Student Dispositions Manual

By the Student

• All students in educator preparation programs (referred to as “Programs”) complete disposition self-assessments at admission to their Program and at admission to the semester-long internship, as part of their culminating Portfolio.

By the Faculty Member

• At a minimum, all students in Programs are evaluated on dispositions by faculty twice within their Program.
• Additionally, any time a problem or issue related to student dispositions arises (e.g., in a school during internship), a faculty member may fill out a “dispositions referral form” with an improvement plan following the process outlined later in this document. Dispositions forms are kept in a student’s advisement file. As noted in the College of Education & Human Development section of the University of Nevada, Reno Course Catalog, dispositional issues may result in a student being recommended for dismissal from the Program.

A student shall complete a self-assessment at two points in their Program: At application to a Program and as part of their Portfolio completed prior to their semester-long internship. The self-assessment should reflect on the student’s own professional behaviors and dispositions. The dispositions self-assessment shall be completed and signed by the student.

Students should provide an honest reflection on their current level of performance on each indicator in the self-assessment. The College of Education and Human Development expects to see professional growth across the Program, so it would be rare for a student at admission, or even at the end of the semester immediately before student teaching to be “highly accomplished” in all domains of professional competence as described in student handbooks and the college’s website.

Download disposition form*

^*Note that this form may vary slightly by program

At least twice during a student’s Program, a faculty member shall evaluate a student and complete a dispositions assessment for each student using the Teacher Education Candidate Professional Behavior and Dispositions Form. These evaluations are designed to provide feedback to students on areas that they may need to improve upon in their Program. The evaluations also provide valuable feedback to Program faculty regarding students’ actual behaviors that demonstrate growing competency related to professional behaviors and dispositions. The College of Education and Human Development expects these assessments to show students’ professional growth across the Program.

Download disposition form*

^*Note that this form may vary slightly by program

At any time during a student’s Program, a faculty member has the right to provide a warning to the student and/or complete a “Dispositions Referral Form,” which outlines dispositions that the student is perceived to have violated or professional behaviors that the student is perceived to have violated while in a clinical or practicum setting. The Dispositions Referral Form shall include a clear statement on which disposition(s) was/were violated, provide an improvement plan for the student, and provide the consequences to the student of not following the improvement plan. When a dispositional problem or issue is identified and a Disposition Referral Form is sent to the student, the Student Dispositions and Appeals Processes, described below shall be followed.

In the case of COEHD courses containing clinical experience components involving interaction with K-12 students or other vulnerable populations, professional behaviors or actions which endanger the life, health, well-being or safety of any person at the internship site or academic progress of K-12 students, may be a basis for the immediate removal of the student intern from the internship site. The student intern’s immediate removal from the internship site shall be at the discretion of the Director of Clinical Experience. The term “Student Intern” shall hereafter include student teachers and apprentice teachers.. The student intern’s immediate removal from the internship site for professional behaviors or actions which endanger the life, health well-being or safety of any person at the internship site or academic progress of K-12 students, may be a basis for dismissal from the Program, as described in Section B. below.

When a student dispositional issue emerges, the following process shall be followed. Dispositional issues are defined in the dispositions self-evaluation and faculty evaluation documents, and include, but are not limited to: initiative, problem-solving.

1. The faculty member shall meet with the student about the dispositional issue^*. The faculty member shall document this meeting in a brief report which shall be sent to the appropriate Program Coordinator and Department Chair (). The term “Program Coordinator” shall include the corresponding title and position of Assistant Program Director for University at Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe and the term “Program Director” shall include the corresponding title and position of Assistant Program Director for University at Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. The Department Chair is responsible for tracking these reports. If the dispositional issue is resolved after the faculty member meets informally with the student, the faculty member shall document the resolution and report it to the same Program Coordinator and Department Chair.
   • NOTE: If multiple faculty have experienced issues with this student, the Department Chair may recommend a written dispositions form.
2. If the dispositional issue is not resolved after the initial meeting with the student, the faculty member shall fill out a formal written dispositions form. The formal written dispositions form shall, at minimum, include a description of the issue, the plan of action to resolve the issue, and the consequences for the student if the student does not successfully complete the plan of action. A meeting shall be held with the student, faculty member and Program Coordinator to discuss the formal written dispositions form. The form shall be signed by the student, faculty member, and Program Coordinator at that meeting and then the form shall be placed in the student’s advisement file. The faculty member shall send the dispositions form to the Program Coordinator and Department Chair. If the dispositional issue is resolved, the faculty member shall report this to the Program Coordinator and Department Chair.
3. If the dispositional issue is not resolved after the formal written dispositions form has been completed and discussed with the student, the faculty member notifies the appropriate Department Chair and the Program Coordinator and the dispositional issue becomes an action item for the next department meeting. At that department meeting, the faculty member shall present the dispositional issue and the process followed to the department faculty. The department faculty shall then vote on whether or not the student should be recommended for dismissal from the Program. The faculty member, Program Coordinator and Department Chair shall abstain from voting. After the vote, the Department Chair shall notify the Associate Dean of the vote of the department faculty within two (2) Working Days of its occurrence. For the purpose of this policy, "Working Days" are defined as calendar days, excluding university holidays and weekends.
4. If the majority of the department faculty vote to recommend the student remain in the Program, the faculty member shall recommend a different action required of the student and notify the student. This option may only occur once. (That is, if the faculty member recommends a different course of action, but the student does not follow through on that different course of action, another chance will not be given, and the student shall be recommended for dismissal from the Program.)
5. If the majority of the department faculty votes to recommend the student be dismissed from the Program, the Department Chair shall promptly notify the Dean of the College of Education and Human Development (“Dean”) in writing. If the Dean approves the request to dismiss the student, the Department Chair shall notify the student in writing that the student is being dismissed from the Program (“Dismissal Notice”). The Dismissal Notice shall include a written statement of reasons for the dismissal action, information about the applicable appeal procedures and the time period by which the student must file an appeal (set forth in Paragraph C below). If the student chooses to accept the recommendation and chooses not to participate in a Review Conference, the student is dismissed from the Program.
6. If the student chooses to appeal the dismissal , the student shall have ten (10) Working Days from the date of the Dismissal Notice to submit an appeal to their College. The College then shall have ten (10) Working Days to submit the student’s appeal to the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education. The appeal shall be conducted in accordance with the process as described in the Dismissal Policy for Undergraduate Specialized Programs and as described below, shall be followed.

^*NOTE: If this is a second+ issue with a particular student and/or the issue endangers the life, health, well-being, safety of any person at the internship site or academic progress of K-12 students, then the issue shall move directly to the step where it becomes an action item for the department meeting.

The following process shall be followed when a Student Intern is immediately removed from the internship site for professional behaviors or actions which endanger the life, health, well-being or safety of any person at the internship site or the academic progress of K-12 students.

1. The Director of Clinical Experiences/COEHD Co-Director of NevadaTeach shall notify the Associate Dean of the Student Intern’s removal from the internship site and this dispositional issue becomes an action item for the next department meeting to determine whether the Student Intern should be dismissed from the Program. At that department meeting, the Director of Clinical Experiences/COEHD Co-Director of NevadaTeach shall present the dispositional issue to the department faculty. The department faculty shall then vote on whether or not the Student Intern should be recommended for dismissal from the Program. The Director of Clinical Experiences/COEHD Co-Director of NevadaTeach shall abstain from voting. After the vote, the Director of Clinical Experiences/COEHD Co-Director of NevadaTeach shall notify the Associate Dean of the vote of the department faculty within two (2) Working Days of its occurrence.
2. If the majority of the department faculty votes to recommend the Student Intern remain in the Program, the Director of Clinical Experiences/COEHD Co-Director of NevadaTeach shall give the Student Intern a grade of “unsatisfactory” or F (whichever is appropriate for the class taken), allow the Student Intern to retake the clinical experience course and notify the Student Intern. This option may only occur once. (That is, the Student Intern shall only be allowed to retake the clinical experience course one time under this disposition process and if the Student Intern is not successful, the Student Intern shall be recommended for dismissal from the Program.)
3. If the majority of the department faculty votes to recommend the Student Intern be dismissed from the Program, the Director of Clinical Experiences/COEHD Co-Director of NevadaTeach shall promptly notify the Dean of the College of Education and Human Development in writing. If the Dean approves the request to dismiss the student, the Director of Clinical Experiences/COEHD Co-Director of NevadaTeach shall notify the student in writing that the student is being dismissed from the Program (“Dismissal Notice”). The Dismissal Notice shall include a written statement of reasons for the dismissal action, information about the applicable appeal procedures and the time period by which the student must file an appeal (set forth in Paragraph C below).The Dean shall notify the Student Intern of the decision in writing within fourteen (14) Working Days of the recommendation of dismissal from the Program being made by the department faculty. If the Student Intern chooses to accept the recommendation and chooses not to participate in a Review Conference, the Student Intern is dismissed from the Program.
4. If the Student Intern requests a Review Conference, the process as described in the Dismissal Policy for Undergraduate Specialized Programs and as described below, shall be followed.

1. Student’s Appeal Request.
   1. Within ten (10) Working Days of receipt of the student’s written request for appeal, the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education shall review the student’s appeal and provide the student with written notification of the opportunity for a review conference on the appeal (“Appeal Conference”).
2. Appeal Conference.
   1. The Appeal Conference shall be administered by the Vice Provost Undergraduate Education. The Appeal Conference is an informal meeting that is not intended to be adversarial in nature. The student may be accompanied by an advisor during the Appeal Conference, who may serve in a support role to the student during the Appeal Conference. In this process, the advisor has no right to speak during the Appeal Conference except to the student.
   2. If a student, who has been given notice does not appear for the Appeal Conference with the Vice Provost Undergraduate Education, then the review conference shall proceed in the absence of the student.
   3. The Appeal Conference is the time for presentation of the information, documents or witnesses in support of the dismissal. The Appeal Conference is the time at which the student is afforded the opportunity to present information, documents or witnesses on the student’s behalf. Witnesses may present a statement to the Vice Provost Undergraduate Education, however, only the Vice Provost Undergraduate Education is allowed to ask questions of any witnesses. Furthermore, the individual who made the recommendation for dismissal has the opportunity to participate in the Appeal Conference and may present information, documents or witnesses in support of the dismissal recommendation. The Vice Provost Undergraduate Education may also include a representative from the applicable discipline or Specialized Program in the Appeal Conference.
   4. The Appeal Conference shall occur within thirty-five (35) days but no earlier than ten (10) Working Days after the date the Dismissal Notice was sent to the student by email or by personal delivery. The student can make a written request to the Vice Provost Undergraduate Education asking that the 10-day period be waived if the student wants the Appeal Conference to occur sooner. If necessary, the student can make a written request to the Vice Provost Undergraduate Education for an extension of time for the Appeal Conference and the Vice Provost Undergraduate Education in their sole discretion, may grant the extension with regard to the Appeal Conference. If an extension of time for the Appeal Conference has been granted by the Vice Provost Undergraduate Education, the Appeal Conference must take place no later than forty-five (45) Working Days after the date that the Dismissal Notice was sent or personally delivered to the student.
3. Written Decision.
   1. After a review of all the materials, statements and relevant circumstances, the Vice Provost Undergraduate Education shall issue a written decision setting forth the reasons upon which the final decision is based. The Vice Provost Undergraduate Education’s determination shall be made on the basis of whether it is more likely than not that the student engaged in behavior or actions related to the Specialized Program that warrant dismissal.
   2. If the Vice Provost Undergraduate Education does not uphold the recommendation for dismissal, the student shall be reinstated in the Specialized Program. The Vice Provost Undergraduate Education shall render a decision to the student and the Specialized Program within five (5) Working Days after the Appeal Conference.
4. Decision Final. The decision of the Vice Provost Undergraduate Education is final and is not subject to appeal.