Grievance and Appeals Procedure for Graduate Students

At Manhattanville, grievance procedures exist for graduate Education students who feel they have received truly biased or unfair treatment by a faculty member or by the School of Education administration.

1. If the student and faculty member or administrator cannot resolve any issue through direct discussion in a mutually satisfactory manner, the student should bring the matter in writing to the attention of the appropriate department chair, program director, or the Office of Graduate Advising.  Graduate Advising may refer the matter to the relevant department chair. This must happen within one semester of the claimed instance.  All appeals brought by students who have graduated must be made within 30 days of graduation.

2. If the matter cannot be satisfactorily resolved by the department chair or the Office of Graduate Advising, the student has the right to appeal to the School of Education Graduate Academic Standards Committee.  The student must bring the issue in writing to the Office of Graduate Advising, within five business days of the latest communication with the department chair or Associate Dean.  The Office of Graduate Advising will convene the committee as soon as feasible and present all material which the student wishes to submit to the committee, which will consult all parties, collect further information, and seek a solution.  The Office of Graduate Advising will communicate the results in writing to the student.

3. If the issue remains open, the student may appeal in writing to the Dean of the School of Education within five business days of receipt of communication from the Office of Graduate Advising.  The Dean will form an ad hoc grievance committee for a review, including the Provost, an Associate Dean, and one faculty member, either from the University or the School of Education.  The Dean will serve ex-officio. Each member of the grievance committee will be novel to the offense.  The committee will invite the student to a closed meeting. During this meeting, the committee will review all relevant evidence in reference to procedural unfairness or to any new evidence that might have resulted in a different decision.  The committee may uphold the finding and sanction, overturn the finding and sanction, or impose alternative sanctions.  The decision of the committee is final.  The decision of the grievance committee will be conveyed by letter to the concerned parties.