ACADEMIC STANDARDS, SUSPENSIONS, AND DISMISSALS POLICY Statement of Purpose The purpose of this policy is to protect the integrity of the course offerings and programs of this College and to protect the legitimate interests of students enrolled in and the faculty assigned to such course offerings and programs, while maintaining due regard for the community and society the graduates of this College shall serve. Statement of Applicable College Philosophy and Procedures The philosophy of this College, and posted in this context, reflects a high value placed on the maintaining of high academic standards and the dealing with academic deficiencies and resolving of conflicts at the lowest level and with the least formality possible. Toward those ends: 1.              Each academic program shall establish and communicate routinely to each entering student, a statement of academic performance standards governing both clinical and nonclinical components. 2.              Subject to the procedures delineated in Sections 3, 4, and 5, below, programs shall have reasonable latitude in dealing with students not meeting required academic performance standards. Unit options shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following specifically defined actions: “SUSPENSION” which shall mean exclusion from an academic course or series of courses and/or exclusion from one or more components of an academic course or courses. Such suspensions may be conditional, stipulating that the suspended student must satisfy a certain prescribed set of requirements or follow a certain prescribed course of action in order to return to full academic status. “INTERIM SUSPENSION” which shall mean temporary exclusion from an academic course or series of courses and/or exclusion from one or more components of an academic course or courses, pending the outcome of a hearing or appeal, as the case may be. “DISMISSAL WITHOUT PREJUDICE” which shall mean termination from a program with readmission a possibility. “DISMISSAL” which shall mean permanent termination from a program, with no possibility of readmission. 3.          An academic program may act to suspend, dismiss without prejudice, or dismiss any student who is not functioning at an acceptable level of performance in a unit program, including programs with clinical components, provided that: a.     The student be kept fully informed of the specific nature of deficiencies in his or her academic performance and the program’s dissatisfaction with that performance; and, b.     The program’s decision to suspend or dismiss be careful and deliberate. 4.         The supervising faculty member may suspend, on an interim basis, pending completion of the process indicated below, any student who, while performing in a clinical experience of his or her program, commits any act or omission endangering the life, health, or well-being of or violating any established rights or reasonable expectation of confidentiality of a patient, client, or other person. An academic program may further act to suspend, dismiss without prejudice, or dismiss any student who, while performing in a clinical experience of his or her program, commits any act or omission endangering the life, health, or well-being of or violating any established rights or reasonable expectation of confidentiality of a patient, client, or other person, provided that: a.   The student is given, if reasonably possible, oral notice of the impending suspension or dismissal decision and the grounds therefore. Such oral notice shall be given, if reasonably possible, no later than 24 hours after the commission of the act or omission; and, b.   The student be given written notice of the impending suspension, dismissal without prejudice, or dismissal decision, the grounds therefore, and the date, time, and place of the hearing to be held on the matter. Such notice shall be given no later than 48 hours after the commission of the act or omission; and c.     Prior to any hearing, however, the student shall meet with the faculty member(s) supervising the clinical experience at issue, and then, if resolution has not occurred, shall meet with the unit head, in order to resolve the issue; if resolution still has not occurred, then, d.     The student be given at the hearing the opportunity to answer the charges against him or her, to confront and question the person(s) charging him or her in the matter, and to call witnesses in his or her own behalf. Where reasonably possible, the hearing shall take place within 72 hours after commission of the act or omission. Since the object of the hearing is the ascertaining of truth and the protecting of the interest of faculty and interests and rights of the student, in the least formal setting possible, i.          The student may be accompanied by another person, but said person shall not address the proceedings; and, ii.         The formal rules of evidence of a court of law shall not limit the fact-finding process at the hearing; and, iii.        At least three full-time faculty members or the entire staff of full-time faculty members in programs having three or fewer full-time faculty members shall hear the case. Membership may come from outside small departments. The supervising faculty member(s) bringing the charges shall not, however hear the case; iv.        The COHP Hearing Officer shall preside; and, v.         The AASU Code of Conduct Procedural Rights of Students (B 2-5) shall apply. vi.        A record, in the form of minutes, shall be made of the evidentiary portion of the hearing and of the decision, and either party at the hearing may make, if unobtrusive, a tape recording of the proceedings; and vii.       The decision, which shall be rendered no later than 48 hours after the conclusion of the evidentiary portion of the hearing, shall be careful and deliberate and based solely on the evidence presented at the hearing; and, shall be given to the Dean by the Hearing Officer. viii.      The Dean’s decision is effective upon being rendered. The student may continue the appeal to the Vice President and Dean of Faculty. This appeal must be in writing and must be filed within 48 hours of notification from the Dean. Neither the President nor the Regents will accept or consider academic appeals. If an appeal through the level of the Vice President cannot be heard and decided within one week after the effective date of the suspension, the Dean, shall have the authority to reinstate, on an interim basis, pending exhaustion of the administrative appeal process, any student making such appeal. The Dean shall determine whether a student reinstated on an interim basis shall be placed back with the original supervising faculty member(s) or placed according to some alternative arrangement.   5.              An academic program may act to suspend, dismiss without prejudice, or dismiss any student who violates established Progress Requirements, i.e. students who do not receive passing grade(s) in major course(s) or cannot meet program completion time limits.   6.              Appeals for Progress Requirements suspensions or dismissals will follow the process outlined under Grade Appeals in the University Catalog:                  a.         The student will appeal first to the department head. b.         If the appeal is not resolved at the departmental level, the student will present his or her appeal in writing to the dean of the college, who will then appoint a review board to hear the appeal. It is expected that the student will initiate this step no later than midterm of the semester after the dismissal or suspension, except if the student plans enrollment in the next semester, see below. i.          The review board will consist of the department head or the dean of the college, as applicable, and two members of the department. A separate hearing officer shall be appointed by the college dean. In small departments, membership may come from outside the department. ii          The review board shall hear statements from the student and will examine documents that are pertinent to the matter under review. iii.        The review board will hear the appeal and present its findings to the college dean prior to the last week of the semester. c.           If the student wishes to enroll the next semester, then the following timetable will be met at the beginning of that semester: i.          The student will file an appeal in writing with the department head and the dean of the college. This step will be taken by the second day of the semester. ii.         The review board to hear the appeal will be appointed by the third day of the semester. If department members are not available to form a review board, the dean of the college, in consultation with the department head, will appoint a review board. iii.        The review board will hear and complete the appeal by the fifth day of the semester and present its findings to the college dean through the hearing officer (or the vice president if the dean is a member of the committee). iv.         If the appeal to the college dean is denied, the student will be dropped from enrollment in the major course(s). d.         If the college dean denies the appeal, the student may continue the appeal to the vice president and dean of faculty. This appeal must be in writing and must be filed within five days of notification from the dean.      e.         Neither the president nor the regents will accept or consider appeals based on academic grades.   Human Services Ad Hoc Committee on Suspensions and Dismissals Dr. Dennis D. Murphy, Chairman, and Members: Mary Miller, Carole Massey, Margaret Callaway, Ann E. Marohn, George Brown   October 26, 1981   Revised 3/19/02   Revised 5/12/05