Catalog 2024 - 2025 > Student Rights and Responsibilities > Student Grievance Policy and Procedure

Student Grievance Policy and Procedure

Students at Indian River State College have the right to seek redress of grievances through the proper channels. Any member of the College community may file a grievance with the Office of Student Life. Any allegation should be submitted as soon as possible after the alleged violation takes place, preferably within seven business days. Reports must be filed with the Office of Student Life within ninety (90) calendar days of the incident or knowledge about the incident. IRSC reserves the right to exercise professional discretion to extend this filing time in cases of harassment, endangerment, stalking or other behaviors that pose a threat to the safety, welfare or well-being of another person or the IRSC community or where the delay is related to victimization issues. However, filing this report does not mean the College will formally charge the accused with a violation. Whenever possible the College will attempt to resolve the matter through an informal resolution.

The President has established the following formal review committees to handle all forms of student grievances:

• Academic Review/Admissions Committee
• Appeals Committee
• Student Affairs Committee

Students in the Criminal Justice Institute do not come under the jurisdiction of the review committees named in the previous paragraph. Criminal Justice students must follow the Process for Disciplinary Review as described in the Criminal Justice Policy Manual. (Rev. 2022)

Procedure for submitting a grievance is as follows:

Students seeking review of a grievance should make a written request for review to the Student Ombudsman/Student Advocate by email at studentaffairs@irsc.edu. The Student Ombudsman is located at the Office of Student Life and can be reached by phone at (772) 462-4706.

As a respondent to allegations, in this process a student or member of a student organization has the following rights:

• To timely notice;
• Of a presumption that no violation occurred;
• To an impartial hearing officer;

• Against self-incrimination and to remain silent;
• To present relevant information and question witnesses;
• To have an advisor or advocate who is not serving in any other role; to have an advisor;
• To appeal the final decision;
• To receive copies of accurate and complete records of the relevant disciplinary proceedings; and
• To be notified through the code of conduct of the institution’s time limit for charging them with violations, and the circumstances under which the time limit may be extended or waived.

Academic Review/Admission Committee—This committee handles investigations into instructional matters, including but not limited to consideration of the waiver of academic rules. It is a committee which is established to hear cases and requests involving, among other things, petitions referred to the committee by any member of the College community and/or student body and also acts on all cases in which students do not meet stated requirements in matters concerning admissions or readmissions.

The committee's primary function is investigative; the committee makes no decision in the case of student petitions, but serves the sole purpose of recommending to the President various actions and conclusions including a candidate's appeal for readmission. The procedures and actions of this committee are established at the pleasure of the committee membership and generally follow the principles of Roberts Rules of Order.

The committee may entertain information from any resource it deems appropriate. This committee comprises one element in an established procedure for the purpose of due process at IRSC. In the course of its investigations the committee may bring to light other individuals or issues which it may decide are relevant and should be brought to bear on the case at hand.

A student, faculty member, or other member of the College community initiates an investigation by this committee by presenting a petition to the Associate Vice President of Student Life for academic review, admissions or appeals, for permission to present a case to the committee. The petition must state clearly in writing the petitioner's reasons for requesting an investigation. The Associate Vice President of Student Life is responsible for identifying the Committee Chair and membership.

The quorum shall be three-quarters of the membership. The committee's recommendation is sent to the President or designated representative. The individual who initiated the investigation may appeal the committee's recommendation by petitioning the Associate Vice President of Student Life. (See following Appeals Committee description for conditions under which an appeal may be instituted.)

Appeals Committee—This committee considers appeals from individuals who have been subject to actions that are a result of recommendations from the Student Affairs Committee, the Academic Review Committee, and other committees. This committee will hear appeals on only two conditions:

1. If the subsidiary committee has violated its own due process procedures.
2. If there is substantive new evidence to be presented which was not available to the subsidiary committee.

An individual seeking a hearing before this committee must state clearly in writing, to the Associate Vice President of Student Life, the reasons for appeal. If the committee members decide that the appeal is sufficiently based on one of the two aforementioned conditions, they may decide to hear the appeal. This committee's function is investigative, and it makes no decision in the case of petitions but serves the sole purpose of recommending to the President one of two available options. If an appeal is heard, the committee may recommend:

1. That the action of the subsidiary committee be upheld, or
2. That the case be returned to the subsidiary committee for additional consideration of the new evidence.

This committee's procedures and actions are established at the pleasure of the membership and generally follow the principles of Roberts Rules of Order. Material witnesses, resource persons, and the individuals making appeals may be present during the hearing, up to the point of committee deliberations. The Chair of the Appeals Committee is the Vice President of Student Success. The individual seeking appeal has the right to have an advisor, advocate or legal representative as an advisor. If attorneys are to be present, the committee will meet only in the presence of the Board of Trustee's legal counsel. Recommendations of the committee will be sent in private directly to the President of the College, and all activities and information within the committee hearing are completely confidential. This committee's activities are not subject to the Florida Sunshine Law as determined by a ruling of the Attorney General of the State of Florida. The membership of this committee is appointed by the President or his/ her designated representative. The membership is anonymous and remains anonymous.

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