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, selected from an IHP Hearing Committee, will be convened in each case to hear a student's grievance. The Hearing Committee is composed of eight Institute faculty members, elected bi-annually by the Institute, and eight students, selected through a discretionary process determined by the Institute, all who serve as a panel pool. The Committee will meet to select a faculty chairperson and delineate a process by which panel members will be chosen for each grievance. Each Hearing Panel will consist of three faculty members and two students chosen at random from the Committee membership. Any member of the Committee who is involved in the specific corrective action and mediation will be excluded from the Panel while it hears the case in question. The individual bringing the grievance will have the opportunity to exclude members from the Panel if he or she can demonstrate a conflict of interest. If a grievance is in progress when the Panel members' one-year terms are completed, the members shall serve until a decision is made.
Time Requirements
A student wishing to initiate the grievance procedure must submit a request in writing, as further described below, to the chairperson of the IHP Hearing Committee, identified by the Provost’s office, within ten business days after unsuccessful mediation or dismissal decision from the program or School’s appeal committee. The Hearing Panel must hear the case within ten business days after receiving the request. Extenuating circumstances such as term/summer breaks or temporary unavailability of faculty and/or student may necessitate a longer interval between request and hearing. In such cases, the Committee Chairperson will use reasonable efforts to inform the petitioning student of the delay and anticipated timeline.
Process
To initiate a Student Grievance Procedure, the student's request in writing, as mentioned above, shall be made to the chairperson of the IHP Hearing Committee, with a copy to the student's Program Director and/or School Dean and the faculty member/administrator involved. The request must include information to support the claim of a violation, misinterpretation, or inequitable application of existing rules, procedures, and regulations. In addition, the letter should outline the actions taken to date. The chairperson of the Hearing Committee will convene a Hearing Panel, according to the committee's established procedure, to review and investigate the student's case. Both student and faculty or administrator involved has the right to seek and submit supporting documentation. All evidence must be submitted to the Panel chairperson three business days prior to the hearing for review by all Panel members. A transcriber must be present at the hearing to record verbatim the entire proceeding. Neither party involved in the grievance may have an attorney present at the hearing. However, the student may bring one person for support but that person may not speak for the student prior to or during the proceedings After hearing all evidence, the Hearing Panel reaches a decision based on a simple majority rule. The chairperson of the Hearing Panel informs the student of the Panel's decision, in writing, no later than five business days following the hearing. Copies of this letter are sent, at the same time, to the faculty or administrator involved, the student's Program Director, and the Institute's President.
The decision of the IHP Hearing Panel is final. No IHP Committee, Program Committee, faculty member or administrator has the right to overrule the decision of the Hearing Panel.