Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth is one of two key 1972 decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court that helped to establish the parameters of federal due process for employees in higher education. The Court's rulings in Roth and in Perry v. Sindermann considered the due process requirements when employees are facing the nonrenewal of their employment contracts.

The last half of the 20th century witnessed a great expansion of individual rights in the workplace, including federal procedural due process protections for public employees. Even so, the protections of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment do not apply universally to all employment situations. One area of dispute involves the due process rights of faculty members whose [Page 50]contracts are not renewed. In ...