Montana Board of Regents of Higher Education
Policy and Procedures Manual
SUBJECT: GOVERNANCE AND ORGANIZATION
Policy 203.5.2 – Appeals
Effective May 16, 1966; Issued July 14, 2004
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I. Preamble:
A. The purposes of this procedural policy include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. To assure to the constituencies governed by or served by the board of regents,
the existence of
an administrative procedure to exercise any legal right due them from the board.
2. To assure the board of regents of higher education that the plenary authority they
maintain over
the Montana university system is exercised with knowledge of the facts relevant to
any decision.
3. To minimize litigation between the university system and its constituencies by
allowing the board
of regents to become informed as to any disagreement and to allow the board to exercise
its
authority to remedy a grievance.
II. Board policy:
A. Any party adversely affected by the final decision of a university president may
appeal, within thirty (30)
days of the president's decision, to the commissioner of higher education, unless
a board of regents’
policy or an employment agreement explicitly provides that the decision of the president
is the final
administrative review.
B. Persons alleging that a university system employee has acted in a fashion incompatible
with state
ethics or conflict of interest statutes may bring that matter to the attention of
the chief administrative officer
on the involved campus. A campus decision on such a complaint is appealable under
this policy once a
final decision has been rendered by the university president.
C. The commissioner may in his or her discretion limit the scope of review to procedural matters.
D. The commissioner may not substitute his or her judgment for the substantive decision
made by the
president, unless the president's decision was arbitrary and capricious, clearly erroneous
based on the
facts in the record, or violated some legally protected right of the appellant.
E. This policy does not apply to any matters which are subject to the grievance procedure
of a collective
bargaining contract.
F. Appeals of decisions made by the commissioner, including decisions made on appeals
of final campus
decisions, may be appealed to the board pursuant to procedure (F) below.
III. Procedures:
A. Appeals must be in writing, addressed to the commissioner, and shall contain the
decision being
appealed, and shall state the basis for the appeal, and the relief desired. Upon receipt
of the appeal, the
commissioner shall notify the party of the scope of review and the procedure to be
followed. The appellant
shall provide the president with a copy of all material sent to the commissioner.
B. A party must use the procedures established at the university level before appealing
to the
commissioner. In the absence of applicable campus procedures, the party may appeal
a determination by
a campus official to the immediate supervisor. Decisions of a campus chancellor are
appealable to the university president. The final administrative decision at the university
level is that of the president.
C. The commissioner may attempt to achieve an informal disposition of the appeal.
An informal
disposition is binding only if the appealing party and the president agree to the
proposed resolution.
D. Subject to the provisions of paragraph (E) the appeal will be decided based upon
materials submitted
by the appealing party and by the president. The parties to the appeal have no right
to introduce materials
or raise issues that have not been part of the university record. A full or partial
hearing may be conducted,
if
1. the right to a hearing is established by a board of regents' policy on the particular
subject matter;
or
2. failure to conduct a hearing would violate the party's constitutional due process
rights.
E. The commissioner may request that the parties submit additional materials or he
may on his own
initiative take notice of other relevant matters. The commissioner may remand the
matter back to the
university or he may affirm, reverse, or modify the university decision or he may
present the appeal to the
board for its consideration.
F. Within 30 days of the commissioner's decision a party may appeal the decision to
the board. Such
appeals must be in writing, be addressed to the board in care of the commissioner,
shall state the decision
being appealed, the basis for the appeal, and the relief desired. The commissioner
shall place the matter
on the board's agenda, though the board may choose not to entertain the appeal. If
the board accepts the
appeal, it will specify the scope of review and may request a full or partial hearing.
The decision of the
board affirming, reversing, modifying or refusing to hear the appeal is the final
administrative
determination.
G. No matters subject to this policy shall be considered final until the procedures
of this policy have been
used to present the matter to the board of regents. When a party fails to exercise
the appeal rights
guaranteed by this policy the party accepts the lower level decision as final and
waives the right to contest
the matter further.
History:
By-laws, Article VIII (rescinded February 15, 1977); Item 15-001-R0277, February 15,
1977 (rescinded). Item 21-003-R0778,
appeals; Montana University System, November 2, 1979, June 21, 1985, October 25, 1990,
September 28,. 1995, and May 16, 1996;
paragraphs renumbered July 14, 2004.