Student Grievance Procedure
The Student Grievance Procedure provides a student who is involved in a dispute with Institute faculty or administrator the opportunity to appeal a warning, suspension or dismissal. (The Student Grievance Procedure does not address disputes regarding final course grades, which are addressed in the section entitled "Process for Challenging a Final Course Grade.") A five-member Hearing Panel will be convened by the Institute’s Senate Hearing Committee (the Committee) in each case to hear a student's grievance. The Committee is composed of three Institute faculty members, elected by the Faculty. The Committee will select a chairperson who will convene all Hearing Panels and, if available, serve as the Hearing Panel Chair. Each Hearing Panel will consist of three faculty members and two students. The Committee members will serve as the faculty representatives to the Hearing Panel unless unavailable due to conflict of interest, schedule constraints or unforeseen circumstances. In these instances, a Hearing Panel member will be chosen from the Senate membership. In the event that the Committee Chair is not serving on a Hearing Panel, another member of the Committee will chair that panel. Student Hearing Panel members will be selected by a discretionary process determined by the Dean of Student and Alumni Services. Any member of the Committee who is involved in the specific corrective action and mediation will be excluded from the Hearing Panel while it hears the case in question. The individual bringing the grievance will have the opportunity to exclude members from the Hearing Panel if he or she can demonstrate a conflict of interest. If a grievance is in progress when a committee member’s term is completed, the member shall serve until a decision is made.