The primary purpose of the chain of command policy at the College of Nursing is to ensure that student concerns, complaints, or issues are addressed in a structured, respectful, and effective manner.
This policy is designed to:
Promote professional communication between students and faculty.
Resolve conflicts efficiently at the lowest possible level.
Uphold standards of conduct expected in the nursing profession.
Prevent administrative overload by ensuring that higher-level administrators are only involved when necessary
Policy:
All Nursing Program students are required to follow the established chain of command when addressing academic, clinical, or program-related concerns.
The required Chain of Command is as follows:
Faculty Member: The student must first address the matter directly with the relevant faculty member.
Program Director: If the matter remains unresolved, the student may escalate the concern to the Program Director.
Assistant Dean of Nursing: If the matter is not resolved by the Program Director, the student may bring their concern to the Assistant Dean of Nursing.
Dean of the College of Nursing: Only matters expressly referred by the Assistant Dean will be brought before the Dean.
Under no circumstances may a student bypass these levels and address program-related issues directly to higher administrative officers of the University, including, but not limited, to the Office of the President, without having first exhausted all steps outlined above.
Consequences for Non-Compliance
Violation of this policy is considered unprofessional conduct and will result in disciplinary action, which may include, but is not limited to:
Written warning placed in the student’s academic file.
Completion of a professional remediation plan for conduct.
Suspension from clinical activities or classes.
Referral to the Nursing Student Affairs Committee.
Dismissal from the Nursing Program in cases of repeated or egregious violations
In addition, a Chain of Command Violation Form will be completed by the Program Director or Assistant Dean and placed in the student’s official file as part of the disciplinary record.
Academic Grievance Procedure:
Academic Grievance Procedure:
It is assumed that most grievances will be resolved in conversation between students and their professors. Nursing academic appeal of a failing grade must be initiated NO LATER than 30 days after the end of the semester or term in which the grade was received. Requests for an appeal filed after the 30-day deadline will be automatically rejected from consideration.
The student identifies a concern during the progression of a course. (The student must initiate the Chain of Command Checklist – it must document each step of the process and must accompany any forwarded documentation).
The student contacts the Course Faculty within 10 days of the event causing concern.
The concern must be provided to the Course Faculty via St. Thomas email.
The concern email must include a description of the student’s concern. Include all documentation, as needed.
If the concern cannot be addressed by the Course Faculty, the Course Faculty will provide, to the Program Director, a report of the concern, interactions, and results via email (copy the student) within 5 business days of the student/faculty meeting.
The student will meet with the Program Director within 10 business days of the student/faculty interaction.
If the concern is not addressed by the Program Director, the Program Director will provide, to the Assistant Dean, written documentation via email describing the concern, the interactions to date, and the current result (copy the student) within 5 business days of the student/program director meeting with the next step:
Academic Concerns: Appeal filed and referred to Nurse Academic Integrity Committee (NAIC) (Include the Assistant Dean in the appeal as notification only).
Within ten (10) business days, the NAIC Committee will make a decision after evaluating the appeal for legitimacy of contributing factors and adequacy of the proposed plan of action to address the contributing factors that would enable the student to be successful in repeating the course and in future courses.
Possible actions made by the NAIC committee include: (a) approval of the appeal, (b) approval of the appeal with added requirements, (c) request revision of the appeal and/or action plan, (d) request for additional information from the student, faculty, or academic advisor, or (e) denial of the appeal. Any additional information or revisions needed may delay progression in the program.
The student, faculty, academic advisor, and the Dean of Nursing will be notified in writing within three (3) business days of the committee's decision.
If not resolved, the student will meet with Assistant Dean within 10 business days of the Program Director’s notification of the Assistant Dean regarding the student’s concern.
The student may request the Dean of the College of Nursing review of the concern, but the Dean may elect not to review the appeal based on the supporting documentation.
The student may appeal the final decision to St. Thomas University’s Academic Disciplinary Committee. *
Non-Academic Grievance Procedure:
Non-Academic Grievance Procedure:
When student issues/complaints involve incidences other than academic matters such as a grade’s dispute/appeal in a course, the student should report the issue to the Program Director (PD). Within five (5) business days, the Program Director must discuss, in private, the charges and evidence with the student. The PD will document their decision in writing to the student.
If the student is dissatisfied with the Program Director’s decision, the student may file an official appeal to the College’s Nursing Student Affairs Committee (NSAC).
Within ten (10) business days after receiving the student’s appeal, the Nursing Student Affairs Committee will convene to review the case details. Once the committee reaches a consensus and a final decision, a written notification is sent to the students, the instructor, the Program Director, and the Assistant Dean.
The student may request a Formal Appeal by the Assistant Dean by completing the Formal Appeal request and supporting documentation, interactions to date, and a copy of the NSAC decision.
The Assistant Dean will review the documents and interview the student within 10 business days of the Appeal application.
The Assistant Dean will render a decision within 10 business days of the student interview.
The student may request the Dean of the College of Nursing to review the Assistant Dean’s decision, but the Dean may elect not to review, based on the supporting documentation.
The student may appeal the final decision to St. Thomas University’s Academic Disciplinary Committee. *
*Students wishing to contest the Dean’s decision may submit a final appeal to the University Academic Disciplinary Committee by emailing: Dr. Pam Cingel, Vice Provost – pcingel@stu.edu
Chain of Command Checklist
This document must accompany each step of the process, before the student’s concern may progress to the next step.
Chain of Command
Date of Activity
Concern / Results of Discussion
Student Initials
Faculty Initials
Contact of Course Faculty
Contact with Program Director
Contact with Assistant Dean for next step(s)
Referral to NAIC Committee
Referral to NSAC Committee
Referral to Assistant Dean
Assistant Dean’s Decision Rendered
Referral to Dean by Assistant Dean
Dean’s Decision
Academic Disciplinary Committee*
Name
Initials
Name
Initials
*Students wishing to contest the Dean’s decision may submit a final appeal to the University Academic Disciplinary Committee by emailing: Dr. Pam Cingel, Vice Provost – pcingel@stu.edu
