Report 370

DATE:

March 27, 2014

PARTIES:

Ms. V.M. (the Student) v. the School of Graduate Studies

Hearing Date(s):

March 25, 2014

Committee Members:

Ms. Andrea Russell (Chair)
Professor Elizabeth Cowper
Ms. Mainawati Rambali

Secretary:

Mr. Christopher Lang, Director, Appeals, Discipline and Faculty Grievances

Appearances:

For the Student Appellant:

Ms. V.M., the Appellant (“the Student”)

For the School of Graduate Studies:

Mr. Robert Centa, Lawyer for the Division
Ms. Jane Alderdice, Director, Quality Assessment and Governance
Professor Luc De Nil, Dean’s Designate
Professor Harry Elsholtz (LMP)

Appeal from the SGS’s decision to terminate the Student’s registration in the Ph.D program in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology. The Student appealed the termination to the Graduate Academic Appeals Board (GAAB), which dismissed the appeal. The Student then appealed to the Academic Appeals Committee. The Committee dismissed the appeal. The Committee noted that the Student raised no new evidence in her oral or written submissions that was either persuasive or relevant to the Appeal; all of the evidence raised at the hearing had either been addressed in the GAAB’s decision, or was irrelevant to the question of the reasonableness of the GAAB decision and of the SGS’s decision to terminate the Student’s registration. The Committee found that the Student’s allegation that the GAAB was biased against her was completely unsubstantiated, noting that the GAAB decision was thoroughly argued, reasonable, and substantiated by the evidence. The Committee noted that it found the decision of the SGS to terminate the Student’s registration to be entirely reasonable, particularly as the record indicated that this decision came only after numerous clear written and verbal warnings to the Student that her academic standing in her program was in jeopardy. The Committee also noted that the SGS’s policy at issue in this appeal was reasonable and its application of the policy was justified in this case. Appeal dismissed.