Identification of Concerns

If, at any time during the student's program, a member of the Education Department faculty believes that a particular student is not meeting one or more of the Education Department Retention Criteria, or has concern about a student's ability to successfully complete the Teacher Education Program, the faculty member may file a "Concern Notification Form" with the Education Department Chair. Under these circumstances, the following procedure is used.

• A "Concern Notification Form" is completed by the faculty member and submitted to the Department Chair.
  
• Immediately after the chair receives a "Concern Notification Form", the Education Department  Administrative Assistant solicits written input from all department faculty members.
  
• A copy of the "Concern Notification Form" is sent to the student along with a letter from the chair requiring the student to meet with the faculty person(s) who submitted the concern and the chair together.  At this meeting, facilitated by the chair, the following will take place:
  
• The faculty member(s) discuss(es) the concern along with the supporting evidence.
• The student is afforded an opportunity to respond to the concern and the supporting evidence.
• The faculty member(s), student, and chair collaborate in creating a plan to resolve the concern or plan to remediate problems that underlie the concern.
• The chair will accept or otherwise determine an appropriate resolution of the concern.
  
• After the meeting, the chair sends a formal letter to the student and the faculty member(s) specifying the decision and any further follow-up actions required.  A copy of the "Concern Notification Form", the letter, and all other pertinent documentation will be placed in the student's Education Department file.
• It is understood that the conditions of resolution are considered probationary.  That is, the student is placed on probation according to the plan for resolution.  The student must, therefore, send a letter notifying the Chair when and how the plan for resolution has been accomplished.  If the conditions of probation are not met, the Chair will formally notify the student of her/his termination for the Teacher Education Program.
• At the end of the probationary period or the completion of all follow-up actions required of the student (whichever comes first) the student will submit a letter to the Department Chair describing how the probationary conditions have been addressed.  Upon receiving the letter, the Chair will verify that the conditions have been satisfactorily addressed, and send a formal letter of finding to the student, her/his advisor, and the appropriate Office of Academic Advising.
   

It is understood that the student may appeal any decision affecting her/his status within the Teacher Education Program according to the Appeal Process.