NC State University

Residency Appeals Procedures

REG 01.25.7

Governance - General
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Authority: Issued by the Chancellor. Changes or exceptions to administrative regulations issued by the Chancellor may only be made by the Chancellor.

History: First issued, November 18, 2002. Endorsed by the University Council, November 18, 2002.

Related Policies:
A Manual to Assist the Public Higher Education Institutions of North Carolina in the Matter of Student Residence Classification for Tuition Purposes from the UNC General Administration.

Contact Info: Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (919-515-3151)

1. Introduction

In accordance with the requirements of A Manual to Assist the Public Higher Education Institutions of North Carolina in the Matter of Student Residence Classification for Tuition Purposes, the Chancellor has established the University Residency Appeals Committee. The University Residency Appeals Committee has been delegated the responsibility of reviewing and ruling on residency determinations when an aggrieved student requests an appeal.

2. Procedures

2.1. Any enrolled NC State student who is aggrieved by the residency determination may appeal the decision to the University Residency Appeals Committee.

2.2. Written requests for an appeal must be submitted to the undergraduate or graduate admissions office within 30 days of the mailing date of the decision. The card provided by the Admissions Office specifically for this purpose is sufficient to satisfy this requirement.

2.3. The student petitioner will be notified when his/her written request for a hearing has been received by the University Residency Appeals Committee. The Committee may review the petitioner's file before any hearing. If the Committee decides that the residency request should be granted, based on the file, the petitioner will be notified of this result and there will be no hearing and no further residency appeal proceedings. In all other cases, the petitioner may proceed with the appeal hearing and no final decision will be made until the petitioner has presented his/her evidence and arguments to the Committee.

2.4. The petitioner shall be informed in writing that he or she will be permitted to make a personal appearance before the University Residency Appeals Committee; however, his or her presence is not mandatory. Representation by legal counsel is permitted. If legal representation is to be used, the Committee must be notified of this intent (10) ten working days prior to the hearing, so as to allow the Committee to have legal counsel present.

2.5. The University Residency Appeals Committee may request the appearance of any person believed to have information pertinent to the inquiry, including the Director of Admissions. The petitioner may present additional written evidence prior to or at the hearing in his or her behalf.

2.6. The University Residency Appeals Committee will normally meet on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month. The Chair may call other meetings as necessary.

2.7. Decisions of the University Residency Appeals Committee will be by a majority of those present and voting. A hearing will not be conducted unless at least three members are present.

2.8. The Chair will inform the petitioner by mail of the University Residency Appeals Committee's decision and the reasons for the decision. If the Committee makes a decision adverse to the student, the student will also be informed that the decision may be appealed to the State Residency Committee, and the procedure to be followed to institute such an appeal.

2.9. The University Residency Appeals Committee will inform the Registrar, Director of Admissions, Office of Business Affairs, Graduate School (as appropriate) and Office of Financial Aid of its decision. A copy of the University Residency Appeals Committee's letter to the student will be included in the student's permanent folder.

2.10. Committee Membership

2.10.1. The University Residency Appeals Committee shall consist of six permanent members: the University Registrar, the Director of the Financial Aid Office, the Director of Student Accounts, the Director of Continuing Education, the Dean of the Graduate School, and a Chair who will be an Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, as appointed by the Chancellor. These permanent members shall serve on the University Residency Appeals Committee in the absence of replacements.

2.10.2. With the Chancellor's approval, any of the permanent members except the Chair may designate another person within his/her department as a replacement. The term of the replacement member shall be at the discretion of the permanent member. Upon conclusion of the term of a replacement member, a permanent member will automatically regain his/her seat on the Committee. The permanent member shall continue to serve on the Committee until another replacement is approved by the Chancellor.

2.10.3. Recommendations concerning replacements shall be forwarded to the Chancellor by the appropriate Vice Chancellor. The Chancellor will notify the replacement of the appointment.

2.11. Filing appeals with the State Residence Committee

2.11.1. Following final disposition of a case at the institutional level, notice of the decision shall be given to the petitioner in writing. A petitioner who remains dissatisfied with the disposition of the case may file notice of appeal to the State Residence Committee. Such notice must be in writing, must be delivered to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee within ten (10) days of the date of receipt by the petitioner of the Committee's decision, must contain a simple declaration of intention to process an appeal before the State Residence Committee, and must be personally signed by the petitioner.

2.11.2. Following receipt of notice of appeal, the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee shall compile the institutional record and transmit to the petitioner a copy of the institutional record with a letter acknowledging receipt of the petitioner's notice of appeal. The institutional record so transmitted shall contain all written materials which constituted a part of or the basis of the institutional inquiry, including the common informational form (questionnaire), together with any additional data or documentation deemed essential to a reliable determination by the responsible institutional official or office, any materials submitted with respect to the inquiry by the petitioner to the institution, and any materials generated by the institution in connection with the inquiry.

2.11.3. If, following receipt of a copy of the institutional record, the petitioner believes that the record is incomplete or defective (in that it either omits written materials which are a part of the institutional inquiry or that it includes written materials which were not a part of the institutional inquiry), the petitioner may, within ten (10) days of receipt of a copy of the institutional record, request modification of the institutional record by submitting through mail or hand delivery, such request to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee from whom the institutional record was received. If the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee agrees with the petitioner's contention, he or she will modify the institutional record accordingly and insure that the petitioner is notified in writing of and possesses the modified institutional record. If the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee does not agree with the petitioner's contention, he or she will so notify the petitioner in writing. The petitioner will then have the option to acquiesce in the institutional record as then constituted, or to state the petitioner's contentions relative to the contents of the institutional record in the statement of appeal prescribed in paragraph K (4) below. Failure of the petitioner during the 10-day period specified to object to the institutional record on the grounds set forth above shall permit institutional staff to proceed with the appeal on the assumption that the petitioner finds the institutional record to be properly assembled.

2.11.4. Within twenty (20) days of receipt by the petitioner of an institutional record whose contents he or she does not contest, or within twenty (20) days of receipt by the petitioner of written notice of institutional response to his or her contentions about the contents of the institutional record, the petitioner shall prepare and submit to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee, through mail or hand delivery, a written statement of appeal. This statement should set forth clearly and concisely the reasons for requesting appellate review beyond the institutional level and may also present contentions of the petitioner with reference to unresolved concerns he or she may have about the contents of the institutional record, an noted in paragraph K (3) above. The petitioner need not articulate reasons for appeal with legalistic exactitude; the petitioner should set forth a reason based in good faith upon his or her personal belief that it constitutes a substantial reason for making the appeal. The statement of appeal shall be limited in scope to the evidence and issues developed in the proceedings from which the appeal is taken and any arguments addressed thereto. It shall not include any factual allegations or assertions which were not made by the petitioner in the proceedings at the institutional level. In lieu of submitting a separate statement of appeal, the petitioner may request in writing that his or her notice of appeal serve also as a statement of appeal. This may be accomplished within the notice of appeal itself or by separate writing; provided, that whenever a petitioner objects to the institutional record as being incomplete or defective and the institution does not accommodate the objection by modifying the institutional record, the petitioner may include in a statement of appeal the grounds for the objection other than a recitation of the substantive information at issue. Any writing offered as the statement of appeal or as notice that another writing is to constitute the statement of appeal shall be personally signed by the petitioner.

2.11.5. Within ten (10) days of receipt by the institution of the petitioner's statement of appeal or notice that the notice of appeal is to serve also as the statement of appeal, the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee will compile the record on appeal and transmit it to: (a) the petitioner and (b) the Office of General Administration of the University of North Carolina. Because the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee will already have transmitted to the petitioner that part of the record on appeal designated in paragraph (2), above, as the institutional record, the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee may choose to send to the petitioner at this time only those elements of the record on appeal not previously transmitted to the petitioner. The choice of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee to do this shall be announced to the petitioner in writing when the remainder of the record on appeal is transmitted to the petitioner. With the record on appeal but not as part of it, the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee shall transmit to the petitioner and to the appropriate office handling appeals for the State Residence Committee that information or materials that at the time of transmission continue to be the subject of a contention by the petitioner concerning proper constitution of the record on appeal.

2.11.6. The record on appeal shall consist of:

2.11.6a. The statement of appeal. The Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee will, before forwarding the record on appeal, insure that the record on appeal contains either a separate statement of appeal or the petitioner's written request that the notice of appeal serve also as the statement of appeal. The record on appeal shall not be deemed definitive and official, and as a consequence will not be entertained, if it does not include the petitioner's statement of appeal.

2.11.6b. The institutional record as described in paragraph K(2) above.

2.11.6c. A letter from the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee transmitting the record on appeal and certifying the exact date down to which the petitioner's residentiary information had been viewed by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee as current and susceptible to consideration toward satisfaction of the statutory durational requirement of twelve months. The date so certified by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee shall not postdate the date on which final institutional determination of resident status was made on the petitioner's application, before the petitioner's appeal to the State Residence Committee.

2.11.6d. At the option of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee, a written statement setting forth the basis for the previous institutional disposition of the case, which shall be limited in scope to the evidence and issues developed in the proceedings from which the appeal is taken and any arguments addressed thereto. If, however, the petitioner has contested the composition of the record on appeal and the contention continues to be asserted at the time that the record on appeal is transmitted pursuant to (5) above, the written statement of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee may also address the petitioner's contention concerning composition of the record on appeal and its treatment by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or designee.