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Appealing an Academic-, Conduct- or Complaint-Related Decision

In the event that a student wishes to appeal a decision, appeals are reviewed by the Pratt Professional Programs Appellate Panel and the following procedures govern the appeals process.

Pratt Professional Programs Appellate Panel Composition and Authority

The Pratt Professional Programs Appellate Panel will consist of the following leadership of the Pratt School:

  • Associate Dean for Research (Appellate Panel Chair)

  • Associate Dean for Doctoral Education

  • Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education

This Panel will review appeals of decisions that relate to academic performance, admissions revocation, program complaints, academic and non-academic misconduct. For the purposes of this procedure document, the above issues are implied by the phrase “academic-, conduct-, or complaint-related decisions.”

Appeal Timeline

An appeal must be filed in writing with the Pratt Professional Programs Appellate Panel no more than 10 calendar days after a decision has been formally communicated by the Associate Dean for Masters and Professional Programs to the student in question. Appeals must follow the procedures below (see “Appeal Statement”).

Grounds for Appeal

An appeal is not a re-hearing of a case. There are two admissible grounds for appeal:

  1. New information not reasonably available at the time of decision that is material to the decision is now available; and/or

  2. Procedural error(s) that materially impacted the decision occurred.

Appeal Statement

Academic-, conduct-, and complaint-related decisions from the Associate Dean for Masters and Professional Programs will contain instructions on how to submit an appeal statement. All appeals must:

  1. Clearly state the ground(s) for appeal.

  2. Not exceed more than two (2) pages (12-point font, 1-inch margins).

No information or correspondence initiated by the appellant beyond the Appeal Statement will be considered in the Appellate Panel’s review.

The Appellate Panel Chair may request meetings with the appellant and/or other parties at the Chair's discretion.

The Associate Dean for Masters and Professional Programs will prepare a one (1) page response statement to accompany the appellant’s appeal statement, for review by the appellate committee.

Appeal Exceptions

The appellant may submit to the chair requests for exceptions to page limits or deadlines within 7 days of the original decision that is being appealed was formally communicated by the Associate Dean for Masters and Professional Programs to the student in question.

Exceptions must be requested in this period by sending an email to the Appellate Panel Chair, with justification for such request(s). If either party fails to meet a deadline or exceeds page limits without receiving an exception, the Appellate Panel Chair has the discretion to summarily reject an appeal or the appellate panel may disregard the response.

Appeals Decisions

Appeals decisions will be determined by a majority vote of the Appellate Panel.

The Appellate Panel Chair will typically notify the parties of its decision regarding an appeal in writing within 20 business days from receipt of the appeal statement. If the decision will take longer, the Chair will inform the parties.

The Appellate Panel Chair will provide written notification of the final decision to the appellant (and appellee, if applicable, at approximately the same time).

The Appellate Panel decision is the final avenue for appeal.

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