MSCHE/ACOE Self Study

6.6.2 The program publishes and adheres to policies and procedures regarding student grievances and maintains records of receipt, investigation, adjudication and resolution of such complaints. Policies and procedures regarding student grievances are published in the Student Handbook as are policies regarding sexual harassment (Appendix E-8 or http://www.sunyopt.edu/current/PDF/StudentHandbook.pdf; pages 42-43 and 27- 28, respectively). Grievance policies/procedures for the residency program are published in the Manual of Procedures for Residency Programs (Appendix B- 18b, page 28). The College seeks to address proactively student complaints. Toward the end of a semester, the dean of academic affairs meets with the entire class and also with the class officers to solicit feedback regarding the educational program (page 15). The newly implemented curriculum, which is discussed in Section 2.4, provides an example of how student concerns related to the large number of courses during certain quarters and unnecessary redundancy of some material were elicited through this process and addressed. During the implementation of the new curriculum, the dean of academic affairs has employed online surveys and meetings with students to elicit feedback. (Examples of such surveys can be found in Appendices B-2a and B-2b). Based on this feedback, which is discussed at the bi-monthly track coordinators meetings, improvements in course scheduling have been made. The dean intends to administer similar surveys throughout the curriculum implementation process and beyond for quality improvement. In the case where there are allegations of unprofessional or unethical behavior, such as cheating, the complaint is referred to the Judicial Committee, which reports directly to the Vice President of Academic Affairs. Records of Judicial Committee proceedings are kept in the Registrar’s Office and maintained for at least six years following the student’s departure from the institution. Students can appeal the decision directly to the President. Policies regarding this process are published on pages 20-22 of the online Student Handbook (http://www.sunyopt.edu/current/PDF/StudentHandbook.pdf). Graduate Program The graduate program admissions policy is included in the Graduate Policy Document (page 3 at http://www.sunyopt.edu/research/docs/POLICYDOC.pdf or Appendix B-13). The VPSA is responsible for the integrity and quality of all admissions processes at the College. However, for the graduate programs, day- to-day administrative authority for the admissions process rests with the associate dean for research and graduate studies. This position reports to the vice president for academic affairs. Applications for the graduate program are reviewed by the Committee on Graduate Program, Policy, Admissions and Standing, which makes recommendations to the associate dean. The graduate program office works with the College’s admissions office to inform entering optometry students of the option to simultaneously pursue a graduate

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