Academic Withdrawal
In case of academic withdrawal due to a fail after re-assessment, the process is as follows:
1. Required documentation: Program Director
- From the Admissions department: collect the recommendation letters included in the student´s admissions report. Check with Admissions if they are a “VIP” or “Recommended” student and, if so, by whom.
- Administration: confirm the payment status of the student facing expulsion:
- What is the amount pending payment, if any?
- Information about financial aid or scholarships.
In the event that the student has paid for the entire program and it is therefore necessary to issue a refund:
- The Program Director sends Francisco Ciudad and Javier López the total number of sessions of the program and the sessions that the student has attended or the period in which the student has obtained the low GPA in question.
- Francisco Ciudad and Javier López send the refund calculation so that the DP can prepare a “Return Letter” that will be sent firstly to the Executive Director with all the information for confirmation. Do not forget that the place reservation fee and contribution to the IE Foundation are non-refundable.
2. Internal Communication: Executive Director
Once everything has been completed and confirmed, the Executive Director sends an e-mail with all of the information mentioned above to ensure that there is no reason that the student should not be expelled:
To: Diego Alcazar; Santiago Iñiguez; Lee Newman
CC: Associate Dean; Marta Perez; Igone Jayo Garitacelaya; Secretaria Presidencia
Professors: Professors will be informed before the student is notified.
3. Communication to the student: Program Director
- Schedule a meeting with the student and the Associate Dean. If the expulsion is due to a suspension in a re-assessment: we must communicate the result of the examination in the invitation e-mail and indicate that the meeting is in relation to the re-assessment.
- During the meeting, the student will receive the “Letter of Expulsion” and a “Letter of Return” if applicable. The student must sign both letters in the meeting. For students of blended programs, the meeting will be held via videoconference and should be recorded. The information will be sent to the student via e-mail following the meeting and the student should send us the signed documents.
- The letters must indicate that the student will not be able to reapply to any IE program until 2 years have passed following their academic withdrawal.
- In case of reimbursement, the Program Director will confirm the student’s bank details and share these with the Administration Department so that the refund can be made, which takes approximately two weeks.
4. Official Internal Communication: Executive Director
Stakeholders: 48 hours after the student’s expulsion, send an e-mail to confirm it to:
To: Financial Aid; Admissions (Julián Trigo, Andrea Lizarraga and Jaime Pascual); Careers; Alumni (Julia Sánchez); Library (Belén Real); Administration (Mónica Aragonés); IE Communities; IE Foundation (Beatriz Edurne García); Campus Life (Sabine Yazbeck); Registrar’s Office (Efrain Santana); Security (Agustín López).
CC: Associate Dean; Leave of Absence Committee (Francisco Ciudad and Javier López); Finance (Benjamin Shuffler); Program Operations (Louise Amoedo).
Shared folder operations: to comply with the accreditors´ requirements, record the expulsion with all relevant data in the folder.
Admissions and International Development: send an e-mail to confirm the expulsion to all staff involved in the enrolment / recruitment of the student. The e-mail must include the date and reason for the expulsion, all relevant information to give context to understanding the expulsion and any additional information that could, in the future, be helpful for the team that is responsible for recruiting candidates. The e-mail should be sent to:
To: Director of Admissions, International Development Country Manager, Director of International Development
CC: Associate Dean
Economic Withdrawal
Mission
The procedure for the economic withdrawal has been designed by the Administration Department in conjunction with the Business School’s Dean’s Office and the Dean of Academic Affairs.
This procedure aims to:
- Reduce the number of students with overdue payments.
- Avoid the impact that an outstanding payments situation could have on the student’s academic performance (due to a restriction of access to the online or the physical campus).
It is important to highlight that as soon as a student contacts Program Management proactively to inform of their impossibility to settle the tuition fee, the institution will support them in their efforts to complete the program by:
- Putting them in touch with the Administration Department to assess the possibility of renegotiating their payment plan or, if this option is not feasible.
- Assisting them in the request of a voluntary leave for economic reasons –with transfer or without it- (refer to the “Voluntary Leave” procedure, which is handled by Program Management).
Communication
A withdrawal for economic reasons does not require further approval from other instances and the Administration Department is responsible for the communication with the student at all times.
The students have access to their own financial statement through the Student Portal, so they can verify at any time if they have outstanding payments.
The Administration Department monitors payments and is in charge of demanding outstanding payments and keeping students informed about unmet deadlines. Additionally, Administration will inform Program Management through Atenea when a student is at risk of being expelled for non-payment. To that end, they can check the box tagged “Administración” in the student’s profile:
There is also a field for comments on that same screen, so that the Administration Department or Program Management can add any relevant information they need to share about the payment situation. For security as well as for privacy reasons, these comments may not be exported:
Whenever there are students with the status “Administración”, their names will be shown in red on the sections’ reports, workgroups and on any other reports that can be exported from Atenea to Excel (class roster, orla, grades, personal ID request).
This measure has been designed so that Program Management can:
- Take this information into account when creating the workgroups to avoid including two or more students at risk of expulsion in the same group.
- Take into consideration the payment status when assigning places for international trips, exchanges and any other optional activity that requires additional payments from the student, as well as internships, events and any other extra-curricular activity with limited spots.
Procedure
As a rule, the students that have not paid the tuition fee in full (or have not agreed on a payment plan with the Administration Department) before the final period of their program starts, shall not continue in the program and their access to the online and physical campuses will be blocked.
- One month before the end of the penultimate period of the program, the Administration Department will contact all the students that have pending payments to inform them that they will not be allowed to continue on the program unless they pay the outstanding amount in full. Administration will have access to a report where they can see at a glance the opening and closure dates of all periods of all Masters’ programs of the institution. They will CCO Program Management on this notification.
- If a student has not paid or agreed on a new payment plan with Administration two weeks after the notification, this department will remind the student that once the period has ended, they will be expelled from the program and the access to online and physical campuses will be blocked. The Administration Department must CCO Program Management on this notification as well.
In case the Administration Department must complete an expulsion, the following steps must be taken:
- Communication of the expulsion to the student (cc Program Management).
- Internal communication to remove the student’s account from IE’s systems.
- In this case, the student will not be transferred to the next intake. If the student wishes to continue the program, he/she must (i) pay the outstanding amounts in full and (ii) start a new admission process.
- For students who agree on a new payment plan, the Administration Department will inform Program Management and the Registrar’s Office so that the student receives a provisory certificate at the graduation ceremony.
Sick Leave
Student Sick Leave
The Program Director will ask the student to present a letter together with the relevant medical certificate, specifying the need for sick leave and that the withdrawal will be temporary.
The Program Director will then send the letter to the Dean of Academic Affairs and to the Leave of Absence Committee (Francisco Ciudad and Javier López) to consider the case. To preserve confidentiality, Program Management will retain the medical certificate.
If the Leave of Absence Committee (Francisco Ciudad and Javier López) accepts the temporary leave request, the decision will be communicated to the student through a letter signed by the Chairman of the Committee. This will always be sent through Program Management.
The student will be allowed to re-enroll in the next two intakes for the program in which the student is enrolled. In order for the reinstatement to take effect, the student must request this within three months of the start of the course by writing to Program Management, copied to the Admissions Department.
Economic consequences:
- The amount paid by the student will be transferred to the chosen intake and will be deducted from the price of the program.
- If the student is the beneficiary of a scholarship, they will have to apply again.
- The student will need to pay the amount pending before joining the selected intake.
- The student will need to pay the price difference between intakes (if applicable).
Leave for the Illness of a Close Relative
The procedure is the same as for Student Sick Leave.
Special Consideration: Mental Health
IE has a protocol for specific action in cases in which the illness that prevents a student from continuing in the program is of a mental health nature. Similarly, it distinguishes between two types of sick leave due to mental health reasons: i) voluntary and ii) sick leave with a psychiatric report.
Voluntary
Leave is considered voluntary when the student contacts Program Management to indicate that they cannot continue in the program.
The Program Director will speak with the student regarding their reasons for leaving and will ask the student to present these in writing, together with the corresponding documentation. If the student requires, the Program Director can send them for a free evaluation session with a psychologist from Sinews.
The Program Director will send the student´s letter requesting voluntary withdrawal to the relevant Dean.
The voluntary leave procedure is applicable, and enrollment can be transferred to the following two intakes, as long as the student:
- Requests readmission in writing to Program Management (copied to the Admissions department) with a notice period equal to or greater than three months before the beginning of the course.
- Submits a medical report that includes the following: full name and collegiate number of the doctor; student´s fitness for the course; type of treatment they have undergone and future recommendation(s). In addition, if certificates are not in Spanish/English, approved translations will be required. All of the above requirements are mandatory and if the report does not cover them, students will not be granted readmission to the program.
Economic consequences:
- The amount paid by the student will be transferred to the selected intake and will be deducted from the price of the program.
- If the student was the beneficiary of a scholarship, they will have to reapply.
- Students must pay the outstanding balance before joining the selected intake.
- Students must pay any price difference between intakes.
With a Psychiatric Report
In the case that a student displays a behavior that could affect the well-being of the community or may present a risk to themselves or their classmates, Program Management may request the intervention of a psychiatrist from “Sinews”.
In order to continue in the program, the student will need to attend a psychiatrist assessment. The psychiatrist will decide if the student is able to continue the program or needs to leave. If the psychiatrist decides that the student cannot continue in the program, the same procedure indicated in the voluntary withdrawal section will be applied.
Official Internal Communication in Case of a Sick Leave
48 hours after the approval of the sick leave, the Executive Director must send an email to confirm the leave to:
To: Financial Aid; Admissions (Julián Trigo, Andrea Lizarraga and Jaime Pascual); Careers; Alumni (Julia Sánchez); Library (Belén Real); Administration (Mónica Aragones); IE Communities; IE Foundation (Beatriz Edurne García); Campus Life (Sabine Yazbeck); Registrar’s Office (Efrain Santana); Security (Agustín López).
CC: Dean of Academic Affairs; Associate Dean; Leave of Absence Committee (Francisco Ciudad and Javier López); Finance (Benjamin Shuffler).
Shared folder operations: to comply with the accreditors’ requirements, record the expulsion with all relevant data in the folder.
Voluntary Leave
IE will consider the temporary academic withdrawal of those students who have a personal reason to leave the program and can adequately justify it by means of certificates and/or appropriate supporting documents.
Program Management will talk with the student about the reasons for leaving and request the student to present the reasons in writing, including the corresponding documentation.
Program Management will then forward the student’s letter to the Dean of Academic Affairs, requesting the voluntary withdrawal, along with the following additional documentation:
- Certificate/reports provided by the student.
- A report on the suitability of the student to continue with the program (academic results, attitude, etc.) and if any subject/module is validated.
The procedure applicable in cases of voluntary withdrawal establishes the transfer of enrollment to the next two intakes, provided that the Academic department agrees.
In order for the reinstatement to take effect, the student must request it at least three months before the start of the course, in writing to Program Management (with the Admissions department in copy).
The decision will be communicated to the student by a letter signed by the President of the Committee but will always be sent from the program.
Official Internal Communication in Case of a Voluntary Leave
48 hours after the approval of the voluntary leave, the Executive Director must send an email to confirm the leave to:
To: Financial Aid; Admissions (Julián Trigo, Andrea Lizarraga and Jaime Pascual); Careers; Alumni (Julia Sánchez); Library (Belén Real); Administration (Mónica Aragones); IE Communities; IE Foundation (Beatriz Edurne García); Campus Life (Sabine Yazbeck); Registrar’s Office (Efrain Santana); Security (Agustín López).
CC: Dean of Academic Affairs; Associate Dean; Leave of Absence Committee (Francisco Ciudad and Javier López); Program Operations; Finance (Benjamin Shuffler).
Shared folder operations: to comply with the accreditors’ requirements, record the expulsion with all relevant data in the folder.
Economic consequences:
- The amount paid by the student will be applied to the selected intake.
- The student must pay the price difference between intakes.
- In some cases, the student will have to pay the place reservation fee again.
- If applicable, students will need to reapply for a scholarship.
- Students must pay any outstanding amounts before joining the selected intake.
- If the intake chosen by the student is complete, the possibility of joining the following intake will be offered.
Expulsions
IE considers that there is one expulsion scenario that doesn’t allow for the possibility of reinstatement of the institution’s programs: expulsion for violation of the Code of Ethics. Once the Ethics Committee has deliberated and, if the final decision is the expulsion of the accused student from the IE Community, the procedure is the following:
Reinstatement
IE’s reinstatement policy after an academic withdrawal is available below, in the downloads section.