)
NC State
will have concise, clear and easily accessible policies and procedures.
The
following performance areas have been identified as key indicators
of measuring OLA’s effectiveness and quality:
A. Annual Retreat OLA conducts an annual retreat
where a review is done of the previous year’s activities, to include
data on preventive law workshops, advice of counsel, case docket
statistics, performance reviews, and weekly major issue reports. The review provides relevant data in the strategic planning process
and identifying major subject areas and goals to focus on for
the upcoming year. The
focus of the annual retreat consists of a review of two main areas:
1) Workshops
- The goal of the workshops is to educate the university community
about the law, on the legal implications of proposed activities,
enhance the ability to engage in appropriate risk management activities
and lessen the potential for legal liability as well as inform
on the changes in laws and regulations that affect higher education.
Written handouts are provided on the topical discussions
and institutional policies are highlighted where relevant.
A question and answer session follows each workshop and
in most instances the presenters will provide a scenario identifiable
with a situation the target audience is likely to encounter.
The workshops cover such topics as intellectual property,
privacy/public records, liability and insurance, contracts, business
transactions and employment law (concentrating on civil rights
issues in particular). Workshop
topics are selected, in part, on the basis of client interests
expressed in responses to a campus-wide survey (pdf). Evaluation forms for feedback are provided to the
workshop attendees and a database is maintained on the demographics
of attendees. The workshops
are an effective tool in minimizing litigation and legal liability.
As a result of the workshops there is a heightened understanding
of the legal implications of administration and management’s actions
and ability to engage in appropriate risk management.
For instance, true-life harassment scenarios have been
used in workshops to advise members of the university community
on (1) the law on harassment and (2) how to handle these situations
when they arise. Some
specific examples of scenarios include: (1) hanging a Confederate
flag inside or outside a residence hall room (2) pornography on
the screen in a public computer lab (3) brickyard preacher calling
women students “sluts” (4) white student telling black student
“go back to Africa if you don’t like it here” (5) Jewish students
calling Arab students “camel jockeys” (6) student club bans gay
and lesbians for religious reasons.
Effectiveness: A series of workshops were presented to the campus community
during September 2001 to April 2002.
The workshop evaluation forms provided guidance for the
presenters to determine the format most beneficial to the attendees. For instance, with employment related workshops,
more case studies and scenarios provide reality-based examples. The workshops have been well attended by both
administrators and support personnel. Out of 166 university personnel
attending the workshops, 70 were SPA employees and 96 were EPA
employees. The demographics aid OLA in determining who
is seeking more education based on actual performance. The demographics also aid in structuring the
content of each workshop based on the audience. The overall response to the workshops was “excellent” and positive
and informative feedback was provided to aid in assessing how
the participants valued the information provided and desires for
future workshops. More than 50% (out of 147 surveyed) of the
workshop participants commented that: (1) the workshop presentations
were helpful and informative to many aspects of their current
job functions (2) provided new information for future more efficient
operating procedures (3) the handouts were a clear and concise
resource that could be shared with staff and (4) the presenters
were very knowledgeable and did an excellent job of clarifying
complex legal issues. Participants
also commented that they learned more than expected in the workshops
and it would be helpful to have the workshop repeated periodically
to capture new employees. For
further examination of the workshops’ impact, see Section C below
on results from OLA’s campus wide survey. 2) Database Statistics – The database system set-up for OLA allows
the monitoring and tracking of certain case activity, identifying
problem areas, where improvements, or education or policy development/change
is needed. The statistics
gathered are used to measure the level of work product this office
produces on an annual basis.
The database is set up to monitor advice files, litigation
cases, administrative action cases, faculty/student grievances
and appeals to the board of trustees by college, department, date,
subject matter, and status. In
addition, litigation and other judicially processed type cases
are set up for more detailed monitoring of case status, basis
for action, final decisions, settlement negotiations, as well
as identifying the demographics of the grievant(s) and respondent(s)
involved. Effectiveness: The database serves as a tool to identify
which departments are serviced more by the attorneys and in what
areas; such as employment, contract, governance, etc. This tool helps OLA to track changes in the unit/department environments,
educate new personnel, track trends in management and business
practices, and propose new policies/guidelines that will help
to streamline the process or reduce legal liability. B. Staff Meetings OLA conducts weekly staff meetings
to discuss complex legal issues and review legal advice and cases
handled by each attorney, review litigation case strategy, status
or resolution and identify major issues.
Major issues for this office are identified as key legal
issues that have a substantial affect on the university. For example,
new legislation or changes in the law such as the “Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act” (HIPAA) have led to mandatory
changes in the way the university handles health related information,
and the USA PATRIOT Act passed by Congress in the wake of the September 11,
2001 terrorist acts has changed the admissions and registration requirements for nonimmigrants
from certain foreign countries.
The attorneys identify and discuss several major issues
of relevant concern for the university’s business and academic
functions. More specifically the attorneys stay current on the
university’s legal issues, address legal advice matters from clients
and establish consensus on responses that helps to avoid forum
shopping by clients. During
the staff meeting discussions the attorneys are able to identify
areas for potential problems due to lack or clarity in the policies. For example the commission of substantive and
procedural errors in grievances resulting in reversal or remand
of decisions in several faculty grievance cases led to the development
of a “A
Guide for Grievance Committees and Grievance Committee Chairs”
on conducting faculty/EPA grievance hearings.
In addition training was conducted with the deans, associate
deans and department heads of each college on personnel decisions,
evaluations and grievances to present good employment practices
that would prevent or prevail in employee grievances.
The overall response to this workshop was “excellent” and
more than 50% of the participants found the workshop to be informative,
relevant to their work and a great learning tool.
A training protocol was also developed for faculty hearing
panels and committee chairs to be conducted in the Spring 2003
that would provide more knowledge and skills to committee chairs
on effectively handling faculty and EPA grievances.
Effectiveness: This review process proves
to be an effective tool in identifying problems and issues in
the university community and the appropriate legal course of action. The need for specifically tailored workshops
to enhance a unit’s understanding of university policies and regulations
are identified. In addition,
the need for changes in the policy to clarify the legal issues
and ramifications of certain business practices are also identified
during the staff discussions.
1) Campus Wide Survey - OLA conducted a client satisfaction
survey in 1998. This survey was distributed to all executive
officers, deans, directors and department heads on campus. Legal Affairs’ will conduct this survey every
five years to ensure we are meeting the expectations of our campus
clients. The campus wide
survey is being conducted again in Spring 2003. The purpose of
the survey is to determine and analyze who our clients are, the
client’s utilization of this office, the types of legal services
requested, evaluation of attorneys’ expertise and professionalism
and client education sessions.
Effectiveness: This survey was an effective tool in identifying
key areas of focus and concern for our clients and evaluating
whether this office was adequately performing to the clients’
desired outcome and identifying any measures that should be put
in place to meet reasonable client-desired outcomes. The study
was conducted among various colleges and units within the university.
In 1998 a total of 255 surveys were distributed campus
wide. The survey was in five parts: (1) who are our clients (2)
utilization of the legal office (3) expertise and professionalism
(4) client education sessions (5) recommendations and expectations.
The effective response rate was 43% with a total of 110 responses.
The survey revealed that 70% of our clients are directors
and administrators, 25% department heads, 8% faculty and associate
deans, and 5% deans. The majority of clients surveyed utilize
this office for service in the areas of copyright, internal investigations,
grievances, public records, personnel issues, liability, policy
matters, purchasing and contracts and student affairs. The majority of survey participants indicated
that accurate/timely information, availability, and a partnership
attitude are the most important factors for them when dealing
with this office. An overwhelming majority of survey participants
“strongly agreed” that the expertise and professionalism of the
attorneys meet their expectations. Survey responses on the client
education sessions provided valuable feedback for this office
in determining if all clients were being reached, how best to
spread the word about upcoming workshops, desired topics and target
audiences. The results of this survey led to (1) a series
of law modules providing education sessions on many of the laws
and regulations that affect higher education and the university’s
policies and procedural practices; (2) increased legal topic areas
on the webpage to include more user-friendly information on frequently
asked legal questions; (3) the general counsel and attorneys attending
department head meetings and LEADS orientation to provide information
on university policies and procedures; and (4) a “client assignment
and subject matter area” list to facilitate the provision of legal
services to the university community by assigning various administrative
clients as well as subject matter areas to each university
attorney. 2) Executive Officers’ Review - In
2001, the Vice Chancellor and General Counsel was evaluated as
part of the Chancellor’s extensive five-year leadership review
of Executive Officers. This
evaluation instrument was distributed to various trustees, executive
officers, deans, department heads, faculty, staff and administrators
on campus. This evaluation served as a basis for analyzing
OLA’s overall effectiveness with various constituencies served
by our office and identifying areas for improvement. Effectiveness: Participant ratings were favorable in that the General Counsel maintained
a high ethical behavior and provided timely and effective legal
advice. In no case was
a negative rating attained. The
comments were valuable and helped to reinforce that OLA’s preventive
law efforts have a positive impact throughout campus and that
our clients are encouraged to involve OLA in the early stages
of management decisions that could have legal ramifications for
the university. D. OLA Webpage
OLA created a webpage to provide clear, concise, user-friendly
access to university policies, academic and administrative regulations,
contract review procedures, answers to frequently asked legal
questions from the university community, information on relevant
legal topics and changes in the law, and other documents that
have been reviewed by OLA for legal form and sufficiency.
Standardized forms and protocols have been developed and
are on the webpage to expedite review of university business transactions.
Does
that work? The
performance measures used by OLA continue to be an effective tool
in evaluating the quality and quantity of legal services provided
to the university community.
The feedback received is also effective in analyzing that
the delivery of legal services is efficient and service-oriented.
The overall effectiveness of preventive counseling proves
that timely and effective legal advice can prevent or minimize
legal liability. This office continues to receive numerous requests, daily, for legal
interpretation or advice of federal and state law and university
policies from administrative executives and unit managers which
proves there is an enlightened understanding of the legal implications
of their actions and will be able to engage in appropriate risk
management with the goal of minimizing legal risks while achieving
identified institutional goals. |