III.P. – Students – 02-2022

The following policies and procedures are applicable to or for any person designated as a student at an institution under governance of the Board. A “student” means any person duly admitted and regularly enrolled at an institution under governance of the Board as an undergraduate, graduate, or professional student, on a full-time or part-time basis, or who is admitted as a non-matriculated student on or off an institutional campus.

1. Nondiscrimination

It is the policy of the Board that institutions under its governance must provide equal educational opportunities, services, and benefits to students without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, or veterans status, including disabled veterans and veterans of the Vietnam era in accordance with:

1. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq ., which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
2. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. 794, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of handicap in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
3. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq., which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
4. The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq., which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age in programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance.
5. Chapter 59, Title 67, Idaho Code, and other applicable state and federal laws.

2. Sexual Harassment

1. Each institution must establish and maintain a positive learning environment for students that is fair, humane, and responsible. Sexual discrimination, including sexual harassment, is inimical to any institution.
2. Sexual harassment violates state and federal laws and the Governing Policies and Procedures of the Board. “Sexual harassment” is defined by the regulations implementing Title IX at 34 C.F.R. § 106.30 (a).
3. Each institution must develop and make public procedures providing for the prompt response, in a manner that is not deliberately indifferent, to allegations of sexual harassment in the institution’s education programs or activities of which the institution has actual knowledge. Each institution’s policies and procedures must comply with the regulations in 34 C.F.R. Part 106.

3. Catalog and Representational Statements

Each institution will publish its official catalogue and admissions, academic, and other policies and procedures which affect students. (See also “Roles and Missions,” Section III, Subsection I-2.)

Each institutional catalogue must include the following statement:

Catalogues, bulletins, and course or fee schedules shall not be considered as binding contracts between [institution] and students. The [institution] reserves the right at any time, without advance notice, to: (a) withdraw or cancel classes, courses, and programs; (b) change fee schedules; (c) change the academic calendar; (d) change admission and registration requirements; (e) change the regulations and requirements governing instruction in and graduation from the institution and its various divisions; and (f) change any other regulations affecting students. Changes shall go into force whenever the proper authorities so determine and shall apply not only to prospective students but also to those who are matriculated at the time in [institution]. When economic and other conditions permit, the [institution] tries to provide advance notice of such changes. In particular, when an instructional program is to be withdrawn, the [institution] will make every reasonable effort to ensure that students who are within two (2) years of completing graduation requirements, and who are making normal progress toward completion of those requirements, will have the opportunity to complete the program which is to be withdrawn.

No employee, agent, or representative of an institution may make representations to, or enter into any agreement with, or act toward any student or person in a manner which is not in conformity with Board Governing Policies and Procedures or the approved policies and procedures of the institution.

4. Student Records

The collection, retention, use, and dissemination of student records is subject to the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, and implementing regulations. Each institution will establish policies and procedures for maintenance of student records consistent with the act and implementing regulations and will establish and make public an appeals procedure which allows a student to contest or protest the content of any item contained in his or her institutional records.

5. Full-Time Students

1. Undergraduate Student
   For fee and tuition purposes, a “full-time” undergraduate student means any undergraduate student carrying twelve (12) or more credits (or equivalent in audit and zero- credit registrations).
   1. Student Body Officers and Appointees
      For fee and tuition purposes, the president, vice president, and senators of the associated student body government are considered full-time students when carrying at least the following credit loads: (a) president, three (3) credits and (b) vice president and senators, six (6) credits.
   2. Editors
      Editors of student published newspapers are recognized as full-time students when carrying a three-credit load, and associate editors are recognized as full-time students when carrying a six-credit load.
2. Graduate Student
   For fee and tuition purposes, a “full-time” graduate student means any graduate student carrying nine (9) or more credits, or any graduate student on a full appointment as an instructional or graduate assistant, regardless of the number of credits for which such instructional or graduate assistant is registered.

6. Student Governance

The students at each institution may establish a student government constitution for their own duly constituted organization, which must be consistent with Board Governing Policies and Procedures. Each student constitution must be reviewed and approved by the Chief Executive Officer. Any amendments to the student constitution must also be reviewed and approved by the Chief Executive Officer .

7. Student Financial Aid

Each institution will establish policies and procedures necessary for the administration of student financial aid.

1. Transfer of Delinquent National Direct Student Loans. (See Section V, Subsection P)
2. Student Financial Aid Fraud
   Each institution under governance of the Board should, as a matter of policy, initiate charges against individuals who fraudulently obtain or misrepresent themselves with respect to student financial aid.

8. Fees and Tuition

1. Establishment
   Policies and procedures for establishment of fees, tuition, and other charges are found in Section V, Subsection R, of the Governing Policies and Procedures.
2. Refund of Fees
   Each institution will develop and publish a schedule for refund of fees in the event a student withdraws in accordance with regulations governing withdrawal.

9. Student Employees

1. Restrictions
   No student employee may be assigned to duties which are for the benefit of personal and private gain, require partisan or nonpartisan political activities, or involve the construction, operation, or maintenance of any part of any facility which is used for sectarian instruction or religious worship. No supervisor may solicit or permit to be solicited from any student any fees, dues, compensation, commission, or gift or gratuity of any kind as a condition of or prerequisite for the student’s employment.
2. Policies and Procedures
   Each institution will develop its own policies and procedures regarding student employment, including use of student employment as a part of financial assistance available to the student. Such policies and procedures must ensure that equal employment opportunity is offered without discrimination and that wage administration is conducted in a uniform manner. Such policies also must include a statement of benefits available to student employees, if appropriate.
3. Graduate Assistants
   Each institution is delegated the authority to appoint within the limitations of available resources graduate assistants in a number consistent with the mission of the institution. Graduate assistantships are established to supplement a graduate student’s course of study, with employment appropriate to the student’s academic pursuits.
   Each institution will establish its own procedures for appointment of graduate assistants which will include (a) qualifications, (b) clear and detailed responsibilities in writing, and (c) maximum number of hours expected and wages for meeting those requirements.
   Matriculation, activity, and facility fees for graduate assistants will be paid either by the student or by the department or academic unit on behalf of the student. Graduate students will be covered by appropriate insurance in accordance with institutional procedures for work-related illness or injury.
4. Hourly or Contractual Employment
   Each institution may employ students on an hourly or contractual basis in accordance with the needs of the various departments or units, available funds, and rules of the Division of Human Resources (or the University of Idaho classified employee system) or federal guidelines when work-study funds are used.

10. Student Conduct, Rights, and Responsibilities

Each institution will establish and publish a statement of student rights and a code of student conduct. The code of conduct must include procedures by which a student charged with violating the code receives reasonable notice of the charge and is given an opportunity to be heard and present testimony in his or her defense, and an opportunity to appeal any disciplinary action. Such statements of rights and codes of conduct, and any subsequent amendments, are subject to review and approval of the chief executive officer.

Sections 33-3715 and 33- 3716, Idaho Code, establish criminal penalties for conduct declared to be unlawful.

11. Student Services

Each institution will develop and publish a listing of services available to students, eligibility for such services, and costs or conditions, if any, of obtaining such services.

12. Student Organizations

Each student government association is responsible, subject to the approval of the institution’s chief executive officer, for establishing or terminating student organizations supported through allocation of revenues available to the association. Expenditures by or on behalf of such student organizations are subject to rules, policies, and procedures of the institution and the Board.

13. Student Publications and Broadcasts

Student publications and broadcasts are independent of the State Board of Education and the institutional administration. The institutional administration and the State Board of Education assume no responsibility for the content of any student publication or broadcast. The publishers or managers of the student publications or broadcasts are solely liable for the content.

14. Student Health Insurance

Students are responsible for making arrangements for coverage of their medical needs while enrolled in a post-secondary institution on a part- or full-time basis. Accidents, injuries, illnesses, and other medical needs of students (with limited exceptions in the case of student employees of an institution who experience workplace injuries within the course and scope of their employment) typically are not covered by the institution’s insurance policies. The types and levels of medical/clinical support services available to students varies among the institutions and among the local communities within which institutions conduct operations.

1. Health Insurance Coverage Offered through the Institution

   Each institution, at the discretion of its chief executive officer, may provide the opportunity for students to purchase health insurance through an institution- offered plan. Institutions are authorized to provide student health insurance plans through consortium arrangements, when this option serves the interests of students and administration. Institutions which elect to enter contractual arrangements to offer student health insurance plans (either singly or through consortium arrangements) should comply with applicable Board and State Division of Purchasing policies. Institutions which elect to offer health insurance plans to their students are authorized, at the chief executive officer’s discretion, to make student participation in such plans either optional or mandatory.

2. Mandatory Student Health Insurance

   Each institution, at the discretion of its chief executive officer, may require all or specified groups (for example, international students, intercollegiate athletes, health professions students engaged in clinical activities, student teachers, etc.) to carry health insurance that meets coverage types and levels specified by the institution. Administration and enforcement of any such health insurance requirements, and procedures for dealing with any exceptions thereto, lie within the authority of the institution presidents or their designees.

3. Other Medical Support Services and Fees

   Institutions are authorized to support or supplement students’ medical needs through services provided by college/university clinics, health centers, cooperative arrangements with community/regional health care providers, etc. In cases where such services are provided, institutions are authorized to establish optional or mandatory fees to cover the delivery cost of such services.

4. Financial aid considerations

   Any medical insurance or health services-related fees which are mandated by an institution as a condition of participation in any institutional program are considered a bona fide component of the institution’s cost of college and are a legitimate expenditure category for student financial aid.

15. Student Vaccine Informational Materials

Each institution shall provide current information on vaccine- preventable disease to each student at the time of admission or enrollment for classes. The information shall include, at a minimum:

1. symptoms, risks, especially as the risks relate to circumstances of group living arrangements for vaccine- preventable diseases that are known to occur in adolescents and adults;
2. current recommendations by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines;
3. information regarding where the vaccinations can be received; and
4. the benefits and risks of vaccinations, and specific information for those persons at higher risk for the disease.

16. Students Called to Active Military Duty

The Board strongly supports the men and women serving in the National Guard and in reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces. The Board encourages its institutions to work with students who are called away to active military duty during the course of an academic term and provide solutions to best meet the student’s current and future academic needs. The activated student, with the instructor’s consent, may elect to have an instructor continue to work with them on an individual basis. Additionally, institutions are required to provide at least the following:

1. The activated student may elect to completely withdraw. The standard withdrawal deadlines and limitations will not be applied. At the discretion of the institution, the student will receive a “W” on his or her transcript, or no indication of enrollment in the course(s).
2. One hundred percent (100%) of the paid tuition and/or fees for the current term will be refunded, as well as a pro- rated refund for paid student housing fees, meal- plans, or any other additional fees. Provided, however, that if a student received financial aid, the institution will process that portion of the refund in accordance with each financial aid program.

17. Student Complaints/Grievances.

1. The State Board of Education and Board of Regents of the University of Idaho, as the governing body of the state’s postsecondary educational institutions, has established the following procedure for review of institution decisions regarding student complaints/grievances:
   1. The Board designates its Executive Director as the Board’s representative for reviewing student complaints/grievances, and authorizes the Executive Director, after such review, to issue the decision of the Board based on such review. The Executive Director may, in his/her discretion, refer any matter to the Board for final action/decision.
   2. A current or former student at a postsecondary educational institution under the governance of the Board may request that the Executive Director review any final institutional decision relating to a student’s attendance at the institution, except as set for under paragraph iii. The student must have exhausted the complaint/grievance resolution procedures that have been established at the institution level. The Executive Director will not review complaints/grievances that have not been reported to the institution, or processed in accordance with the institution’s complaint/grievance resolution procedures.
   3. Matters involving a violation of an institution’s code of student conduct will only be reviewed if the basis for the request is that the institution substantially failed to follow its procedures resulting in a failure to give the student reasonable notice of the violation and opportunity to be heard, or to present testimony. Sanctions imposed by the institution will remain in effect during the pendency of the review.
   4. A request for review must be submitted in writing to the Board office to the attention of the Chief Academic Officer, and must contain a clear and concise statement of the reason(s) for Board review. Such request must be received in the Board office no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the student receives the institution’s final decision on such matter. The student has the burden of establishing that the final decision made by the institution on the grievance/complaint was made in error. A request for review must include a copy of the original grievance and all proposed resolutions and recommended decisions issued by the institution, as well as all other documentation necessary to demonstrate that the student has strictly followed the complaint/grievance resolution procedures of the institution. The institution may be asked to provide information to the Board office related to the student complaint/grievance.
   5. The Chief Academic Officer will review the materials submitted by all parties and make a determination of recommended action, which will be forwarded to the Executive Director for a full determination. A review of a student complaint/grievance will occur as expeditiously as possible.
   6. The Board office may request that the student and/or institution provide additional information in connection with such review. In such event, the student and/or institution must provide such additional information promptly.
   7. The Board’s Executive Director will issue a written decision as to whether the institution’s decision with regard to the student’s complaint/grievance was proper or was made in error. The Executive Director may uphold the institution’s decision, overturn the institution’s decision, or the Executive Director may remand the matter back to the institution with instructions for additional review. Unless referred by the Executive Director to the Board for final action/decision, the decision of the Executive Director is final.
2. The Board staff members do not act as negotiators, mediators, or advocates concerning student complaints or grievances.