BOT Speeds Up Suspension Appeals

The BOT decided Thursday to make the suspension appeal process quicker and asked that the University re-evaluate its policy on transferring credit during a suspension.

Trustee David Pardue made a motion to speed up the decision process on a suspended student's appeal by removing the policy of a full BOT vote on the appeal.

The BOT unanimously passed a new process in which a three-person panel, made of three randomly selected trustees, will decide on the suspension appeal instead of the entire BOT.

The old process involved a recommendation from the three-person panel but then required a full vote from the BOT. Because the appeal had to wait until a full BOT meeting for a decision, timing was often an issue.

The BOT meets every other month.

BOT Chairman Tim Burnett said there are numerous steps before the appeal comes to the BOT, so many appeals do not make it that far. But if the appeal reaches the BOT, it can take time to be decided on.

Pardue said the old process caused "timing delays that (weren't) necessary."

If an appeal is filed to the BOT shortly after a meeting is held, the student might have to wait for an extended period of time until the BOT convenes again.

This change in policy was sparked by a recent case in which a UNC student filed an appeal shortly after the BOT meeting in July. The student was unable to obtain a decision on his appeal until the meeting Thursday.

"As it was, he got the final ruling after the semester had started," Burnett said.

The student's suspension was upheld, but had it been overturned, it would have been too late for him to enroll in fall classes.

"A specific case prompted the larger question," Burnett said.

He said the BOT always votes in accordance with what the three-person panel decides -- so cutting out the full BOT vote would not change anything except the time it takes to decide on the appeal.

"The three-person appeal panel made of three trustees is empowered to act for the entire board rather than the board having to make a full vote," Burnett said. "The significance of that is timing."

Pardue also moved that the "University administration review its policy regarding the transferability to UNC of academic credits earned from other institutions during periods a student is suspended from the University for disciplinary reasons."

As the policy stands, students who attend another school while suspended from UNC do not receive any transferred credit for the classes taken at the other school.

Burnett said that there was a "bit of confusion" about the policy's standing.

"It was brought up as a matter of exactly how the system works," Burnett said. "It came up in the case that (BOT members) were hearing on appeals, and no one who was in the room at the time knew how it worked."

Pardue emphasized that the motion was not meant to suggest the University change its policy but rather review it.

Pardue said that if the University studies the policy and determines it doesn't need to be changed, that would most likely be the end of the issue as far as the BOT is concerned.

"We're asking them to study it and make sure the policy is sound," Pardue said. "Maybe it should be that suspended students should be encouraged to continue their education somewhere else.

"Someone needs to think about that policy and make sure it's the correct policy."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.