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10.3.2 Student Academic Appeal Procedure

Student Academic Appeal Procedure[1]

Integrity is a foundational principle of a health professional. The MGHIHP Student Handbook defines the ethical standards of academic and professional integrity (see smartcatalogiq.com). The School of Healthcare Leadership requires the demonstration of integrity in the classroom when interacting with peers, faculty, and staff and when representing the SHL in the community and professional settings. The SHL also recognizes the student voice in the classroom and professional settings, and when administrative decisions impact a student’s academic progression. As a result, students may request an academic appeal for the following circumstances:

1. Violation of academic integrity (academic misconduct).

2. Review for exemption to a current academic policy.

3. Dismissal from an academic SHL program.

In all circumstances, students are strongly encouraged to discuss concerns with the relevant faculty member(s), advisor, Program Director, and/or Department Chair to seek satisfactory resolution of the concern. The Institute also provides students, who voluntarily seek it, access to an Ombudsperson who seeks to help students informally resolve conflicts.  If these informal attempts to resolve the concern are unsuccessful, then students may follow formal appeals procedures that are outlined below[2]: 

  1. Appeal submission
    1. To initiate an appeal following the fulfillment of respective SHL programmatic student grievance protocols, the student must submit a written request to the Dean of the School of Healthcare Leadership and to the Dean for Student Services within 10days of the grievance. Upon submission of a grievance, the student will receive a checklist of the grievance process steps that must be signed to acknowledge that they have received and read the form. The written request provides a summary about the circumstance, the policy enforced, and why an exception should be considered, along with all supporting documentation. Relevant information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) must be submitted via an encrypted server ..
    2. The Dean for Student Services and the Appeals Committee Co-Chairs[3] review the request within 10 business days of convening the Appeals Committee and determine if the student’s request meets the stated criteria for an Appeals Hearing. The School of Healthcare Leadership Dean, the Dean for Student Services, and the Appeals Committee Co-Chairs may request additional information from the student before deciding if an Appeals Hearing is warranted. Relevant information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) must be submitted via an encrypted server.
    3. After the review, a notice will be sent from the Dean for Student Services informing the student whether the Appeal Hearing will be granted or not. This decision is final and can not be appealed by the student.
  1. Initiating an Appeals Panel
    1. The School of Healthcare Leadership Dean will send notice of appeal to the faculty/staff named in the appeal submission and his/her Program Director or Department Chair. The notice will inform the faculty/staff about the appeal request and the name of the student involved.
    2. The Co-Chairs of the Appeals Committee will arrange the panel[4], schedule the hearing, and communicate the details about the hearing process to the student and faculty/staff involved. Hearings will take place within 10 business days of granting the Appeal Hearing.
    3. Faculty named in the appeal may submit documentation to be considered during the hearing. Submission of materials must be made four days prior to the hearing and be submitted to the Office of Student Affairs and Services (OSAS).
    4. OSAS will securely distribute all submitted documentation three days prior to the hearing to the Appeals Committee Co-Chairs, members of the Appeal Hearing Panel, the student, faculty/staff involved, the Program Director or Department Chair, the Dean for Student Services, and the Dean of the School of Healthcare Leadership.
  1. Appeal Hearing details
    1. The Appeal Hearing Panel will be comprised of three faculty members with  appointments in either the School of Healthcare Leadership, School of Nursing, and/or School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences; one of these faculty members will serve as Panel Chair. A fourth faculty member from the student’s program will serve on the Appeal Hearing Panel (but not the faculty member involved in the grievance).
      1. Individuals with conflict of interest will be recused.
    2. The student may bring one support person to the hearing, and the faculty/staff involved may also bring a support person. The support person cannot be a legal representative or lawyer and may not speak prior to or during the hearing. The names and contact information of any support person who will attend the hearing must be communicated to the Dean of Student Services three days before the appeal hearing.
  1. Appeal Hearing procedures meeting will be recorded and transcribed
    1. The members of the Appeal Hearing Panel will meet privately to review procedures and the submitted documentation immediately prior to the hearing.
    2. At the appointed time, the student, the faculty/staff member(s) and their respective support persons will be present for the hearing . (hearing will be recorded and transcribed)
    3. The student will present the facts and circumstances which led to the appeal request (20 minutes or less) and will exit the meeting room.
    4. The faculty/staff will enter the meeting room and present their response to the argument presented (20 minutes or less).
    5. Appeal Hearing Panel members may ask questions of all parties.
    6. After the Appeal Hearing Panel has concluded its questions, the hearing will conclude, and the parties will be dismissed.
    7. The Appeal Hearing Panel members will deliberate and determine whether the appeal has been successful and outline any recommendations for next steps based on such determination.
  1. Post-appeal communication
    1. The Appeal Hearing Panel Chair will communicate the determination and recommendations, if any, of the Appeal Hearing Panel to the Co-Chairs of the Appeals Committee, who then will communicate the recommendation in writing to the Dean of the School of Healthcare Leadership and copy the Dean of Student Services, within three business days of the hearing.
    2. Following receipt of the recommendation, the Dean of the School of Healthcare Leadership will communicate the final decision in writing to the student within 10 business days of the hearing, with copies sent to the Dean of Student Services, Program Director or Department Chair, Dean of Student Services, Registrar, and student file. This is the final decision and there is no appealing the decision of the Dean of the School of Healthcare Leadership.

[1] The information shared among the involved parties in the Student Academic Appeal Procedure is confidential.

[2] Narrative adapted from the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Student Academic Appeal Policy.

[3] The Appeals Committee from the School of Nursing will assist the School of Healthcare Leadership in this role.

[4] The Appeal Hearing Panel may be comprised of faculty in the School of Healthcare Leadership, School of Nursing, and School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.