Spencer Fane was pleased to serve as Premier Sponsor for the CUPA-HR Tennessee Chapter 2025 Spring Conference on May 15 in Nashville. Attorneys Sam Jackson, Bethany Stewart, Stacey Garrett-Koju, and James Crumlin presented at the event.
Held at the Nashville City Center, this gathering brought together Tennessee HR professionals for a valuable, higher education-focused knowledge exchange on best industry practices. As part of the conference’s robust and timely agenda, the Spencer Fane team led sessions on reasonable accommodation, immigration-related challenges in higher education, and updates to federal employment law.
During their presentation, Sam and Bethany discussed how to navigate the complexities of reasonable accommodation issues in higher education. They explored the legal framework and real-world case studies in addition to providing best practices for addressing accommodation requests.
For Stacey’s session, attendees learned the latest ICE enforcement protocols and their impact on higher education faculty, staff, students, and administrators. Stacey provided actionable guidance, checklists, and useful scripts to effectively prepare for ICE-related activities and their tangential effects. Additionally, she covered important aspects of I-9 audits, such as compliance and enforcement measures.
James’ presentation provided thought leadership on how HR professionals can advance the conversation about inclusion, accessibility, and belonging in the workplace and surrounding communities in the wake of new executive orders and laws. James also discussed pending lawsuits related to these challenges.