What: Violence on Campus: Legal Issues, Practical Actions — A special one-day higher education law conference at the University of North Texas
When: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. July 1 (Monday)
Where: UNT’s Gateway Center, 801 North Texas Blvd.
Cost: $160 for early-bird conference registration through June 1. $175 for regular conference registration from June 2 through June 28. $190 for on-site registration.
Contact: Register at http://www.coe.unt.edu/summer-law-conference. For more information, contact Marc Cutright, associate professor of higher education and director of the Center for Higher Education at UNT, at 940-369-7875.
DENTON (UNT), Texas — The University of North Texas will host a one-day summer law conference titled Violence on Campus: Legal Issues, Practical Actions on July 1 (Monday) to explore the laws and intervention, prevention and response strategies related to campus violence in higher education.
The event was added in response to interest after UNT’s 17th Annual Texas Higher Education Law Conference, considered the premier higher education law conference in Texas, was held in March.
“Campus leaders across the nation and Texas are looking for effective means of preventing and reacting appropriately to violence or its threat,” said Marc Cutright, associate professor of higher education and director of the Center for Higher Education in UNT’s College of Education. “These issues are difficult, and the legal environment continues to shift. Our longtime supporters have asked for this conference, and we feel an obligation to address the challenges.”
- W. Scott Lewis of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management and president of the National Behavioral Intervention Team Association will talk about behavioral intervention. He has been among the most well-received speakers at UNT’s Texas Higher Education Law Conference.
- G. Richard Hill, general counsel for Weber State University, will share his legal experience on concealed carry of firearms on campus, which is allowed in Utah.
- John Nicoletti, a psychologist and principal of the firm Nicoletti-Flater Associates, will speak from his expertise and decades of consulting on police and public safety psychology, crisis intervention, trauma recovery and violence prevention. Nicolleti is an author of the 2009 book Violence Goes to College: The Authoritative Guide to Prevention and Intervention.
- Luncheon speaker Justin H. Lonon, vice chancellor of public and governmental affairs for Dallas County Community College District, will provide a review of the 2013 session of the Texas State Legislature and implications for higher education.
- Breakout sessions will include two presentations by Lewis. One breakout session will cover record-keeping in behavioral intervention and related processes. The other will cover legal and other issues surrounding mandated assessments, such as who can mandate, who will pay and what are legal and other issues in the actions that might come from such assessments.
- Another breakout session will include a presentation by Jeff Quan of Eastfield College on cognitive behavior therapy, a psychotherapeutic model, in the address of post-traumatic stress disorder. Clay D. Hanks and a team from Texas A&M Health Science Center will discuss a smart phone app, called “HSC eduSafe,” which aims to simplify and increase access to campus information and safety procedures.
Registration will include access to all presentations, presentation materials on a thumb drive, and breakfast and lunch.
Sponsors of the program are the UNT Higher Education Development Initiative, UNT’s Department of Counseling and Higher Education and UNT’s College of Education. Proceeds of the conference will benefit scholarships for the UNT Higher Education Program.
Co-sponsors are the Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators, North Texas Community College Consortium, Texas Association of Community Colleges, Council of Public University Presidents and Chancellors, Texas Association of Community College Chief Student Affairs Administrators, Texas Association of College and University Police Administrators, Texas Council of Student Services Vice Presidents and the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas.
About UNT’s College of Education
UNT’s College of Education prepares students to contribute to the advancement of education, health and human development. Founded in 1890 as a teacher’s training college, UNT now enrolls more than 4,000 students in the College of Education, which consists of four departments — counseling and higher education; educational psychology; kinesiology, health promotion and recreation; and teacher education and administration. UNT’s College of Education certifies about 1,000 teachers a year — making it the largest producer of new teachers in the north Texas region. Students are also prepared for careers as researchers, counselors, leaders, physical activity and health promotion specialists, child development and family studies specialists and more.