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APPIC STANDARDS AND REVIEW
COMMITTEE (ASARC)
PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING GRIEVANCES AND VIOLATIONS
OF APPIC POLICIES
- Jurisdiction of the APPIC Standards and Review
Committee (ASARC)
- ASARC may accept complaints,
filed by an internship or postdoctoral applicant, intern, postdoctoral resident,
internship or postdoctoral staff/faculty, or other interested party, about violations:
- of Match Policies;
- of the Match
Agreement; and
- of other APPIC policies.
- Where
ASARC has no jurisdiction, it may recommend that the Board refer the complaint
to the appropriate entity.
- Responsibilities of
ASARC
- Consult to determine whether a complaint
is within ASARC's jurisdiction.
- Investigate alleged violations
of APPIC policies and procedures determined to be within ASARC's jurisdiction.
- Advise the APPIC Board of Directors as to whether a policy violation
has or has not occurred.
- Recommend an appropriate response
to the APPIC Board of Directors.
- ASARC Membership
and Terms of Office.
- ASARC will be comprised of
at least three members from the APPIC constituency plus one ex-officio member
from the APPIC Board of Directors.
- Members will
be appointed by the APPIC Board of Directors.
- The APPIC
Board of Directors will appoint a Board member to serve as a representative to
ASARC. This Board member will participate in ASARC deliberations, but will not
be a voting member of ASARC.
- The Board of Directors will
appoint a Chairperson of ASARC to serve a one-year, renewable, term (January-December).
- Terms of office
- The term
of each member ordinarily will be three years.
- When all
ASARC members are appointed simultaneously, the terms may be staggered to provide
continuity on the committee.
- Service on ASARC is limited
to two consecutive terms, which must be followed by a three-year interval before
a Committee member is eligible to serve another term. This limitation does not
apply to the terms of members appointed to fill vacancies on the committee created
by the early resignation of a committee member, or to the terms of the non-voting
Board member.
- ASARC Meetings
- ASARC may meet face-to-face annually, or more often as needed, but only if
the press of ASARC business requires such face-to-face meetings.
- Business at other times shall be conducted by telephone conference, e-mail,
or written correspondence.
- A quorum at all such meetings
shall consist of a majority of the voting committee members.
- ASARC
may recommend sanctions in any type of meeting (whether by e-mail, face-to-face
meetings or conference calls).
- ASARC must create a written
record of any discussion that results in any recommendation.
- ASARC
Autonomy and Authority
- All ASARC recommendations
are advisory to the APPIC Board of Directors.
- ASARC will
conduct its own investigations.
- ASARC shall require an alleged
violator to respond in writing within 30 days of the date of an ASARC letter requesting
such a response, unless the alleged violator, prior to the end of the 30-day period,
requests a reasonable extension of that time in writing, showing good cause for
such an extension.
- ASARC may require a complainant to provide
additional information as necessary for ASARC to investigate or process a complaint.
- Lack of cooperation by an alleged violator will not delay ASARC's
deliberations and, even without establishing a violation, may result in an ASARC
recommendation to sanction the alleged violator solely for such lack of cooperation.
- Procedures for Problem Resolution
- Definitions
- Complainant. Person(s)
or organization(s) who files a formal complaint; or who requests help in resolving
a problem or alleges a violation of APPIC policies.
- Alleged
violator. Individual(s) or organization(s) against whom a complaint is directed.
- Informal complaint. Verbal or written allegations of a violation
of APPIC policy, effective at the time of the alleged violation, except for APPIC
membership policies. A complainant should present an informal complaint to the
person designated by APPIC to handle such complaints.
- Formal
complaint. Written allegations of a violation of APPIC policy, effective at the
time of the alleged violation, except for APPIC membership policies.
- Filing A Complaint
- Prior to
filing a formal complaint about an APPIC policy violation, a complainant should,
as appropriate, avail him/herself of the informal complaint process, by contacting
the person designated by APPIC to handle such complaints.
- Complainant's initiation of the informal complaint process within 60 days
of the alleged violation, or within 60 days after Complainant knew or should have
known of the alleged violation, will satisfy the timeliness requirements for filing
a formal complaint.
- If the informal complaint process is
not successful, the complainant should describe the complaint, as completely and
specifically as possible, in narrative form, and may consult the ASARC Policies
and Procedures to identify the APPIC policy or policies allegedly violated. Or
he/she may consult the persons above for assistance in identifying the policy
or policies allegedly violated.
- To initiate the
formal complaint process, the complainant must complete fully the ASARC
complaint form (available from the APPIC web site or from the APPIC Central
Office). A complainant's failure to provide adequate information may preclude
ASARC investigation and processing of a complaint, or may result in dismissal
of the complaint.
- Time limits
- Complaints must be postmarked no later than 60 days after the date of the
alleged violation or after the complainant knew or should have known of the alleged
violation, whichever is later, unless Complainant, in writing, shows good cause
for submitting a complaint after that date.
- Where the Complainant
shows he/she has a reasonable fear of retaliation for filing a complaint relating
to the Match, internship, or postdoctoral program, the Complainant may file such
a complaint within 30 days after the completion of the Match, internship program,
or postdoctoral program. The complainant should describe in the complaint the
basis for his/her reasonable fear of retaliation.
- ASARC
will send all correspondence related to ASARC complaints, including correspondence
closing a case, by registered mail, return receipt requested, or commercial delivery
service; complainants and alleged violators are urged to do likewise. It is the
responsibility of the parties involved to ensure that ASARC receives all pertinent
correspondence.
- ASARC Action
Upon Receipt of the Complaint Form
- The ASARC Chair
shall:
- Acknowledge receipt of the complaint within
15 days.
- Review the complaint prior to sending it to the
Committee for investigation and, if necessary or appropriate, request additional
information from the complainant.
- Recommend to the Board
that it reject any complaint that is-
- Untimely
without good cause shown;
- Not within ASARC's jurisdiction;
- Incomplete; or
- On its face completely without
merit or frivolous.
- After consultation with ASARC
Committee members, recommend to the Board that it reject a complaint that ASARC
does not believe warrants further consideration.
- Assign a case coordinator
for any complaint if the ASARC Chair does not recommend that the Board reject
the complaint.
- Investigation of the complaint
- The case coordinator will gather pertinent information
about the complaint.
- The case coordinator will
notify the internship or postdoctoral training director, as appropriate, of a
complaint, and will attempt to seek informal resolution of the complaint.
- The case coordinator will contact other internship or postdoctoral
personnel only when he/she determines it is necessary to gather pertinent facts
and, in those instances, will inform the internship or postdoctoral training director
in advance.
- The alleged violator must respond to the allegations
within 30 days from the date of the letter from the case coordinator.
- The case coordinator, as appropriate at this stage, will once
more seek informal resolution of the complaint.
- The case
coordinator will present the information, along with his/her comments to ASARC,
within 30 days from the date the investigative file is complete.
- ASARC investigations will continue independent of an alleged violator's
request for a delay or for further information.
- ASARC
Evaluation of Complaints
- No finding of violation
- If ASARC determines that the alleged behavior does not
constitute a violation of APPIC policy, the ASARC Chair shall communicate this
finding to the Board.
- The complainant then may amend the
complaint, only if he/she, within 30 days from the date of the Board's letter,
provides new information that was not discovered or could not have been reasonably
discovered at the time of the initial complaint.
- If the
complainant does not provide new information within 30 days from the date of the
Board's letter, the Board will instruct ASARC to close the complaint, and so inform
the complainant.
- Insufficient information for
a determination
- If ASARC decides it has insufficient
information to determine whether the alleged behavior reasonably suggests a violation
of APPIC policies, the case coordinator may request further information from the
complainant.
- The complainant must respond within 30 days
from date of the case coordinator's request.
- Upon receipt
of the additional information, and based on the case coordinator's investigation,
ASARC will decide whether to pursue the complaint further or recommend any action
to the Board.
- If the complainant fails to provide information
within 30 days from the date ASARC requested additional information, ASARC may
recommend to the Board that it close the case.
- ASARC
Recommended Sanctions Where It Finds a Policy Violation
- Factors ASARC may consider when making recommendations to the APPIC Board
of Directors may include, but are not limited to-
- Intent;
- Consequences
to individuals or the profession; and
- Single or multiple
occurrences.
- Effective date of sanctions is the
date of the letter informing the alleged violator of the APPIC Board's final decision.
- Types of sanctions
- Private actions
- Directive, a private, written statement only to the training
director when ASARC has determined an inadvertent, technical, or otherwise minor
violation of APPIC policy occurred, that does not warrant a more severe sanction
than a directive.
- Reprimand, a private written statement
to the internship or postdoctoral training director with copies to the training
or postdoctoral training director's immediate supervisor when ASARC has determined
a policy violation has occurred with ramifications beyond the complaint at issue.
- Reprimand with monitoring, a private written statement to the
internship or postdoctoral training director, with copies to the internship or
postdoctoral training director's immediate supervisor, when ASARC has determined
a policy violation has occurred with ramifications, which requires more than merely
a reprimand. ASARC will monitor for a period not to exceed one year, requiring
written reports from the site, as deemed appropriate by the Board, as to how the
site resolved the problem.
- Public Actions
- Censure, a public written statement to the training director
and other appropriate administrators, when ASARC has determined a policy violation
occurred that warrants a more severe sanction than a reprimand.
- The date of the censure will be the date of the Board of Director's final
decision, and will be in effect for one year.
- The Board
will inform in writing all APPIC members and Directory subscribers announcing
the public censure.
- Notice of the public censure will be
published in the APPIC Directory and/or website; and in two consecutive issues
of the APPIC newsletter most closely following the APPIC Board's censure decision.
- Censure does not affect current membership.
- Probation,
incorporates the conditions of a censure described above and involves ASARC monitoring,
during the censure period, of the degree to which the alleged violator resolves
the problem and complies with APPIC's policies. Probation does not affect current
membership.
- Expulsion, whereby the Board removes the member
from its membership roster (APPIC Bylaws, Art. V, Sec. 4); and reports this violation
in the APPIC Directory and/or website and two issues of the newsletter.
- Referrals to relevant state, provincial, or national
associations, boards or other appropriate bodies, alone or in addition to any
of the above sanctions.
- APPIC Board
Consideration of ASARC Recommendations of a violation or no violation
- The APPIC Board of Directors will consider each ASARC recommendation.
- As to each ASARC recommendation, the APPIC Board will make the
final decision regarding whether a violation occurred and the sanctions, if any,
it will impose. The Board also may instruct ASARC to gather additional information
or conduct additional investigation prior to making its final decision.
- Closing and reopening a case
- If
the APPIC Board decides to close a case, the Board Chair will so inform the complainant
and the alleged violation.
- Once the APPIC Board has closed
a case, it may not be reopened except under compelling circumstances. Such compelling
circumstances occur where sufficient evidence exists that the alleged violator
deliberately or knowingly has withheld information material to the complaint,
or where new information becomes available that the complainant reasonably could
not have discovered before.
- Procedural
Steps After the Board's Final Decision
The Board Chair will inform
the complainant, the alleged violator, and all other relevant persons of the Board's
final decision on the complaint.
- Appeal of the Board's Decision
- Appeal by complainant
- To
appeal, the complainant must, within 30 days of notification of the Board's decision,
provide the Board with significant new information or evidence of a violation
of APPIC policy that the complainant did not discover or could not reasonably
have discovered at the time of the initial complaint.
- The
Board Chair will inform the ASARC Chair if the complainant appeals.
- Appeal by the Alleged Violator
- The
alleged violator may request a review of the APPIC Board's decision by submitting
to the Board in writing, within 30 days of that decision, a request for an appeal
of the decision, including the reasons he/she disagrees with the Board's decision
on the complaint.
- The Board Chair will inform the ASARC
Chair if the alleged violator appeals.
- APPIC Board
Response to an appeal
- The APPIC Board of Directors
will review any additional information submitted.
- The APPIC
Board may conduct additional investigation, may direct ASARC to re-evaluate all
pertinent information, and/or conduct additional investigation, or may decide
not to conduct additional investigation.
- The APPIC Board
then may take one or more of the following actions on the appeal.
- It may uphold, overturn, or modify its original decision and
will communicate this decision to the complainant and the alleged violator.
- It may authorize a challenge to its original decision, by-
- authorizing the filing of a new complaint, waiving the
time limits, as necessary; or
- inviting the alleged violator
and the complainant to attend one of its regularly scheduled meetings to present
their cases.
- The APPIC Board then will
make a final written determination on the case and will communicate the results
to the parties.
- The APPIC Board of Directors will inform
ASARC of the disposition of any appeal.
- Costs
Associated with Complaint Processing
- Any expenses
incurred by ASARC members and/or the APPIC Board of Directors in the course of
processing a complaint shall be borne by APPIC. ASARC members must comply with
APPIC travel and expense
policies.
- Any expenses incurred by the complainant and/or
alleged violator during the processing of a complaint (e.g., copying, travel,
lodging) shall be borne by the parties, not by ASARC or APPIC.
10
June 2009 | |
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