Renowned research chemist Karen Wetterhahn was working with dimethyl mercury in her lab at Dartmouth College, when she spilled a drop of the toxic compound on her glove. She had taken every precaution possible while working with the volatile substance, from using a hood to prevent her from inhaling fumes, to wearing a face shield […]
Recently, plaintiffs’ attorneys have brought dozens of lawsuits against universities alleging that their retirement plan fiduciaries breached their duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). A failure to fulfill fiduciary duties under ERISA can lead to serious consequences, including personal liability under ERISA. There are steps fiduciaries can take to discharge […]
Academia’s cyber preparedness (or lack thereof) has received less media attention than that of certain retailers and financial institutions, but nonetheless the cyber risks confronting universities are pervasive and alarming. Consider recent breaches suffered by educational institutions. At the University of Maryland, an outside source gained access to a secure records database that held information […]
A pair of draft horses often plows the campus farm at Sterling College. Sterling does have tractors—its agriculture students have to learn how to use all varieties of equipment—but the energy-saving horses are just one step in the Vermont school’s extensive and award-winning sustainable dining program. The farm produces about 20 percent of the food […]
In 2011 the largest reported data breach in the university world was suffered by a Virginia institution of higher learning, which reported more than 176,500 records breached. More recently, in late 2012, a Florida university suffered a breach involving data on more than 200,000 students and some of the university’s top employees. The same week […]
Universities, research institutions, academics and scientists have increasingly been under the bright light scrutiny of the legal system. While not unprecedented for courts and litigators to pull questions of science and research into the courtroom, public debates and high stakes litigation have recently forced some academics and scientists to center stage. From climate change and […]
