Physical education programs, athletic programs and intramural sports programs are a vital part of the American educational system. However, since the mid-sixties, there has been an increase in sports injury litigation against the teachers and coaches who direct and supervise these programs. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the study was to report the legal liability of elementary, secondary and higher education physical educators, athletic coaches and intramural sports directors from 1977-1987. In addition this study compared the holdings of the court cases from 1977-1987 to the holdings of the court cases found in five unpublished manuscripts. From 1977 to 1987 there were 92 elementary and secondary lawsuits and 19 college lawsuits involving these professionals, including their supervisors. There were 41 cases involving liability against the boards of education and boards of trustees. The groups were found not liable in 23 of the cases. The primary reason for not being liable was their protection from suit because of the doctrine of governmental immunity. However, in states where the doctrine of governmental immunity did not exist boards of education and boards of trustees were found liable for improper supervision, lack of proper medical assistance and creating a dangerous situation or hazard. Sixteen cases were reported against school employees. In 10 of the cases the court rulings were held against these employees. The reasons included: improper supervision, failure to follow state athletic association rules and improper instruction. Cases held in favor of the school employees resulted when: employees were acting within the scope of their employment, the employees were providing adequate supervision and instruction and the students purposely disregarded safety rules. The results of this study, when compared to five previous studies, indicated that even though the number of cases reported were similar the present study showed an increase in the number of decisions favoring the plaintiff at the elementary and secondary level. Also, the present study revealed an increase of 250% in the number of lawsuits reported at the college level and a 23% increase in the number of cases favoring the plaintiff. / Ed. D.

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This study is an investigation of the development and one hundred year history of high school girls' sport in the city and suburbs of Philadelphia. Its focus is on how and why, over time, the experiences of schoolgirl athletes in the city of Philadelphia were different from the experiences of schoolgirl athletes in the surrounding suburbs. Using place, gender and race critical perspectives, high school yearbooks, augmented by oral histories, were used as primary resources to determine the origins of sport programs in public high schools throughout the region, the uneven impact of national professional standards on city and suburban schoolgirl sport programs, the creation of a unique city sport culture, the changes in school sport as a result of the suburbanization in the region and finally, the impact of suburban school district reorganizations on black schoolgirl athletes. Along with an examination of newspapers and other secondary sources this study suggests that suburban schoolgirl experiences emerged as the normative expression of schoolgirl sport. / Urban Education

This case study involved a safety and maintenance audit of Mercer University's intramural and recreational sports program. The purpose of the audit was to expose potentially hazardous conditions in the area of supervision, conduct of activities, facilities and equipment. A method of risk reduction in the form of a risk management strategy was implemented to control for potential injury producing conditions to participants. Regular safety inspections, the hiring and training of program supervisors, upgrading of facilities and equipment and a closer relationship between the intramural program and other campus departments were some of the remedial steps taken at Mercer to provide a relatively safe environment. / M.S.

Properly written waiver of liability forms can be an effective tool in decreasing injury liability of intramural and recreational sports programs. In order for a waiver to be effective, (i.e., held up in court), participants must not only read and sign the waiver, but they must understand it as well. Readability, the ease of which text can be read and understood, is an important part of a well-written waiver. Waiver of liability forms should be written at a reading level consistent with that of the intended audience. On average, students read three grade levels below the last grade they completed in school. The highest grade level at which waiver of liability forms written for use in college settings should be the 9th grade. The main goal of this study was to assess the reading level of intramural and recreational sport waiver of liability forms, and compare them to the 9th grade level. Nine NIRSA member schools and nine non-NIRSA member schools from each of the six NIRSA regions were randomly selected for inclusion in this study. Following multiple mailings, the forms received were scanned into a computer, and readability was assessed using the Readability Calculation software (Micro Power & Light, Dallas, TX) for McIntosh. A one-sample t-test was performed to compare the forms to the 9th grade reading level. Forms were written significantly higher than the 9th grade level (t[26]=14.53, p<.0001). An analysis of variance was performed to assess possible moderating variables (e.g., NIRSA membership status and involvement of a risk management team in writing the waiver). No significant differences were found. Font size was also measured, and forms were found to have been written at a significantly higher level then the recommended 12 point font (t[28]=-2.88, p<.01). This study brings into questions the efficacy of waiver of liability forms used in many collegiate/university intramural and recreational sports programs in the U.S. / Graduation date: 2003

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Les libertés universitaires sont fondamentales pour assurer la pérennité des sociétés démocratiques : sans elles, l’enseignement supérieur ne peut remplir son rôle qui est de dé-battre des connaissance acquises et d’en découvrir de nouvelles, ainsi que de les transmettre aux générations futures. Pour exercer cette double mission de recherche et d’enseignement, les universitaires doivent être libres de mener des investigations et d’en publier les résultats ; libres de choisir le contenu et la forme de leurs cours ; indépendants de tout pouvoir politique ou économique. Avec ces libertés, viennent cependant des responsabilités : les libertés universitaires ne pourraient conserver leur légitimité si elles ne s’accompagnaient pas du respect des exigences résultant de la déontologie universitaire. En France, les libertés universitaires sont singulières. Elles se distinguent de la définition qu’en proposent le droit allemand – à travers le concept de Wissenschaftsfreiheit – et le droit anglo-saxon – qui a consacré la liberté académique. Cette spécificité devrait permettre de répondre à la contradiction entre la soumission des enseignants-chercheurs français au statut général de la fonction publique – qui encadre les libertés individuelles des fonctionnaires – et la nécessité pour eux d’exercer leurs fonctions universitaires sans entraves. Cependant, les libertés universitaires telles qu’elles sont consacrées en France ne semblent pas, dans un contexte largement renouvelé, en mesure d’opérer efficacement cette conciliation : il convient, dès lors, d’étudier leur contenu et leurs sources. L’approche comparée mettant en perspective trois modèles différents – allemand, américain et britannique – permet d’envisager des possibilités d’évolution du droit universitaire français. / Academic freedom is fundamental to ensure the longevity of democratic societies: whithout it, higher education cannot play its part, which is to question acquired knowledge, to discover more and to transmit it to the next generation. To fulfil this double mission of inquiry and teaching, faculty should be free to investigate and to publish the results of their research; free to choose the contents and the form of their courses ; independant from politic and economic powers. However, with this freedom come some responsabilities: the academic freedom would not be legitimate if faculty did not respect the requirements of professional ethics.In France, academic freedom is singular. It is different from the definition stemming from the German law – at the origin of the concept of Wissenschaftsfreheit – and from English legal tradition – that created the concept of « academic freedom ». This specificity should overcome the contradiction between the compliance of the french university professors to the civil servant Act – which limits the individual freedoom of the state employees – and the need for them to exercise their academic functions freely. Nevertheless, academic freedom as defined in France does not seem able, in an innovative context, to ensure this conciliation, so that it becomes necessary to study its content and its sources. The comparative approach will allow to propose some possibility of evolution for French higher education law.