The Higher Ed Workplace Blog

On May 22, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction to block the Trump administration from taking action to close the Department of Education. Specifically, the court order blocks the Trump administration from “carrying out the reduction-in-force” at ED previously announced and from implementing the executive order directing the secretary of education to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education.”

On May 22, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it terminated Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification. According to DHS, this action bars Harvard from enrolling foreign students and requires foreign students currently enrolled at the institution to transfer to another U.S. institution or lose legal status.

For HR professionals in higher education, workforce planning has evolved into a strategic discipline. Filling positions is no longer enough — leaders must anticipate talent needs, support professional growth and align development opportunities with institutional goals. A well-designed needs assessment gives HR teams the insight to take action with confidence and create lasting impact.

How has the higher education faculty workforce changed over the past 20 years? What disciplines have emerged as frontrunners in hiring? What disciplines pay the most? What disciplines pay the least? In the new research report, Two Decades of Change: Faculty Discipline Trends in Higher Education, CUPA-HR presents findings from an analysis of data from its Faculty in Higher Education Survey from 2003-04 to 2023-24.

On April 25, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Acting Chair, Andrea Lucas, issued a Commissioner’s Charge against Harvard University announcing that the EEOC is investigating whether “Harvard may have violated and may be continuing to violate Title VII [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964] by engaging in a pattern or practice of disparate treatment against white, Asian, male, or straight employees, applicants, and training program participants in hiring, promotion (including but not limited to tenure decisions), compensation, and separation decisions; internship programs; and mentoring, leadership development, and other career development programs.”

On April 30, Representatives Stephanie Bice (R-OK-5) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6) introduced the More Paid Leave for More Americans Act, the result of more than two years of work by the House Paid Family Leave Working Group, which Bice and Houlahan co-chair. The package consists of two parts: the Paid Family Leave Public-Private Partnerships Act and the Interstate Paid Leave Action Network (I-PLAN) Act.

General Counsel Ira Shepard examines conflicting court rulings on Trump administration executive orders targeting DEI programs, and highlights student lawsuits over F-1 visa terminations without due process. He also covers a major voluntary resignation offer affecting 20% of the U.S. Department of Labor’s workforce, and two new executive orders — one aiming to train 1 million skilled apprentices in fields like AI, and another barring the EEOC and DOJ from pursuing disparate impact discrimination cases.

On May 6, Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), along with Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Jim Justice (R-WV), and Pete Ricketts (R-NE), introduced the Overtime Wages Tax Relief Act, which is intended to fulfill President Trump’s campaign promise to eliminate taxes on overtime pay. The proposal provides an income tax deduction for overtime pay up to a certain threshold. Marshall explained that his goal with the legislation was to target the benefit to lower- and middle-income workers in industries and occupations that traditionally pay overtime.

At the 2025 CUPA-HR Spring Conference in Seattle, our keynote speakers shared their insights into the future of the higher ed workplace. They encouraged HR practitioners to step boldly into brave leadership, to investigate neuroscience’s insights into human behavior, to embrace advances in artificial intelligence, and to use data to enhance the employee experience. But the key message was that innovation should be people-centered and align with HR’s fundamental goal: creating workplaces where people feel safe, valued and free to thrive. Here are the key takeaways.

On April 29, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on the litigation challenging the Biden administration’s overtime rule that will last for 120 days. The order halts further proceedings in the appeals court while the Trump administration’s Department of Labor (DOL) reconsiders the Biden administration’s rule, and it directs DOL to file additional status reports every 60 days.