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How to Play the Game: Navigating the State Legislative Process

March 5, 2024 | 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST

Event Details

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About this Event

State legislatures have always had significant power over college and university budgets and operations. However, in recent years, legislatures across the country have decreased deference to higher education and ramped up their involvement and interest in daily campus operations. This new reality requires campus counsel to be involved in actively monitoring and at times participating in the legislative affairs process, whether an institution has a government relations team or not.

Please join us for this 2-hour webinar where three expert NACUA member attorneys will provide advice and guidance for how to successfully oversee and interact with the legislative process, including:

  • Information on how to build an internal legislative affairs process, including pre and post legislative session considerations and action items;
  • Tips for developing and maintaining positive working relationships with legislators and all of the other players involved in the legislative process, including legislative staff;
  • Advice for how to successfully be responsive to and manage relations among various stakeholders during session, including the president, governing board, system leadership (if applicable), legislators, and the Governor’s office;
  • Techniques and strategies for campus counsel’s crucial role of on-campus implementation for new laws once a legislative session ends; and
  • Exploration of related legal issues, such as tension between the legislative process and fiduciary duties and accreditation principles.

Who should attend?

This webinar will be of interest to in-house and outside counsel to colleges and universities, as well as other higher education administrators who work in the areas of government affairs or compliance with state laws. Much of the content will be from the perspective of public institutions, but private institutions will also benefit from information on navigating the legislative process.

Speakers

Karen Johnson Shaheed

Executive Vice President and General Counsel and Chief of Staff

Bowie State University

Karen Johnson Shaheed serves as Executive Vice President and General Counsel and Chief of Staff at Bowie State University. She manages all legal matters for the University, providing advice and counsel to the President and campus administrators on a variety of legal and policy issues affecting the university. She also oversees government relations, working to advance the university’s mission and interests as its principal liaison to local, state and federal agencies and officials. She has served on an interim basis twice as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for the university. With over 30 years of experience in law, higher education, legislative affairs and public administration in the state of Maryland, Karen has served as Secretary of Higher Education and CEO of the Maryland Higher Education Commission, the statewide coordinating agency for postsecondary education, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, and Assistant Attorney General and Assistant Secretary for Regulatory Policy and Programs at the Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulation. She began her career as a litigator at a major law firm in Baltimore. She has served as an adjunct professor of legal writing and advocacy.  

Karen has been a NACUA member since 2004. She has previously served on the Committee on Membership and Member Services and the NACUANOTES Editorial Board. She currently serves on the Committee on Board Operations. 

Karen has also spoken at several NACUA events. Karen received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. She has been with Bowie State University since 2007. 

Derek Langhauser

Of Counsel

Maine Community College System

Derek Langhauser is Of Counsel to the Maine Community College System.  He previously served for over 25 years as its General Counsel and President.  Derek is a Fellow and former President of NACUA and long-time member of the JCUL Editorial Board.  He teaches constitutional law for the University of Maine Law School and his political experience includes serving as Chief Legal Counsel to two Governors and a United States Senator.

Bill Mullowney

Vice President for Policy and General Counsel

Valencia College

Bill Mullowney serves as Vice President for Policy and General Counsel for Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. He serves as Valencia’s chief legal officer and as a lobbyist and legislative counsel to the executive and legislative branches of the State of Florida. He also served as Program Chair for the Community College Conference on Legal Issues from 2006-2020. He earned his B.B.A. degree from the University of Miami School of Business, and his J.D. and LL.M. degrees from the University of Miami School of Law. Prior to his position at Valencia, Mr. Mullowney served as the chief legal officer at Whittier College in California and before that as University Ombudsman at the University of Miami. While at Whittier, Mr. Mullowney also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Whittier Law School, where he taught classes in Sports Law and Higher Education Law. While at Miami, he helped launch the university’s Student Honor Code and also served as an Associate Faculty Master at the Hecht Residential College. Mr. Mullowney is a member of the Florida Bar and the State Bar of California. He is Florida Bar Board Certified as a specialist in Education Law.  He has completed three elected terms of service on the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), serving as a member-at-large, then as Secretary, and then as the Chair of the Board. He also has served on the Boards of the Florida Colleges Activities Association, the Association of Florida Colleges (AFC), and the AFC Foundation. Bill has spoken on issues regarding higher education law at numerous state and national panel discussions and conferences. 

Program Schedule

TimeSession Topic
12:00 P.M. ETIntroductions
Influencing, Reacting to, and Supporting the Legislative Process
Post legislative session compliance
Q&A 
Post legislative session compliance continued
Relational nature of legislative world
Q&A
2:00 P.M. ETConclusion

CLE

FAQs

Webinar Recording

Members who purchase the Live Webinar will receive access to the Post-Event Recording in the Online Learning Center at no additional charge. Non-members will not have post-event access to the recording or the materials and should plan to download materials during the live webinar.

If you are a member and couldn’t attend live, the event recording will be available for purchase in our Online Learning Center. The recording may be replayed at any time, but may not be copied, posted, or otherwise distributed within or outside of the institution, organization, or firm. The license entitles the purchaser to replay the recording at one campus or at one location of any organization or firm. You can purchase the Post-Event Recording here.

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