• The Academic Committee hears student petitions requesting waiver of one or more academic policies related to academic matters at the University of St. Thomas (UST).
• The Academic Committee also hears student grievances related to valid complaints against faculty members at UST.

• Valid student academic petitions relate to the published academic policies of UST.
•  Valid student grievances regarding a faculty member at UST include, but are not limited to, the eleven items identified in Section 6.6.9 of the UST Student Handbook. These include:
  
  • failure to provide a course syllabus and/or written statement describing the course content and objectives, method of determining the final grades, office hours and any other specific information relevant to the course or method of evaluation within the first full week of classes;
  •  failure to follow the syllabus and course description or to give adequate notice of changes in the planned conduct of the course;
  • consistent digression from the proper content of the course without sound academic reason and/or failure to cover the necessary content of the course;
  • failure to correlate examinations to the course content announced in the syllabus;
  • consistent failure to grade and return assignments in a timely fashion or with adequate explanation of the grade assigned;
  • failure to assign grades equitably;
  • failure to follow the announced grading policy;
  • consistent failure to be present and prepared for scheduled classes, to inform students of changes in the schedule or to provide alternative coverage for classes;
  • consistent failure to be available to students for office hours;
  • failure to protect the privacy of students or to respect the confidentiality to which
    they are entitled;
  • failure to abide by those University policies which guarantee the orderly and
    equitable conduct of academic course work.

• The Committee will meeting on the last Thursday of the month during activity period (12:30-2) during the spring and fall semesters only if properly and timely-filed petition(s) are pending. Special meetings for a maximum of two hours may be called as necessary at the discretion of the Chair.
• The regular meeting schedule and a timeline will be posted and available on the UST Registrar’s webpage and available through the office of the VPAA.
• Copies of the minutes of the meeting will be on file with the Registrar and are provided to the VPAA.
• The Committee will hear only those petitions filed by no later than ten days before the next scheduled meeting of the Committee.
• Hearings of student petitions or grievances will ordinarily be scheduled every half hour with a maximum of three per meeting.

Committee Membership

• The names of the members of the Committee will be published on the Registrar’s webpage and will be available through the VPAA’s office.
• The Committee will elect a chair for the next academic year, from among those faculty members with at least one year of experience on the Committee, during the April meeting of the prior spring semester.

Student Responsibilities

• The student must petition within one calendar year of disputed situation.
• The student must provide evidence of having followed the procedure for unresolved disputes, i.e., 1) meet with relevant instructor; 2) meet with department chair; 3) meet with dean of the school concerned, before filing a petition with the Committee.
• The student is responsible for filing any academic petition or grievance, which includes securing and submitting all forms and documents to the Registrar, in a timely and complete manner, according to the published schedule.
• Students are not permitted to contact members of the Committee, other than the Registrar, under any circumstances related to Committee business. Contact with the Registrar is limited to clarification of procedures.

Forms and Signatures

• All petition forms and supporting documents must be completed in full, including required appropriate signatures, in order to be considered by the Committee.
•  Permission forms for transfer-credit for courses taken off campus must be signed by the department chair and the dean of the school and dated PRIOR to taking the courses.

Registrar Responsibilities

• Upon receipt of a completed petition or grievance packet, the Registrar will inform all involved/interested parties related to the petition or grievance of the date, time and place of the meeting at which the petition or grievance is scheduled to be heard, within three business days of receipt of materials.
• The Registrar will send copies of all submitted materials to the Committee members within three business days of receipt.

Committee Chair Responsibilities
At the beginning of each petition or grievance heard, the Chair of the Committee will inform parties present of the published procedures of the Committee.

Hearing Procedures

• All involved/interested parties related to the petition or grievance may choose to be present for the fact-finding portions of the Committee meeting.
• Only Committee members may address remarks to or question any/all involved/interested parties related to the petition during the Committee meeting. 
• Petitioner/Aggrieved Student
  • may choose to be present at the hearing. 
  • may choose to bring only witnesses with direct knowledge of, and bearing on, the specific petition or grievance. Any exceptions require prior permission from the Committee Chair.
  • may be asked at the meeting to provide a brief oral summary of the purpose, background and desired resolution of the petition or grievance.
  • will be prepared to be questioned by Committee members.
  • will be excused from the deliberations portion of the meeting.
  • will be informed of the Committee's decision by  U.S. mail from the Registrar. The Registrar will send the letter within two weeks.
• Faculty Respondent
  • may choose to review the petition or grievance and all related materials prior to the meeting by consulting with the Registrar.
  • may choose to be present at the hearing.
  • may choose to bring only witnesses with direct knowledge of, and bearing on, the specific petition or grievance. Any exceptions require prior permission from the Committee Chair.
  • may choose to provide additional materials directly related to the petition or grievance to the Committee via the Registrar no later than one week before the scheduled hearing
  • may be asked at the meeting to provide a brief oral statement of response to the petition or grievance.
  • will be prepared to be questioned by the Committee.
  • will be excused from the deliberations portion of the meeting.
  • will be informed of the Committee’s decision by interoffice mail from the Registrar within two weeks.

Summer Submissions of Petitions and Grievances
The VPAA acts in lieu of the Committee during summer sessions.

Appeals
Students may appeal decisions of the Academic Committee to the VPAA. Appeals must be made in writing and received by the VPAA no more than 14 calendar days after being informed of the decision of the Committee.

• Every offense against academic honesty seriously undermines the teaching-learning process vital to the University. Faculty must be acquainted with the University's "Policy on Academic Dishonesty" found in the Undergraduate Catalog.
• Faculty are responsible for ensuring that high ethical standard prevail in all academic matters and for initiating the process, according to the guidelines, that deals with cases of alleged academic dishonesty.

• Cheating on an examination or test, for example by copying from another's paper or by using unauthorized materials before or during the test;
• Plagiarism, which one represents as one's own the work of another, whether published or not, without acknowledging the precise source;
• Knowing participation in the academic dishonesty of another student even though one's own work is not directly affected;
• Any conduct which reasonable persons in similar circumstances would recognize as dishonest in an academic setting.

• The original signed report will be submitted for the record to the Registrar, who will keep it in a locked confidential file until the student graduates.
• The case will be treated as a matter of deferred adjudication--if and when the student graduates, the record will be expunged.

Procedure When There is an Appeal 

• Graduate Student: A student whose appeal concerns a graduate course will appeal, in order, to the program director, the relevant dean, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Undergraduate Student: A student whose appeal concerns an undergraduate course must write a letter of appeal to the Registrar within three days of receiving notice of the charge. The Registrar will notify the chair of the Academic Committee.
  • The chair will schedule a special meeting of the committee in a timely manner but no later than 30 days and will notify the student and the faculty member accordingly.
  • Copies of all pertinent written evidence will be submitted to the members of the committee a minimum of one week prior to the scheduled meeting.
  • The committee may rule on the appeal immediately or first schedule a hearing. If the committee chooses to conduct a hearing, it will proceed as follows:
    • The student may bring a member of the faculty to serve as an advocate during the hearing.
    • The student and the professor may each bring witnesses to speak to the facts of the alleged offense. Ordinarily the number of witnesses should not be more than two for each party; they must have direct knowledge of the alleged offense.
    • The student, the faculty advocate (if one is brought), and the professor will be present for all aspects of the hearing except the committee's deliberations.
  • The hearing will be conducted by the chair of the committee in the following manner:
    • The chair will ask the parties present to provide a more detailed statement of the circumstances and evidence than has already been filed in writing. Members of the committee may then ask questions for further information or clarification.
• Witnesses to support the allegation will be heard one at a time. After a witness' initial presentation, questions may be put in the following order: by members of the committee, by the student and the faculty advocate, by the professor, by members of the committee.
• Witnesses to support the appeal will be heard one at a time. After a witness' initial presentation, questions may be put in the following order: by members of the committee, by the professor, by the student and the student advisor and by members of the committee. 
• The professor and then the student will each be given the opportunity to make a final statement to the committee regarding their respective positions in the matter, after which they will be withdrawn to allow the committee to deliberate.
• Should the hearing be lengthy, the chair will have the option of postponing the committee's deliberations for not more than three working days.
• The chair will report the committee's decision to the Vice President for Academic Affairs who will notify in writing the professor and the student. The report of the decision will be handled in the same way as the report in "Procedure When There Is No Appeal" described above.

Procedure in Second Offense Cases: 

• Initially, second offense cases will be treated according to the procedures outlined above.
• When a second charge of academic dishonesty has been upheld against a student, the student shall be dismissed from the University without the possibility for readmission. The transcript will note "Dismissed for Academic Dishonesty, Not Eligible to Return," with the date.