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Policy Statement: The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSCEP) and the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine (PLFSOM) have a policy of zero-tolerance for mistreatment of medical students
Reason for Policy: The purposes of this policy are:
To identify mechanisms for the reporting of student mistreatment in the context of routine curricular and co-curricular settings and circumstances; to ensure transparency regarding the institutional response to reports of student mistreatment
and to ensure that no retaliation is experienced by those who report mistreatment in good faith.
Those Who Should Read this Policy: All participants in the learning environment - referring to all students, and all individuals who are employed by PLFSOM-TTUHSC El Paso and its affiliated entities, including residents, fellows, and staff working with medical students.
Resources: PLFSOM Office of Student Affairs, the TTUHSC El Paso Office of Academic Affairs, the TTUHSC El Paso Office of Student Services and Student Engagement, the TTUHSC El Paso Title IX Coordinator (https://elpaso.ttuhsc.edu/title-ix/contact.aspx), the TTUHSC El Paso student mistreatment website (https://elpaso.ttuhsc.edu/student-mistreatment/default.aspx).
Definitions:
Mistreatment: The TTUHSCEP and PLFSOM define student mistreatment in accordance with the American Association of Medical Colleges definitions:
- Public belittlement or humiliation
- Threats of physical harm or actual physical punishment
- Requirements to perform personal services (e.g., shopping)
- Being subjected to unwanted sexual advances
- Being asked for sexual favors in exchange for desired grades
- Being denied opportunities for training because of gender, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation
- Receiving low grades or negative evaluations because of gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.
- Retaliation: any act of harm in response to an actual or perceived harm
- Examples of Retaliation:
- Any inequitable treatment of a student based on their submission of a complaint of mistreatment
- An action taken in response to, motivated by, or in connection with an individual’s complaint of mistreatment or the investigation thereof, that deliberately interferes with the complainant’s case
- Downgrading student grades following an allegation of student mistreatment, providing comments that reflect a negative light on student performance without evidence or cause
Student Mistreatment Investigatory Committee (SMIC):
An investigative and advisory committee appointed by the associate dean for student affairs, and consisting of at least three individuals in PLFSOM leadership roles and/or who provide educational program support for the school/campus. The functions of the committee are to investigate and assess reports of student mistreatment, and to generate recommendations to the associate dean for student affairs.
Exceptional circumstances: This policy does not apply to the setting of corrective expectations relating to conduct and/or academic performance, disciplinary action, and/or other administrative guidance as may be issued to a student by a dean, associate dean, assistant dean, relevant school and institutional committees, and certain institutional officers (including the vice president for academic affairs, the vice president for research, and the assistant vice president for student services and student engagement), or their designees, acting within their established range of authority. Disagreements regarding the appropriateness of any such actions are to be resolved through the administrative oversight associated with the specific circumstances by policy and/or the organization of the relevant office.
The Policy: The TTUHSC PLFSOM is responsible for ensuring a safe, supportive, and professional learning environment and does not tolerate mistreatment of its students. Student mistreatment may occur between students or between a student and any participant in the learning environment (specifically including, but not limited to, residents, fellows, faculty, and staff).
- All students, residents, fellows, faculty, and staff regularly participating in the learning environment will receive annual training on identifying and reporting student mistreatment and professionalism concerns.
- Anyone who witnesses or experiences student mistreatment at a TTUHSCEP and/or PLFSOM educational or training site is encouraged to report it. While not always applicable, all employees (faculty and staff) should be aware of their obligation to report any incidents of sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating violence, or stalking “”committed by or against a person who was a student enrolled at or an employee of the institution at the time of the incident” under Texas State Law (SB212, see also TTU System Regulations 07.06.A and 07.06.B).
- Retaliation against an individual acting in good faith who reports mistreatment, or provides information relevant to a mistreatment investigation or proceeding, shall not be tolerated, and those who engage in retaliation are subject to disciplinary action.
- False claims of mistreatment will not be tolerated.
- Any person who submits a frivolous or malicious complain of mistreatment shall be subject to disciplinary action under school and institutional conduct policies and/or as allowed by law.
To report student mistreatment and/or professionalism concerns, individuals may use any of the following resources:
- The https://elpaso.ttuhsc.edu/student-mistreatment/default.aspx website.
- The TTUHSCEP Student Mistreatment Hotline at 915-215-4797.
- Any of the following individuals: the associate or assistant dean for student affairs, associate or assistant dean of medical education, clerkship program directors, TTUHSCEP Director of Human Resources, faculty in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, any course director, any college mentor, and the Title IX coordinator.
Any report of mistreatment will be forwarded to the associate dean for student affairs. The associate dean for student affairs will assess whether the complaint falls under this policy and, if so, will assign a student mistreatment investigatory committee (SMIC) to assess the allegations and generate recommendations if indicated.
Process, Outcomes, and Reporting
Any student, faculty, or staff may provide student mistreatment information via the student mistreatment website or the TTUHSCEP Student Mistreatment Hotline (915-215-4797). Individuals reporting student mistreatment may be anonymous; however, this will potentially lessen the ability to have a thorough investigation.
Upon receiving a report of student mistreatment, an online reporting form will be completed (if not already done), respecting the student’s or faculty’s wishes regarding anonymity.
Reports entered into the online reporting form will be uploaded into a database to be used by the Office of Student Affairs to track cases, support the functions of the student mistreat investigatory committee, and process improvement.
A SMIC will investigate reports of mistreatment and ensure such incidents are assessed and fairly addressed. The findings of a SMIC are reported to the associate dean for student affairs.
SMIC recommendations are advisory. The associate dean for student affairs, at their discretion, has the option of consulting with the associate dean for medical education and the TTUHSC El Paso vice president for academic affairs to develop additional or modified recommendations. This process may also include, but is not limited to, consultation with the Program Director or the Chair of the Department involved in a faculty complaint, and/or relevant school or institutional committees.
After review and modifications if indicated, the associate dean for student affairs will forward findings and recommended corrective actions to the appropriate department/committee/office/individual(s). The associate dean for student affairs, or their designee, is also responsible for discussing the outcomes of these processes with the affected student(s) and/or complainant(s).
The associate dean for student affairs will document the incident resolution information and provide the reports of the incident outcomes to the dean, or their designee, and others as appropriate (e.g., department chairs, program directors, faculty accused of mistreatment, and/or student complainants).
Students found responsible for student mistreatment have the right to appeal to the dean or their designee in writing within 10 business days of the decision. An appeal must cite grounds for the appeal, and an appeal may only be based on a claim that due process under this policy was not followed. The dean or designee will review the case to ensure that due process has been followed. Employees found responsible for student mistreatment are advised to discuss any such outcomes with their supervisor or human resources department.
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