| The purpose of this two-phase, sequential mixed method study is to understand the state of higher education law in the years 1999-2003. It is to find trends in the body of higher education case law that occurred during that period and seek underlying causes for those trends. It is also to gauge the change that has resulted on campus during that period as a result of case law.;In the first part of the study, 1678 legal cases were obtained from the West's Education Law Reporter. Only cases dealing with United States higher education institutions were considered. Each case was reviewed. Facts about each case were tabulated and compared to a previous study. The facts gathered for each case include state, court system, type of case, issue, role of the college, Carnegie class of college, identity of the non-college litigant, and prevailing party. A Chi-square analysis was performed using the Carnegie classifications. Issues that were found often in this part were carried to the second part.;In the second part of the study, ten questions were generated based on the results found in the first section. The questions were posed to twenty-five officers at United States higher education institutions. The officers represent a variety of colleges from several Carnegie classifications. The responses provided by these officers provided an insight into the changes caused by these cases. The change is presented using the conceptual framework of the evolutionary model as reported by Kezar. |
