Shifting Sands: Staying Current in an Ever-Changing Education Landscape (2023 Education Law Section Annual Program)

8:45 Welcome and Introductions

8:50 May Day! Title IX In Flux

Murphie Chappell, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro
Ronette Sutton Gerber, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Pembroke
Rebecca Williams, Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh

The morning begins with an experienced panel to discuss the anticipated changes to the federal Title IX regulations, as well as practical implications for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education. Attendees gain a deeper understanding of how the role of an attorney helps an institution navigate these changes and support its Title IX office.

9:50 Break

10:00 A Change Is Gonna Come: Avoiding Common Employer Pitfalls and Navigating Employee Disputes

Thomas Colclough, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Charlotte
Q. Shante Martin, Cranfill Sumner LLP, Charlotte
June Melvin, North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings, Raleigh

Navigating employee disputes can be tricky for employers whose main mission is education. This session presents suggestions to help avoid pitfalls when responding to administrative complaints. The panelists offer best practices for handling employee disputes, discipline and other complicated scenarios.

11:15 Break

11:25 Polarized Politics and Professional Conduct^*

Ken Soo, Tharrington Smith, Raleigh

Hear practical guidance on how to uphold our professional responsibilities and duties to our clients in an era of political polarization.

12:25 Lunch Break

1:25 Athletics: Changes On and Off the Field

James S. Humphrey IV, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte
Donna Rascoe, Cranfill Sumner LLP, Raleigh (Moderator)
Katie Renaut, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte
Marilyn Que Tucker, North Carolina High School Athletic Association, Chapel Hill

The law and compliance requirements associated with school, college and university athletics continue to evolve. To best advise their clients, education lawyers need to know the latest. In this session, the Commissioner of the North Carolina High School Athletics Association discusses current issues in high school athletics. General counsel and an athletics staff member from a public university cover what student athletes have to look forward to in college; touch on name, image, and likeness; and explain how the NCAA transfer portal works.

2:40 Break

2:50 Waiting on the World to Change: An Update on the School Law Landscape

Tawanda Artis, North Carolina Community College System, Raleigh
Chris Campbell, Campbell Shatley LLP, Asheville
Kris Caudle, Campbell Shatley LLP, Asheville

Hear attorneys discuss what cases, legislation and regulations they anticipate will have the greatest impact on education, our clients and our practice.

3:50 Break

4:00 A Welcome Constant: Case Law Update

Brian Shaw, Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh

Our program ends with a welcome constant, Brian Shaw's case law update. Brian presents updates on case law that are shaping this brave new world in which we practice.

5:00 Adjourn

* Indicates portion providing Ethics/Professional Responsibility credit

Description

The practice of education law is continuously shifting due to changes in the law, society and our client communities.

Contributors

Isabel Alele

Isabel Alele is the Assistant General Counsel at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She joined the Office of Legal Affairs in 2021. Her practice focuses on issues related to purchasing and contract services, materials management, compliance and risk management, construction, and real estate.

Prior to assuming her position at UNC Charlotte, she worked for a boutique law firm in Winston-Salem that specialized in education and employment law.

Isabel earned her B.A. in Philosophy from Covenant College and a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law. During law school, she interned for the Employee Classification Section of the North Carolina Industrial Commission and was involved in the Black Law Students Association.

Click here for more information about Isabel.
Tawanda Foster Artis

Tawanda Foster Artis is General Counsel for the NC Community Colleges System in Raleigh.

Formerly, Tawanda served as a senior staff attorney at the North Carolina General Assembly. As a legislative attorney, she was tasked with researching, drafting, and consulting with lawmakers on new and existing laws. She advised the chairmen of legislative committees and consults with legislators and partisan staff on a wide variety of legal subjects including juvenile law, state government, employment, labor, pensions, retirement, health, and human services. During the 2017 long session, she was the primary drafter of the "Raise the Age" legislation, now known as the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act.

Tawanda has worked in state government for 16 years. Prior to joining the non-partisan staff at the legislature, Tawanda served as appellate counsel and pro bono program manager at the NC Administrative Office of the Courts handling appellate child welfare cases from across the state of North Carolina and training other attorneys to do the same. She has also previously served our state as a criminal prosecutor for several years and as an assistant attorney general at the North Carolina Department of Justice representing the North Carolina Department of Labor for almost seven years.

Tawanda enjoys volunteering as a reading buddy in child literacy programs and in hunger relief charities. She currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Arts Council of Wilson, and has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Food Runners Collaborative, Inc. and as an associate board member for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, Inc. She is active in the North Carolina Br Association, serving as a Co-Chair of the Minorities in the Profession Committee, member of the Professionalism Committee, and treasurer of the Juvenile Justice and Children's Rights Section. She has taught continuing legal education courses and workshops on both child welfare and juvenile delinquency issues. In her free time, Tawanda enjoys traveling, live music, poetry, and spending time with her family.

Tawanda earned her B.A. in Interpersonal and Organizational Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law.

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Chris Campbell

Chris Campbell is a partner at Campbell Shatley LLP in Asheville. He has been representing and training school boards, community college trustees and their employees for over 22 years. He co-founded Campbell Shatley with Dean (Shatley) in 2009 and the client base has grown to in excess of 40 public entities across North Carolina with a focus in western North Carolina.

Chris has served as President of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys and Chairman of the Education Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. He co-founded the North Carolina Council of Community College Attorneys and served as the organization's President.

Chris' commitment to public education is rooted in his own experiences in the public schools and higher education institutions in this State. Chris also serves as pro bono legal counsel for Children First of Buncombe County.

Chris earned his B.A., with honors, in Political Science and Government from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and his J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

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Kris Caudle

Kris Caudle is an associate attorney at Campbell Shatley LLP in Asheville. He has devoted his entire career to supporting public education. He has experience representing K-12 boards of education in a wide-variety of legal matters, including personnel investigations, employment disputes, bond forfeiture issues, special education litigation and appeals to state and federal courts.

During the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years Kris served as the Higher Education Legal Fellow at UNC-Charlotte. As a Legal Fellow, he worked directly with UNC-Charlotte's Office of Legal Affairs advising University clients in contract and risk management issues, Title IX compliance, and Title VII litigation. During his fellowship he also served as an adjunct professor in Conflict Resolution and Mediation.

Kris graduated from The University of North Carolina at Wilmington, earning his B.A. in History. Prior to law school, he was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow and served as a high school social studies teacher in Wake County Schools. He earned his J.D. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a member of the Client Counseling team, an extern for the Education Section of the North Carolina Attorney General's Office and Executive Editor of the First Amendment Law Review.

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Murphie Chappell

Murphie Chappell is the Title IX Coordinator & Assistant General Counsel at the The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Murphie joined the Office of Institutional Integrity and General Counsel in September 2021 as the Title IX Coordinator and Director of the Campus Violence Response Center. She was appointed to her current position as Title IX Coordinator and Assistant General Counsel in February 2022. While Murphie is primarily responsible for Title IX, as Assistant General Counsel, Murphie's areas of practice include law enforcement, public records, and issues related to employment.

Prior to joining the OIIGC, Murphie contracted with Smith Moore Leatherwood (Now, Fox Rothschild) as a part-time attorney on their litigation team where she defended institutions of higher education against Title IX and employment claims. Additionally, Murphie was the Staff Attorney with the NC Coalition Against Sexual Assault where she represented victims of sexual assault in immigration, civil, criminal, and campus misconduct proceedings.

Murphie is a past co-chair of the UNCG Staff Senate and a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) and the Education section of the NC Bar Association.

Murphie is a graduate of Guilford College and North Carolina Central University School of Law where she participated on the trial advocacy team and volunteered for the driver's license restoration project.

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Thomas M. Colclough

Thomas M. Colclough currently serves as the Director of Field Management Programs for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in Washington, D.C. He is the facilitator of the EEOC's field programs, providing guidance and support to all of the EEOC's 53 field offices across the country in matters of investigation, charge processing, education, outreach and other areas.

Thomas has over 25 years of experience with EEOC investigating charges and complaints of discrimination and leading high-performing teams. He has served in various leadership positions at EEOC, e.g., Enforcement Supervisor, Local Director, Area Director, Systemic Coordinator, Deputy District Director and District Director.

A native of North Carolina, Thomas attended Saint Augustine's College in Raleigh, where he earned his B.S. in Business Administration. He earned his master's degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Thomas is also a graduate of the military's Command and General Staff College and the Office of Personnel Management's Federal Executive Institute. In 2005, Thomas retired from the North Carolina National Guard after 23 years of service (active, reserve, and guard) at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

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Ronette Sutton Gerber

Ronette Sutton Gerber is the Title IX Coordinator and Clery Compliance Officer at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. She became the director of Title IX and Clery Compliance at UNC Pembroke in the fall of 2014. Prior to this position, she served the university as the associate general counsel and was in private practice for twelve years before coming to UNCP.

Ronette is responsible for the administration of policies, procedures, and data collection to ensure UNCP's compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act as amended by the Campus SaVE Act (Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013) and related reporting and disclosure laws concerning campus safety.

Ronette is also responsible for an unbiased oversight of the university's response to sexual misconduct reports and complaints and for identifying and addressing any patterns or systemic problems revealed by such reports and complaints. She trains students, faculty and staff on Title IX/Clery offenses (e.g., gender-based/sexual misconduct: sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking) and policies, facilitates initial intake of cases which may lead to further investigations, determines appropriate supportive measures and accommodations for Reporting Parties and Responding Parties, and ensures that the appropriate grievance process is initiated in response to the complaint.

Ronette and her Campus Investigator are neutral fact-finders who typically conduct interviews and follow-up interviews with the Reporting Party, the Responding Party, and any third-party witnesses. They are not advocates for any particular party involved in a sexual misconduct investigation and treats all parties equally while conducting an open-minded, factually based investigation.

Ronette earned her B.A. in History from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, her M.P.A. and J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is currently working on a Master of Arts in History at North Carolina State University.

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James S. "Jesh" Humphrey IV

James S. "Jesh" Humphrey IV is the Vice Chancellor for Institutional Integrity and General Counsel at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He provides legal counsel as the university's senior attorney and maintaining responsibility for the supervision and administration of the Division of Institutional Integrity. The Division of Institutional Integrity supports UNC Charlotte, as an urban research university, in its endeavors to achieve its academic mission and strategic plan while adhering to the University's ethical, legal, and regulatory responsibilities.

Jesh previously served as Chief Legal Officer for the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics and as Assistant Vice President for Legal Affairs for the University of North Carolina. Prior to moving in-house with the UNC system, Jesh served as outside counsel to corporate and education clients in private practice with Helms Mulliss & Wicker PLLC (now McGuire Woods LLP).

Jesh has held leadership roles in the North Carolina Bar Association Education Law Section and the National Associate of College and University Attorneys, and holds an appointment as an associate member of UNC Charlotte's Graduate Faculty.

Jesh earned his B.S. in Computer Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, and graduated, with honors, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law.

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Q. Shanté Martin

Q. Shanté Martin is of counsel with Cranfill Sumner LLP in Charlotte. She has spent nearly 20 years committed to representing and advising educational institutions across the secondary to post-secondary spectrum on a wide-range of legal issues. She has expertise in areas of employment, Title VII, the First Amendment, board governance, Title IX, open meetings, public records, policy drafting and editing, grievance hearings, student disciplinary hearings, investigations, and professional development training for education leaders. Specifically, she has experience representing charter schools, serving as General Counsel to the North Carolina Community College System and State Board of Community Colleges, and representing and litigating on behalf of the University of North Carolina System and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in federal and state court.

In furtherance of her commitment to positively impacting the educational sphere, Shanté also designed the Higher Education Law and Policy course for the Higher Education Executive Leadership doctoral program at Wingate University. She has trained doctoral candidates since the program's inception nine years ago, many of whom are presently senior administrators and college presidents.

Shanté eaned her B.A., with honors, in Psychology–Child Development from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law.

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June Melvin

June Melvin is the Compliance Manager/Deputy Director in the Civil Rights Division of the NC Office of Administrative Hearings (NCOAH) in Raleigh. She has been with the Civil Rights Division since 1999, initially in the position of Senior Investigator, prior to assuming the role of Compliance Manager/Deputy Director in 2008.

In addition to her 24 years of experience in employment discrimination with the Civil Rights Division, June has 20 years' prior experience as an EEOC Investigator, EEO/Affirmative Action Officer, and EEO Compliance Investigator.

June graduated, summa cum laude, from Strayer University with a degree in Business Administration/Human Resource Management.
Keir D. Morton-Manley

Keir D. Morton-Manley is the Assistant University Legal Counsel, Legal Affairs at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in Durham. She was appointed to Assistant University Legal Counsel in April 2021 after having joined the Office of Legal Affairs as the Higher Education Legal Fellow in February 2020.

Prior to joining the OLA, Keir worked in the Education Section of the North Carolina Attorney General's Office, externed with the Special Education Attorney Team at Disability Rights North Carolina, and served on the North Carolina Bar Association's Education Law Section Council. Her prior professional experience includes 20 years in housing and community development, with 14 years with the State of North Carolina.

Keir is a member of the North Carolina State Bar, the Tenth Judicial District Bar, and the North Carolina Bar Association, where she is a member of the Education Section.

Keir earned her her B.A. from Duke University, her master's degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. from Campbell University Norman A. Wiggins School of Law.

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Grace S. Pennerat

Grace S. Pennerat an associate in the Education Law Section at Poyner Spruill LLP in Raleigh. She regularly presides over routine and special board meetings and committee meetings for local boards of education. She also advises local boards of education, superintendents, and central office personnel regarding student, employee, and community matters. She is a Title IX investigator and decision-maker.

Grace started her career in the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Public Policy where she was a research assistant and course administrator for the Honors Carolina Burch Field Research Seminar in Washington, DC.

Grace earned her B.A. in Political Science and Global Studies, with a Minor in Art History, from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law. In law school, she served as the 2016-17 Student Bar Association President, a member of the Journal of Law of Policy, and an active participant in the Pro Bono Project.

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Donna Rascoe

Donna Rascoe is of counsel with Cranfill Sumner LLP in Raleigh. She focuses her practice in the area of education law. A former teacher and school administrator, she advises and litigates on behalf of public and private schools in a variety of legal matters. She also handles employment and other civil litigation matters for school districts and other public entities.

Donna earned her B.A. in Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, her M.A. (also in Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist) from the University of Iowa and her J.D. from University of North Carolina School of Law.

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Katie Renaut

Katie Renaut is the Assistant Athletic Director of Compliance at UNC Charlotte.

Katie was formerly the Coordinator of Athletics Compliance at Arizona State University. She also worked in Academic and Membership Affairs at the NCAA in Indianapolis.

Kate earned her degree in Communications from Wake Forest University and her J.D. from Elon University School of Law.

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Brian C. Shaw

Brian C. Shaw is a partner at Poyner Spruill LLP in Raleigh. He has extensive education law experience and provides counsel to public school systems throughout the State. Brian is also an Adjunct Professor at the Norman A. Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University.

Brian is a Past Chair of the Education Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association and has served on the Board of Directors of the National Council of School Attorneys. He is a member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys and the National Council of School Attorneys. He is a frequent speaker at the district, state and national level on many different topics dealing with education law.

After serving as law clerk for the Honorable Edward J. Schwartz, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court in San Diego, California, and graduate work at Oxford University in England, Brian joined the law firm of Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry in Portland Maine, where he served as Chairman of the Education Law Department. In 1993, he joined then Richard A. Schwartz & Associates, became Partner in 1997, and the law firm changed its name to Schwartz & Shaw PLLC.

Brian graduated cum laude in 1976 from Harvard College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and received his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1980.

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Ken Soo

Ken Soo is an attorney at Tharrington Smith LLP in Raleigh. His areas of practice include public school law, employment law and civil litigation.

Ken's first career was as a wire service and newspaper reporter in Ohio, North Carolina and Florida, including stints with United Press International and The Charlotte Observer. He joined Tharrington Smith in 1994 and has served as a board member and secretary for the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys. In 2019, Ken became a Professional Registered Parliamentarian through the National Association of Parliamentarians, providing leadership to public school boards whose open meetings are grounded in parliamentary procedure.

Ken received his law degree with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1991. During law school, he was a note editor for the North Carolina Law Review. He completed his bachelor's degree in comparative area studies at Duke University.

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Marilyn Que Tucker

Marilyn Que Tucker is the Commissioner at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association in Chapel Hill. She came to the Association in 1991 after a stint as an assistant coach for the North Carolina State University women's basketball program. She worked under storied head coach Kay Yow. Among her duties there was to oversee the team's academic progress.

Before entering the collegiate ranks, Que was a highly successful coach at Reidsville Senior High School. As a head women's basketball coach at the high school level, she complied with a career win-loss mark of 145-104 from 1978 through 1988 and posted a 58-16 state as a volleyball head coach. She was named North Central 4-A Conference Coach of the Year in volleyball in 1986 and '87 and won the corresponding honor in that league in women's basketball in 1987. She also was the Triad 3-A Conference Coach of the Year in women's basketball twice.

Que earned her B.S. in Physical Education from Mars Hill College, where she also played basketball. She earned her master's degree in physical education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, serving as a graduate assistant in women's volleyball and basketball. Her first teaching position was in the McDowell County system, where she taught and coached at West McDowell Junior High in Marion. She finished her public school career teaching at Reidsville Junior High while serving as Varsity Volleyball and Basketball at Reidsville High School Schools. She is a charter member of the Mars Hill College Athletic Hall of Fame and was an assistant basketball coach in the East-West all-star game conducted by the North Carolina Coaches Association in 1989. She also has an excellent officiating background, serving as a game official in volleyball, basketball, and softball.

As Assistant Executive Director, Que developed the Association's student services program, one of the unique offerings by a state association in the country. The program dealt with substance abuse education, leadership development, academic accountability, and citizenship. She helped organize the Student-Athlete Summer Institute (SASI) programs across the state. To operate this program, she oversaw a budget of over $500,000, state monies from the NC General Assembly.

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Rebecca M. Williams

Rebecca M. Williams is an associate in the Education Law Practice Group at Poyner Spruill LLP in Raleigh. She assists public school systems in all aspects of education law.

Rebecca previously taught Spanish at the high school, community college, and college levels. She is a member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, the National Council of School Attorneys, and the Education Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Rebecca earned her B.A. in Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, her M.A. in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of New Hampshire and her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law.

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RaShawnda Murphy Williams

RaShawnda Murphy Williams is an associate attorney at Cranfill Sumner LLP in Raleigh. She practices in the firm's civil litigation section and focuses her practice primarily on matters involving education, employment, and municipal law.

Before RaShawnda began her civil litigation career, she served the state of North Carolina as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Chief Justice Cheri L. Beasley at the North Carolina Supreme Court.

RaShawnda earned her B.A. in Psychology and Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D., magna cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law. During her time in law school, she worked as a summer clerk for Supervisory Administrative Judge Regina Stephens of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She also worked as an extern of the North Carolina Central University Office of Legal Affairs and served as Articles Editor of the Science and Intellectual Property Law Review.

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Description

Contributors

Isabel Alele

Tawanda Foster Artis

Chris Campbell

Kris Caudle

Murphie Chappell

Thomas M. Colclough

Ronette Sutton Gerber

James S. "Jesh" Humphrey IV

Q. Shanté Martin

June Melvin

Keir D. Morton-Manley

Grace S. Pennerat

Donna Rascoe

Katie Renaut

Brian C. Shaw

Ken Soo

Marilyn Que Tucker

Rebecca M. Williams

RaShawnda Murphy Williams