Athletic Appeal Policy & Procedure

The following policy and procedures of Queens University of Charlotte are in accordance with NCAA regulations.

15.3.2.3 Hearing Opportunity. [A] The institution’s regular financial aid authority shall notify the student-athlete in writing of the opportunity for a hearing when institutional financial aid based in any degree on athletics ability is to be reduced or canceled during the period of the award or is reduced or not renewed for the following academic year or years. The institution shall have established reasonable procedures for promptly hearing such a request and shall not delegate the responsibility for conducting the hearing to the university’s athletics department or its faculty athletics committee. The written notification of the opportunity for a hearing shall include a copy of the institution’s established policies and procedures for conducting the required hearing, including the deadline by which a student-athlete must request such a hearing. (Revised: 1/9/06 effective 8/1/06, 4/3/07, 4/23/08, 8/7/14)

Notification Letter

The student-athlete has the right to appeal decisions related to financial aid to the Director of Financial Aid within 14 consecutive calendar days from the date the student-athlete was notified of the decision. The appeal may be mailed or emailed to:

Director of Financial Aid – Office of Student Financial Services
Queens University of Charlotte
1900 Selwyn Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28274
sfs@queens.edu

The Director of Financial Aid will notify the chair of the Athletics Compliance Committee of the appeal.

Hearing Notification

The Chair of the Athletics Compliance Committee will notify all parties of the appeal and subsequent hearing. Notification of the hearing opportunity shall include a copy of the institution’s established policies and procedures for conducting the required hearing, including the deadline by which a student-athlete must request the hearing. Queens shall conduct the hearing within 30 consecutive calendar days of receiving a student-athlete’s request for the hearing and shall not delegate the responsibility for conducting the hearing to the Queens Athletics department.

Right to an Advisor

An advisor may assist the student-athlete at his/her hearing. The advisor must be a current Queens student, faculty, or staff member. The advisor cannot speak for the student-athlete; he/she may only advise the student. The student-athlete must notify the Chair of the Athletics Compliance Committee at least 48 hours in advance of a hearing if he/she intends to bring an advisor. It is the student-athlete’s responsibility to communicate with his/her advisor the details of the hearing and case.

Hearing Outline

All hearings will proceed in the following order (some variations may exist depending on the hearing body). The hearing body will be comprised of voting members from the Athletic Compliance Committee who are non-athletic department university staff or faculty and an Athletics Compliance staff member who is a nonvoting member of the hearing body. Voting members will consist of an odd number of committee members between 5 and 9.

1. Immediately prior to the hearing the hearing body:
   • Review the relevant NCAA, Conference, and Institutional Policy/Regulation.
   • Clarify any policy questions with the Athletics Compliance staff member.
2. The hearing is called to order:
   • The head coach is invited into the hearing:
     • Introductions.
     • The head coach details the reasons for not renewing the athletics financial aid.
     • Questions by members of the hearing body.
     • The head coach departs the hearing.
   • The student-athlete is invited into the hearing:
     • Introductions.
     • Student-athletes detail evidence regarding why he/she should continue to receive athletics financial aid.
     • Questions by members of the hearing body.
     • Student-athlete departs the hearing.
3. Deliberation by the committee
   • Voting members of the hearing body will deliberate on the evidence presented.
   • The Athletics Compliance staff member (non-voting) will only answer policy-specific questions from the voting members of the hearing body during deliberation.
4. Notification of Decision
   • The student will be notified in writing of the committee’s decision.
   • The head coach will be notified in writing of the committee’s decision.
   • The committee’s decision is final and no further appeals will be considered.