Changes made to academic appeal policy
A new policy formed through a
collaboration of Fanshawe departments
has made the appeal process
a simpler task for students.
The new policy, Student Appeals A128, streamlines the appeal policy and establishes one standard appeal procedural system. All student appeals will be guided by this policy excluding the appeal of an eviction from residence (C207) and appeals of student fees (A132).
The policy will affect all students from all Fanshawe campuses.
Ben Cecil, the associate vice president of academics at Fanshawe, said the policy changes have been in the works for the past two years. He said the changes will have a positive impact on students who want to put forward an appeal.
“I think this policy, and all the processes that we’ve put in place, are by far the best I have ever seen. I’m really proud to be part of the process,” Cecil said.
The changes were made thanks to a collaboration, with committee members involving students, the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) executives, Ombuds, student services, faculty members from all regional campuses, administrators and more.
Students will now have seven business days after being informed of the issue to submit the first step of the appeal process called Step 1 Notice of Appeal form, according to a press release. It must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar. Only after this form has been submitted can a student meet with the chair or manager for the matter in question.
The press release emphasizes that all Step 1 forms are sent to the Office of the Registrar.
Creating a sense of consistency was the main drive behind the appeal policy changes. Cecil said the process is now streamlined and better for both the students and the college and is a much more equitable system.
“There’s a degree of consistency now because there were, for all appeals, different forms, timelines and activities… The process has remained essentially the same, but it enters a level of fairness and an opportunity for [students] to seek additional support in an appeals setting that they didn’t have in the past,” Cecil said.
Another change to the appeal policy is that students can now bring along a support person with them to a meeting at any stage of the process.
While a support person could be anyone, Cecil recommends students take advantage of the fact that FSU executives are able to speak on a student’s behalf for up to 10 minutes at every level of the appeal. Support persons can even openly coach a student during the process.
“It gives the student a higher degree of comfort in what is obviously an uncomfortable process,” Cecil said.
FSU VP finance Carlie Forsythe said she’s excited about being able to coach students and help them fight an appeal.
“We’re a union, that’s exactly what unions do. We fight for our own people,” she said. “It’s our job to best represent the students and get the results they want.”
FSU President Alan Bushell said all executives went through the training process to be a support person, so all a student has to do is approach VP External and Academic Affairs Maria Nikides, who will help match students with an executive to be their support person.
Bushell added that the knowledge the FSU executives have regarding the appeals process will be extremely valuable to students.
“The important part about this is having a peer with knowledge regarding [the appeals process]. An FSU rep will be able to empathize with students’ issues more than somebody who isn’t in the same situation,” Bushell said. “We’re a bridge. We’re the perfect bridge between the average student who doesn’t know anything about the appeals policy and the VP academic. We can see both sides.”
Another great change that Bushell said the FSU pushed for was to remove a $40 fee at Step 2 of the appeals process. An appeal used to cost a student $80, but with the removal of the fee at the second level students now only have to pay $40 in total at the final stage of the process.
Bushell said the votes in favour for the policy changes were unanimous, and that it is an incredible accomplishment to have established a policy that satisfies both the college as well as the FSU.
Any student looking to have an FSU executive be their support person they can contact Maria Nikides at fsuexternal@fanshawec.ca or 519-452-4109 ext. 6309. All Fanshawe students are welcome to visit the FSU office at SC2001 for assistance.
The new policy, Student Appeals A128, streamlines the appeal policy and establishes one standard appeal procedural system. All student appeals will be guided by this policy excluding the appeal of an eviction from residence (C207) and appeals of student fees (A132).
The policy will affect all students from all Fanshawe campuses.
Ben Cecil, the associate vice president of academics at Fanshawe, said the policy changes have been in the works for the past two years. He said the changes will have a positive impact on students who want to put forward an appeal.
“I think this policy, and all the processes that we’ve put in place, are by far the best I have ever seen. I’m really proud to be part of the process,” Cecil said.
The changes were made thanks to a collaboration, with committee members involving students, the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) executives, Ombuds, student services, faculty members from all regional campuses, administrators and more.
Students will now have seven business days after being informed of the issue to submit the first step of the appeal process called Step 1 Notice of Appeal form, according to a press release. It must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar. Only after this form has been submitted can a student meet with the chair or manager for the matter in question.
The press release emphasizes that all Step 1 forms are sent to the Office of the Registrar.
Creating a sense of consistency was the main drive behind the appeal policy changes. Cecil said the process is now streamlined and better for both the students and the college and is a much more equitable system.
“There’s a degree of consistency now because there were, for all appeals, different forms, timelines and activities… The process has remained essentially the same, but it enters a level of fairness and an opportunity for [students] to seek additional support in an appeals setting that they didn’t have in the past,” Cecil said.
Another change to the appeal policy is that students can now bring along a support person with them to a meeting at any stage of the process.
While a support person could be anyone, Cecil recommends students take advantage of the fact that FSU executives are able to speak on a student’s behalf for up to 10 minutes at every level of the appeal. Support persons can even openly coach a student during the process.
“It gives the student a higher degree of comfort in what is obviously an uncomfortable process,” Cecil said.
FSU VP finance Carlie Forsythe said she’s excited about being able to coach students and help them fight an appeal.
“We’re a union, that’s exactly what unions do. We fight for our own people,” she said. “It’s our job to best represent the students and get the results they want.”
FSU President Alan Bushell said all executives went through the training process to be a support person, so all a student has to do is approach VP External and Academic Affairs Maria Nikides, who will help match students with an executive to be their support person.
Bushell added that the knowledge the FSU executives have regarding the appeals process will be extremely valuable to students.
“The important part about this is having a peer with knowledge regarding [the appeals process]. An FSU rep will be able to empathize with students’ issues more than somebody who isn’t in the same situation,” Bushell said. “We’re a bridge. We’re the perfect bridge between the average student who doesn’t know anything about the appeals policy and the VP academic. We can see both sides.”
Another great change that Bushell said the FSU pushed for was to remove a $40 fee at Step 2 of the appeals process. An appeal used to cost a student $80, but with the removal of the fee at the second level students now only have to pay $40 in total at the final stage of the process.
Bushell said the votes in favour for the policy changes were unanimous, and that it is an incredible accomplishment to have established a policy that satisfies both the college as well as the FSU.
Any student looking to have an FSU executive be their support person they can contact Maria Nikides at fsuexternal@fanshawec.ca or 519-452-4109 ext. 6309. All Fanshawe students are welcome to visit the FSU office at SC2001 for assistance.
