Section VII

Student Appeals and Responsibilities

4.1 Student Responsibilities

4.1.1 Responsibility Involving Academic Rights of Students (section 2.0)

When a student believes his/her academic rights have been violated, the student shall report the matter in writing to the appropriate division chair* as soon as possible and no later than ten calendar days after the first class day of the following semester. The student shall specify which right(s) enumerated in Section 2.0 have been violated. This letter is the formal notification that begins the appeals process. At this point, the division chair tries to resolve the case. If the case is not resolved within fifteen (15) calendar days, the division chair will refer the case to the chief executive officer.

If the student does not accept the decision of the chief executive officer or designee, the student has ten calendar days to request in writing a hearing before the College Appeals Board. (Refer to sections 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 for Appeals Board responsibilities, authority, and composition.) No new matter may be appealed which was not identified by the student in the original appeal to the division chair.

Please refer to flowchart: Appeals in Cases of an Alleged Violation of Student Academic Rights (Figure 1).

4.1.2 Responsibility Involving Academic Offenses (section 3.0)

When a student is believed to be guilty of any of the four academic offenses (3.1.1 – 3.1.4), a student will find information concerning responsibilities of college personnel in section 5.2.

In case of an alleged academic offense (section 3.1) by a student, the instructor shall notify the student in writing, explain the sanction to be implemented, and inform the student of her/his rights to appeal.

The student shall have ten (10) calendar days from the date of submission of the instructor’s notification in which to appeal in writing to the instructor’s division chair.* The student may appeal the fact of guilt for all three faculty sanctions listed in section 3.2.1 and other academic sanctions in section 3.2.2. The student may appeal the severity of the academic sanction which assigns a failing grade for the course.

Refer to flowchart: Appeals In Cases of an Alleged Student Academic Offense (Figure 2)

4.2 Student Rights During the Appeals Process (Academic Rights/Academic Offenses)

In cases of academic rights and academic offenses, the student shall have the right of class attendance and participation during the consideration of any appeal except that such attendance and participation may be limited when:

1. outside agencies are used as a part of the student’s educational experience, in which case precedence will be given to the terms of any agreement(s), which have been negotiated between the college and the agency; or
2. patient/client contact is involved in the student’s educational experience, in which case only patient/client contact may be limited or excluded at the discretion of program faculty.

If the appeal is decided in the student’s favor, the college must provide an opportunity for the student to complete any essential experiences missed due to the appeals process.

 

*chief academic officer responsibility if the student’s instructor is also the division chair (in case of a distance learning course, the instructor, division chair, chief executive officer, and all other roles shall be those of the college offering the course, the KCTCS Delivering Institution)