Disciplinary Procedures

1    General

By signing an enrolment form, a student binds himself/ herself to abide by such regulations and codes of conduct as may, from time to time, be laid down for the maintenance of good order.  College and Health & Safety regulations will be displayed on notice boards, student handbooks, posters etc within the College.  All students will be presumed to have read these.

A student who contravenes any specific regulation or whose behaviour or conduct is in breach of standard of conduct deemed by the Principal to be reasonable and acceptable will have committed an act of indiscipline. In that event, and after having been given the opportunity to be heard, he/she may be:

a     formally reprimanded or
b     suspended from attendance at the College for a specified period or
c     expelled from the College

The action taken will be communicated to the student in writing and will be recorded in the student’s records.  A decision will be taken on any further appropriate action e.g. informing his/ her employer, school, managing agent, police or other party.

Students and staff should be aware that this policy covers Academic Matters, Behavioural Matters are dealt with separately.

The Depute Principal and Principal must be informed immediately of any suspension or expulsion.

2    Behavioural Matters

2.1  Misconduct

As outlined in Section 1 (General), senior members of staff, Head of  Department or Head of Faculty may officially reprimand a student following an appropriate investigation

a in the case of a full-time student, suspend him/ her for any continuous  period up to a maximum of 10 days excluding intervening Saturdays,  Sundays or holidays.

b in the case of a student attending under block release, suspend him/  her for any continuous period up to a maximum of 5 days, excluding  intervening Saturdays, Sundays or holidays  and any unexpired days of  suspension at the end of one “block” of attendance will be carried forward to the beginning of the next “block” of attendance.

c in the case of a student attending under day release, suspend him/  her for a period of up to a maximum of 3 days in College.

d in the case of an evening student, suspend or take action as is  considered appropriate.

In all cases, the day on which the student is suspended will be counted as the first day of the period of suspension.

* NOTES
1     Verbal and written warnings may be issued by Curriculum Manager,  Head of Student Services or Training & Employment Advisor, or a  more senior member of staff.  The locus of the Training and employment Advisor is only in regard to students from the National  Training programmes if there are contraventions of the programme regulations or if there are behavioural or disciplinary issues either in  college or on work placement.

2    Students may only be suspended by the Training & Employment  Advisor, Head of Faculty, Head of Student Services or a more senior   member of staff. The locus of the Training and Employment Advisor is  only in regard to students from the National Training programmes if  there are consultations of the programme regulations or if there are behavioural or disciplinary issues either in college or on work  placement.

3    Students may only be expelled by the Head of Faculty, Depute Principal or Principal.

2.2  Gross Misconduct

Any student guilty of committing an act of gross misconduct may be suspended or dismissed from the college.  The following list provides examples of offences which are normally regarded as gross misconduct:

• theft of property
• wilful action which could place any person in danger or could result in an accident
• unnecessary interference with Fire Alarm, Fire Extinguisher, Fire Door or Fire Notice
• acts of vandalism, violence or abusive language
• use of alcohol or drugs
• smoking on College premises
• direct or indirect discrimination, harassment or bullying
• accessing inappropriate websites

2.3  APPEALS

2.3.1 Right of Appeal

All Students have the right to appeal the outcome of a disciplinary action.

2.3.2 Appeal Process

Students who wish  to appeal must ensure their intention is received in writing by the appropriate person within 14 days from the day the decision was received by the student.  A meeting will be arranged as soon as possible, but not later than 14 days from the receipt of the student’s letter of appeal.

If the student fails to appear, unless the absence is supported by a medical certificate submitted before the time of the meeting, it will be presumed that the student has abandoned their appeal.

The student may wish to be accompanied, for example, by an employer, classmate, member of the Student Association Executive Committee. If so, the student and the person accompanying them (employer, classmate, SA Executive Committee member) will be heard.

Should a student wish to be accompanied to a hearing for suspension or expulsion by a solicitor, they must signify their intention to do so in their letter of notification of appeal.  In this case the College may also decide to have legal representation during the hearing.

Witnesses may be called and written evidence produced by either party, however, it will be the responsibility of the student to arrange for the attendance of witnesses they may call in support of their case.

The outcome of the appeal will be conveyed to the student in writing within 10 days.

2.3.3 Appeal Stages

The first stage of any appeal will be heard by a more senior member of staff than the member of staff involved in the disciplinary action.

STAGE	APPEAL TO
First	Head of Faculty or Depute Principal
Second	Depute Principal or Principal
Third	Principal

Having exhausted the College appeals system, dissatisfied students may appeal to the Ombudsman.