Formal Review Processes: Performance Review Committee
At the School of Social Work (SSW), we have a professional obligation and responsibility to assure that our graduates (BSW/MSW) are fully competent to enter the social work profession. In addition to abiding by University and departmental policies regarding academic expectations and standards for conduct, all social work students are expected to abide by the National Association of Social Workers’ Code of Ethics.
Academic performance includes meeting grade expectations, being knowledgeable of and adhering to the UA Little Rock’s Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Behavior, and adhering to professional and ethical behavior in both the classroom and field settings.
The SSW encourages students, faculty, field instructors/adjuncts, faculty liaisons, and staff to work together to resolve problems that may arise. As a result, the Performance Review Committee (PRC) referral should only be made after efforts have failed to produce a favorable outcome except in egregious cases. In many instances, as a first step toward solving a problem, a performance improvement plan will be developed. This plan will: (1) define the problem area; (2) develop clear goals and objectives; and (3) set a timeline for follow up. If a student responds well to this process, no referral is warranted. The SSW’s Professional Development Form or another comparable plan may be used if it addresses the aforementioned components. However, if for any reason the student does not successfully resolve the problem, then a referral to the PRC is warranted. The goal is for early problem identification, followed by efforts to remediate the problem between those closest involved to the situation.
The process described below is designed to resolve academic and/or professional behavior-related issues that are brought to the SSW’s attention. The purpose of the review process is to: identify the academic and/or professional performance issues that prompted the review; identify strategies to remediate the issues; create plans of action to facilitate student success and/or, to determine other outcomes necessary, which may include dismissal from the SSW.
Referrals may be made to the Performance Review Committee for any of the following reasons:
- Conduct that is inconsistent with the NASW Code of Ethics or state law.
- Behavior that threatens the welfare of clients, agency personnel, faculty, other students, and/or, the larger community.
- Conduct that raises concerns regarding the student’s suitability to practice social work.
- Conduct that raises concerns regarding the student’s intellectual and/or emotional capacity to perform the essential skills of social work practice.
- Failure to demonstrate a minimal level of competence in one or more of the program’s practice behaviors.
- Conduct that raises concerns regarding how the student’s behavior may be negatively impacting the learning environment for others.
- Breaching HIPAA and/or related standards for handling client information.
- Failure to follow internship site policies/procedures, including reporting.
- Unprofessional behavior of any kind.
- Failure to meet professional standards outlined in the UA Little Rock Student Handbook, the BSW or MSW Student Handbook (whichever one applies to the student’s program), and/or the student’s program’s internship manual.
- Refusing to engage in attempts to resolve problems.
- Failing to attend internship as expected.
- Plagiarism or cheating.
Referrals may be made for other reasons not stated above following consultation with the appropriate Field or Program Coordinator and the Chair(s) of the PRC.
Composition of the Performance Review Committee
The committee will consist of six (6) School of Social Work faculty members. The Chair(s) of the PRC will be appointed by the Director(s) of the SSW to serve a one year term. The Chair(s) may be reappointed by the Director(s) for an unlimited number of terms. Three (3) of the committee members will be elected by the Faculty Assembly as standing members of the PRC to serve one-year terms and include regular tenured or instructor level faculty members in the SSW. The fifth and sixth members of PRC will be the field coordinators. One of the field coordinators will recuse themselves from voting, depending on the student’s program (e.g. if the student is BSW, the BSW field coordinator will not vote). Other faculty members may attend a performance review meeting as non voting members when circumstances require (e.g. the program coordinator may provide testimony as a non voting member).
The responsibilities of the Chair(s) of the PRC are to:
- Consult with faculty to determine if the referral to the PRC is appropriate.
- Consult with the Director(s) as needed to clarify process and policy questions.
- Receive the referral and supporting information from the referring faculty member.
- Convene the committee to meet with the student.
- Communicate with the student about referral to the committee.
- Communicate with members of the committee and other parties who are invited to attend the PRC meeting with each student.
- Facilitate the PRC meetings with each student.
- Write the final report following the meeting, submit it for review by the committee members, and share it with the student and other relevant parties.
- Be well versed in the PRC policies and take appropriate steps to ensure that they are followed.
- Disqualify themself if any of the below reasons for disqualification apply.
Standing members on the committee may be disqualified from serving as voting members on the committee for a particular student by the Chair(s) of the Committee in consultation with the Director(s) of the School of Social Work if they:
- Are the student’s academic adviser;
- Are the person making a referral;
- Have a relationship with the student that may present a conflict of interest, dual relationship, and/or challenges in making objective decisions about the student.
In the event that a member is disqualified or recuses themself from serving, an alternate member will be selected by the Chair(s) of the PRC in consultation with the Director of the SSW
During the summer period, the Director(s) of the SSW will appoint the Chair(s) of the PRC and two (2) faculty members to serve on the committee until the regular fall semester begins.
Students are excluded from membership on the committee to ensure privacy regarding the referred student.
Committee Referrals
A student may be referred to the committee by any SSW faculty/staff member, faculty liaison, field instructor, fellow student, or by the student themself . Referrals must be first made to the appropriate field coordinator (MSW/BSW), if the situation is field related, or, the appropriate program coordinator (MSW/BSW), if the situation is non-field related. The coordinators will be responsible for assuring that all necessary steps have been taken to remediate the problem before it is officially referred to the Performance Review Committee Chair(s). The referring faculty member should contact the Chair(s) of the PRC to discuss the referral before submitting the referral form to the Chair(s) of the PRC.
Student Privacy and Confidentiality
All procedures and communications relating to the academic and performance review process will be kept confidential; however, depending on the nature of the performance issue and outcome, it may be necessary for the Chair(s) of the PRC to share information with others directly involved in the situation. Members of the committee and all persons involved in the committee proceedings are expected to observe the confidential nature of the information shared and made available to them.
Procedures
The following are general procedures when a student is referred to the Performance Review Committee:
- The referring faculty member should contact the Chair(s) of the PRC to discuss the referral. The Chair(s), in consultation with the referring person, must, as an initial step, make the determination that the referral is appropriate for the committee and the nature of its function.
- If it is determined that a referral to the PRC is warranted, the Chair(s) provides a referral form to the person making the referral. The form is then completed and submitted to the PRC Chair(s), who, within five (5) class-days*, notifies the student by email through their UA Little Rock email account and other committee members that a referral has been made, and provides a copy of the referral form and supporting documentation to the student and each committee member. The PRC Chair(s) will then schedule a committee meeting, which the student is expected to attend, within fifteen (15) class-days of initial written notification to the student. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Chair(s) of the PRC to confirm their intent to attend the meeting. If the student refuses to attend, the PRC will meet without the student.
- The student may elect to invite at least one supportive person to attend the meeting, providing this has been communicated to the committee chair(s) at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. Generally, the student’s academic advisor, in addition to others who are deemed relevant to the situation, may be invited to attend the meeting. If a student fails to provide adequate notice to the committee chair(s) that they intend to have others attend the meeting with them, the supportive parties may be asked to leave the meeting. The supportive parties have no speaking role and may not participate in the process.
- Prior to the meeting with the student, the PRC Chair(s) will gather all necessary information pertaining to the reason for the referral and will be responsible for assuring that committee members are provided the materials regarding the student. Before the student and any possible guests enter the meeting, the committee members will first meet to orient themselves to the factors specific to the student’s situation.
- During the meeting with the student and any invited guests, the PRC Chair(s) is responsible for facilitating the process. The Chair(s) will present the concerns as provided by the person who made the referral, in addition to other relevant information obtained in regard to the student’s situation. The Chair(s) will then provide the student with the opportunity to respond to the evidence presented.
- Once all the evidence regarding the situation has been presented and discussed, any invited guests will be dismissed, and the committee will discuss the information presented in the referral and the student’s response to the concerns.
The committee has three possible responses to the referral:
- A finding that the referral is not supported by the evidence in which event the committee recommends that the student may remain in the program and no further action required.
- A finding that the referral is supported by the evidence and recommends remediation to address the problems identified The committee may consult with others in developing the remediation plan including but not limited to other faculty members, the student’s mentor, and the student’s faculty liaison.
- A finding that the referral is supported by the evidence in which event the committee decides that the student is to be dismissed from the School of Social Work.
Following the meeting, the committee chair(s) will provide the student with a copy of the written recommendations no later than fifteen (15) class-days following the performance review meeting. A copy will also be provided to the student’s advisor, the appropriate program and field coordinators, and Director(s) of the School of Social Work.
The committee may also meet periodically during the semester (fall/spring) to review the progress of any students who have an active remediation plan in place that is being monitored by the academic advisor. In the event that a student is not making satisfactory progress in relation to the remediation plan, the committee chair(s) will reconvene the committee and meet with the student to make further recommendations.
Appeal Process
Any student who appears before the PRC may appeal the committee’s decision according to the following process:
- The first step in the appeal process is for the student to contact the Director(s) of the School of Social Work and outline the reasons for the appeal. The student must submit the appeal in writing within fifteen (15) class-days of having received the committee recommendations. The School of Social Work Director will then review the appeal and respond in writing to the student within fifteen(15) class-days of having received the student’s appeal request.
- If the student wishes to appeal the decision by the Director of the SSW, , the student may proceed to appeal to the Dean of the College of Business, Health, and Human Services. The appeal must be made in writing within fifteen (15) class-days.The decision of the Dean of the College of Business, Health and Human Services is final.
*A “class-day” is a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday in the Fall, Spring, and Summer 1 semesters when classes meet, from the first day of classes to the last day of class, according to the UA Little Rock academic calendar. Other days such as holidays, days between semesters, exam periods, fall and spring break, and any day in which the university is closed for all or part of the day for any reason are not considered “class-days” for purposes of this policy.
