Student Rights – Advocacy

The Brandon University Students’ Union offers one-on-one advocacy services to students, including confidential advice on academic appeals, student loans, academic practices, non-academic issues, and sexual harassment. Students seeking academic advice should contact the BUSU Vice President Internal by calling 727-9660 or emailing vpi@busu.ca.

Academic appeals

Whether you were unfairly graded on your final paper, or were unable to write an exam as a result of illness, you have the right to launch an academic appeal. You have the right to appeal the following: a final grade; a grade on an individual item of work; a refusal to defer an exam; a refusal for a retroactive withdrawal; a refusal for an incomplete; a transcript adjustment; for reinstatement after suspension; to graduate; charges of academic misconduct; and academic suspension.

Filing an appeal can be a stressful and intimidating process. Contact the BUSU Vice President Internal at 727-9660 for tips, assistance, support, and access to all the tools you need to launch your appeal.

Non-Academic Problems

You have the right to take action to solve non-academic problems. Whether the nature of the non-academic problem inhibiting your ability to work and learn is related to difficulties with a professor, a staff person, or a classmate, you have the right to seek a just and fair outcome to the conflict.

Contact the BUSU Vice President Internal at 727-9660 for more information. An immediate physical threat should be brought to the attention of the police by dialing 911.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is any attempt to coerce a person into a sexual relationship, to subject a person to unwanted sexual attention, or to punish a refusal to comply with sexual advances. It also includes such things as: unwanted sexual solicitation of a repeated, persistent, or abrasive nature; and sexually oriented remarks or behavior that create a negative physical or psychological environment for work or study.

If you feel that your rights have been violated on any of these grounds, it is your right to have these issues addressed in either a formal or informal hearing. Under all circumstances, the individual right of every student to a safe and comfortable environment to work and study is upheld. To view Brandon University’s sexual harassment policy, go to www.brandonu.ca/Administration/Governors/policies/Sexual Harassment Policy.pdf.

To speak with a Sexual Harassment Advisor, please contact:

Dr. Patrick Morrissette            571-8531

Ms. Roberta Graham            727-7487

Declaration of Students’ Rights

As a member of the Canadian Federation of Students, BUSU upholds the Declaration of Students’ Rights. Every person has the right to equal treatment without being discriminated against because of race, national or ethnic origin, language, place of residence, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, physical appearance, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, political belief, or socio-economic background. All students have the right to:

An accessible, high quality education regardless of geographic location of the institution;

Easy physical access to all buildings and grounds of any institution;

Available and accessible study space on campus;

Adequate access to all materials, literature, equipment, and study aids necessary for the continuance and completion of their education;

Grants that are completely portable from province to province and from institution to institution, and that are distributed based solely on individual financial need;

Receive an education in Canada without being subject to differential fees;

Complete a program on the same terms that existed at the time of admission to that program;

Facilities, services, and financial resources required for parents who are acquiring a post-secondary education;

Attend the institution best suited to a student's educational needs, without financial, social or physical barriers;

Justice in the educational community and an education free from racism;

Participation (personally or through representation, or both) in the appeals procedures regarding evaluation of their professional and academic work;

Create and participate in democratic, autonomous organizations which responsibly represent students on their campus; and,

Participate in political actions such as boycotts, walkouts, demonstrations, or strikes without fear of recrimination.

Many other rights and freedoms are included in the Federation’s Declaration of Students’ Rights and BUSU policy. Please stop by the BUSU office to view these documents.

Students’ ACADEMIC Rights

There are certain procedures that must be followed by instructors in every course. If these procedures are not followed, a student has the right to appeal the course, the instructor, and any grades given during that term. At the beginning of every course, you must be given an outline showing the breakdown of the value of all assignments. You have the right to retrieve all graded term work excluding final examinations. Final examinations may be viewed under the supervision of the instructor within 21 days of receiving the final grade. Marks in any regular course should not be allocated based on attendance, though there are some classes that require the student to be present in order to complete term work (for example, laboratory work can only be given credit with attendance).