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Appeals Decision Review Board

Through the Decision Review Board Procedure 5104-PR2 [PDF], students have the right to appeal decisions made through the following policies and procedures:

All appeals are reviewed by the Decision Review Board and must be submitted within 15 business days of the date in the decision letter. The Decision Review Board is composed of faculty members and students.

BCITSA Student Advocacy Office: We encourage all student to reach out to the Advocacy Office at the BCITSA, a non-profit student service and advocacy organization, when considering submitting a Decision Review Board appeal. Their Advocacy Specialists can provide feedback and support as you prepare your DRB application. Advocacy Specialists can also attend hearings as your support person.

When submitting an appeal, students must select and provide evidence of one or more of the following grounds for appeal:

  1. The decision-making process violated Institute policies or the Decision Maker was biased.
  2. There is evidence which was unavailable at the time the decision was made that would likely have resulted in a different decision; and
  3. The outcome imposed by the Decision Maker was unreasonable.

Submit an appeal

If you wish to submit an appeal for a grades reassessment, academic integrity, or student code of conduct decision, please complete the application below.

Appeal Application

Review of appeal application

Once a request for appeal has been submitted, the Student Life Office will review the application for completeness before sending it to the Chair of the Decision Review Board to review. The Chair will determine if the application properly sets out the grounds of appeal listed.

If the appeal application was submitted more than 15 business days past the date in the decision letter, the Chair may dismiss the appeal application if there are no extenuating circumstances.

Once a decision has been made, the Chair will inform the student if their application will result in a hearing.

Preparing for a hearing

If the Chair has determined that the appeal will go to a hearing, the following will take place:

  1. The appeal application will be sent to the Decision Maker for their review and opportunity to respond. The Decision Maker will have 15 business days to provide a response to the appeal application.
  2. The Chair will send the response from the Decision Maker to the student. The student will have 15 business days to send their rebuttal.
  3. The rebuttal will be sent to the decision maker to review.
  4. Once all the responses and rebuttals have been gathered, a hearing will take place. Prior to the hearing, a hearing packet will be created and shared with the Decision Review Board, the student, and the Decision Maker.

Hearing and post-hearing activities

The hearing is confidential and will be heard by the Decision Review Board. The hearing is not open to the public and only attended by members of the Decision Review Board, the student, the student’s support person (if applicable), and the decision maker. If there are witnesses, they will be present only for their presenting of information. A representative from the Student Life Office will also be present for administrative support.

After the hearing, the Decision Review Board will deliberate and make a decision regarding the appeal. Once a decision has been made, the Chair of the Decision Review Board will send the decisions and any outcomes to the student. The decision of the Decision Review Board is final.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to the most common questions about the appeal process or the Decision Review Board. If you need more information, please email drb@bcit.ca.