From Capitol To Campus

The U.S. Justice Department has proposed that a new national database for tracking foreign students in the United States be set up by January 30, 2003.

The proposal, part of the rule-making process to implement legislation already passed by Congress, will be published in the Federal Register. It requires institutions to begin using the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, by January 30, 2003.

The rule is the first of three regulations the federal government is expected to issue on how the new SEVIS tracking system will be developed. The Justice Department proposal also lays out requirements for the type of information colleges must provide to the database.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public colleges cannot shield themselves from lawsuits filed in state courts by moving the cases to federal courts and then claiming immunity under the 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The Supreme Court justices ruled that a public university could not claim immunity under the 11th Amendment—which protects states from federal lawsuits—when the university chooses to appear in federal court.

The Supreme Court had ruled previously, the justices said, that any state entity that voluntarily appears in federal court gives up its protections under the 11th Amendment.

This case involved a professor who sued college officials at Kennesaw State University and the University System of Georgia for defaming him while investigating allegations of sexual harassment, from which he was ultimately exonerated.