Higher Ed Counsel & Strategic Solutions

Summer offers a valuable opportunity for colleges and universities to review their HR policies and employee handbooks before hiring cycles intensify and campus operations become more demanding in the fall. Human resources policies shape how institutions handle recruitment, employee conduct, leave, complaints, performance issues, accommodations, and separations. When those policies are outdated, inconsistent, or poorly communicated, legal risk can spread across departments quickly. A summer review helps institutions identify problem areas before they lead to employee conflict or administrative strain.

Student protests and campus programming will remain closely connected issues in Fall 2026. As many institutions of higher education know, protests, demonstrations, invited speakers, counterprogramming, and other expressive activities can emerge quickly and affect multiple parts of campus at once. These events often raise questions about speech, safety, space use, event management, and institutional neutrality. Summer is the best time to evaluate whether your college’s or university’s current policies and operational practices are prepared for that complexity before students return in the fall.

Student accommodation requests continue to evolve, and institutions are seeing a wider range of issues than in prior years. While many requests still involve familiar academic adjustments, colleges and universities are increasingly asked to evaluate accommodations connected to housing, attendance, technology (including AI), temporary health impacts, and mental health. Summer is an important time to assess whether institutional processes are prepared to address these requests in a way that is timely, individualized, and legally sound.

Greek life may be a campus tradition that students and prospective students value, but it also presents recurring legal and risk-management challenges that deserve focused summer attention. By the time students return in the fall, recruitment, social events, new-member activities, and chapter transitions can create immediate pressure on student affairs, campus safety, conduct, and legal teams. A summer risk review gives institutions the opportunity to assess whether existing expectations, oversight practices, and response mechanisms are aligned before fall activity intensifies.