Any student has the right to submit to the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs a written report of a concern or complaint of any violation to the PHSU policies and/or professional ethic without any retribution or consequences.
Violation to PHSU regulations will not be tolerated. Verbal, psychological or physical abuse such as speaking insultingly, engaging in schemes to undermine the self-esteem of the person; or any discriminatory practices or adverse activity will not be tolerated.
Procedure
Any member of the academic community will report any incident of abuse or violation to PHSU policies. The incident should be reported to the Vice President for Student Affairs or designee.
The Vice President of Student Affairs or designee will gather all pertinent information on reported cases. Early communication and intervention will lead to the resolution of the incident.
If the incident is resolved, no further action will be taken. A description of the incident must be in writing. The report of a resolved incident will contain the description of the action plan followed. A follow up on the incident will be made between six or eight weeks to assure that there has been no retribution.
If the incident is not resolved, the Vice President of Student Affairs will appoint three members as Investigation Committee to re-evaluate the case. All parties involved will be informed of the composition of the committee and will have the opportunity to present any disagreement on the membership of the committee and the reasons for the challenge. If necessary; the School’s legal counsel will be notified of the case and will be kept informed of the progress of the investigation. The Investigation Committee will review the information and make a recommendation to the Vice-President for further action. The Vice President of Student Affairs will inform the student of the decision. The whole process should be addressed within three months.
After receiving the notification by the Vice-President, the student has the right to appeal the decision in writing to the President of PHSU within five working days.
The appeal, or Due Process presented below must be followed.
Appealing (Due Process)
The Vice President of Academic Affairs will evaluate the appeal and the investigation report. Rejection of the appeal by the Vice President of Academic Affairs is final. However, the Vice President of Academic Affairs may overturn the decision. If the Vice President of Academic Affairs has a reasonable doubt, about the student’s allegation or the investigation, he/she can appoint an Ad Hoc Committee, comprised of members of the faculty, student body and administration to reevaluate all evidence.
The Ad Hoc committee will notify the student in writing of the date and time when the case will be heard. The Ad Hoc committee has the discretion to re-interview the persons involved if necessary. The committee has seven (7) working days to submit to the Vice President of Academic Affairs its report.
The President will receive the Ad Hoc committee recommendations and make the final decision within forty-eight (48) hours.
All decisions, favorable or unfavorable, will be reported to the student in writing. All decisions made by the Vice President of Academic Affairs will be final.
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