UW–Madison strives to maintain a safe and productive campus environment for all members of the UW–Madison community. If a student's behavior demonstrates an inability to meet their responsibilities to function as a student and the student demonstrates an inability to address those behaviors with available resources, the dean of students has authority to act to ensure their safety wellbeing. The university is committed to the success of all students and will take the appropriate steps in a caring manner to achieve this goal.
The Behavior Intervention Team (BIT) and Threat Team consist of staff from a variety of departments that work with students in crisis who are creating disruptions within a segment of the university community. Staff members from these departments generally take the lead in working with students in crisis who may become subject to involuntary withdrawal under this policy. Most often, multiple interventions by individual staff, BIT, or the Threat Team will have been attempted prior to engaging the process described below.
The BIT or Threat Team are responsible for making recommendations for involuntary withdrawal to the dean of students. Prior to recommending an involuntary withdrawal of a student, the BIT or Threat Team will attempt to address the student of concern's behavior by conducting an individualized assessment and creating an individualized intervention plan. Development of the plan should include contacting critical campus stakeholders. This plan will be designed to identify:
After establishing an individualized intervention plan, the BIT or Threat Team may then recommend a course of action in response to the risk with an understanding that multiple options may be used and that not all options need to be tried or exhausted prior to an involuntary withdrawal. Options include, but are not limited to, the following:
If the BIT or Threat Team determines that the appropriate response is involuntary withdrawal, the teams will then present documentation of its informational reports about the student and its efforts in responding to the behavior, along with a written request for involuntary withdrawal to the dean of students, or designees, and a recommended time frame for review. The teams will be required to notify the student within 48 hours of its decision to recommend involuntary withdrawal. The notification should also specifically include any conditions for readmission as determined by the BIT or Threat Team. This contact must be documented either by electronic mail or postal service (with delivery confirmation) or by obtaining a student signature on a notice or recommendation for involuntary withdrawal. If the student lacks the capacity to confirm receipt of notice or is unwilling to confirm receipt of notice, then the attempt to obtain confirmation must be documented in the student's case file. The dean of students will review the documentation and recommendation provided by the BIT or Threat Team within a reasonable window of time to be determined by the severity and type of risk. The dean of students will review the BIT or Threat Team recommendation with the appropriate academic dean. The review should include outlining the academic impact of an involuntary withdrawal. The academic dean and the dean of students will work together to determine a final decision. The student will be notified by letter (send either electronically or via postal service) with delivery confirmation within three business days after the decision has been made. This notification will originate from the dean of students, and all records regarding the decision and notifications will be maintained by the dean of students or designee.
Student's Rights
The student may, within 15 business days from the delivery of the notice of decision, submit a written appeal of the decision to the Campus Threat and Disruption Oversight Group (CTDOG). During the appeal process, the decision of the dean of students will remain in effect. Allowable grounds for appeal are limited to procedural error or claims regarding errors or omissions in the information available to support the decision. If an appeal is not received within the 15 business days outlined in this section, the decision of the dean of students will be considered final and conclusive.
A student who is withdrawn involuntarily will be entitled to all tuition fee refunds applicable under the current UW–Madison financial policies for student withdrawal. An involuntary withdrawal will not have a different impact on a student's right to recover tuition funds than if the student had withdrawn voluntarily. At the discretion of either the BIT, Threat Team, or dean of students, a compassionate tuition adjustment may be requested and/or included in the team's recommendation or dean of students' decision. For students receiving grants, fellowship funds, or other campus funding packages, refunds and financial obligations will be handled on a case-by-case basis. The appropriate university policies applicable to tl1e records of students who voluntarily withdraw will apply to a student who has been withdrawn involuntarily, except for the policy of readmission as outlined in Section IV.E of this document. All student rights provided for in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and/or UW–Madison student record policies apply for students who have been involuntarily withdrawn. All documents related to the involuntary withdrawal process, including any documentation held by BIT or Threat Team will remain with the dean of students or designee for a period of seven years.
An involuntary withdrawal is not to be used when student conduct should be addressed through current disciplinary or other academic processes. An involuntary withdrawal cannot be considered as a replacement for an appropriate disciplinary process unless the student lacks the capacity to respond to allegations of misconduct that would be addressed with disciplinary action. A student may be subject to both disciplinary action and involuntary withdrawal as these processes are not mutually exclusive.
If an involuntary withdrawal action has been initiated, and the student chooses to pursue a voluntary withdrawal, all matters related to the involuntary withdrawal will be suspended. Regular withdrawal procedure will then be followed, but the student will be subject to the requirements for readmission outlined in Section IV.E below. If a student pursues a voluntary withdrawal and is the subject of pending disciplinary actions, the voluntary withdrawal will not nullify any disciplinary sanctions that may be applicable. Voluntary withdrawal cannot be used to avoid the issues being addressed by either disciplinary action or involuntary withdrawal.
The student should be notified within five business days if they are approved for readmission. Notification can occur via phone or in person but also be in writing delivered via electronic means, by postal service, or in person. Notification should specifically outline any expectations for the student upon readmission. If the dean of students decides that the student is not approved for readmission, the student will also be notified of the decision within five business days of the decision. Notification can occur via phone, in-person contact, postal service, or electronic mail. The dean of students also reserves the right to place a restriction on when the student may next apply for readmission if the initial application for readmission is denied.
A UW–Madison student who is participating in research, study abroad, or any other academically affiliated duties off campus will be subject to the processes contained within this policy and will also have the benefit of all student rights provided for in this policy. Reasonable accommodations to the terms of this policy will be made as needed to implement this process when a student is off-campus. These accommodations may include, but are not limited to:
If the student is studying at a host institution, they may be subject to the withdrawal policies of that institution as well as those of UW–Madison.