When Things Get Complicated, We’ve Got Your Back
Experiencing issues at the University? Student Advocacy can assist you in procedures under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures, the Charter of Student Rights, the Regulation on the Conduct of Research and any other McGill policy.
Reach a Student
Advocate
Student Advocates are upper-year McGill law students who can advise and represent. Our office provides free, bilingual, and confidential services.
Please email us with a short description of your issue to receive a link to book a meeting with an advocate.
The process
- Contact a student advocacy office by email at info.studentadvocacy@licm.ca or visit our office during opening hours
- You will receive a booking link if your issue falls within the office’s mandate (that is, if your issue pertains to McGill policies)
- Attend the intake meeting and agree to the Student-Clinic Agreement
- The office will assign you an advocate
- Your advocate will contact you to proceed with your case
- You may terminate the relationship with the clinic at any point, according to the section 12 of the Student-Clinic Agreement
- At the end of the case, you must fill out the advocate evaluation survey and the student demographic survey
- The clinic maintains your case file for a minimum of five years from the date of closing in a confidential retention process
To reach a student advocate please e-mail info.studentadvocacy@licm.ca.
Student
Advocacy
In broad terms, Student Advocacy’s mandate is to provide free and confidential advice and representation to McGill students in formal and informal dispute resolution within the University context. More specifically, our mandate is to:
Student Advocacy might be able to help you more than you think
Examples of topics Student Advocacy can help students with:
Supervisor issues
- Resolving disputes with a thesis supervisor
- Appealing an unfair failure of a progress report or a thesis
Grievances
- Helping students resolve funding disputes with the University
- Seeking remedies for students whose research has been stolen or misappropriated
- Representing students at grievance committee hearings to defend their rights when they have been treated unfairly by University administrators
Disciplinary Issues
- Representing students accused of disciplinary offences such as plagiarism, and even non-academic offences
- Helping students file complaints of sexual harassment or assault
General Advocacy through policies
- Reviewing and commenting on McGill-wide policies from a student-centric perspective
- Student Advocacy’s work therefore impacts every McGill student in significant ways
Students often walk-in to the Student Advocacy Office to speak with a student advocate. However, it is best to set an appointment through our contact form.
The lifespan of a file can be anywhere between a week, few months, to a few years depending on the nature of the case.
What to Expect
- The first meeting will be with a Senior Advocate where the student will briefly explain their situation and sign the relevant documents to open up a file at the office.
- Shortly after, an advocate will be assigned to the student.
- From there, the advocate will set up an initial meeting with the student. They will advise, negotiate, and represent the student throughout any formal or informal dispute resolution procedure.
McGill Policies and Procedures
Policies
Students can find up-to-date versions of McGill policies by following the links below:
Procedures
If a student believes the University is violating their student rights, they can engage in informal dispute resolution with the University representatives involved. If a student has exhausted all resources, both formal and information, to resolve a dispute with the University, they may finally file a grievance under the Code of Student Grievance Procedures (3.2). All grievances must be grounded in an alleged violation of the Charter of Student Rights.
A student must submit a grievance form as well as a detailed statement about their issues to the Senate Committee on Student Grievances. Once the Committee on Student Grievances has approved the submission, they may call a hearing (3.6) where both sides will have the right to present their cases, including any evidence and witnesses (4.2.1). After the hearing, the Committee will release a written decision to the parties (5.3) and has the power to order any actions it sees fit (5.1), although the Committee cannot substitute its judgement for an academic evaluation (5.2). Either party can appeal the Committee’s decision to the Appeal Committee based on the limited grounds found under s. 6.3
Under art. 45, students have the right to an advisor present at any interview, summary hearing, or hearing under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (CSCDP).
Student Advocacy can assign you an Advocate to act as your advisor in this capacity.
To be found to have violated an article of the Code, there must be a finding of clear, convincing and reliable evidence in support of the charge (art. 46, CSCDP).
There are three possible disciplinary procedures to be taken against a student: a disciplinary interview, a summary hearing, and a hearing of a Committee on Student Discipline.
After a Disciplinary Officer is informed about a potential violation of the CSCDP, they can summon a student by written notice to an interview to inquire into the potential offence (48 (a) (c)). A disciplinary letter shall inform the student about any evidence or documentation they can consult before the interview (48 (c)). A student is not obligated to answer any of the Disciplinary Officer’s questions (49).
At the end of an interview, the Disciplinary Officer can exonerate the student, admonish or reprimand, or refer the case to a hearing to the CSD (50). If a student is admonished or reprimanded, potential additional dispositions include conduct probation, failing grades for academic offences, up to 10 hours of community service, fines, and in certain situations, temporary exclusion orders or suspensinos (51). Upon receiving the Disciplinary Officer’s written decision, the student can chose to have the charges heard before a Hearing Committee on Student Discipline (53 (c)).
After a Disciplinary Officer is informed about a potential violation of the CSCDP, they can summon a student by written notice to a summary hearing to enquire about the potential offence (55 (a)). In a summary hearing, the party who reported the alleged offence shall, in the presence of the student, restate the facts and the allegations and the names of the witnesses who support their complaints (55 (c)).
The presentation of the party cannot be used as evidence in the case unless the party is called back into the hearing to act as a witness (55 (c)). The student (or their advisor) can question the witnesses. The student has a right to present their case and call witnesses on their behalf and is not required to answer any of the Disciplinary Officer’s questions (55 (e)). The same possible dispositions and the right to refer to the CSD that apply to Disciplinary Interviews apply to Summary Hearings (56).
When a Disciplinary Officer refers a case to the CSD or the student elects to obtain a hearing, the decision of the Disciplinary Officer is suspended pending the decision of the Hearing of the CSD (57). Before the Hearing, the student and the Disciplinary Officer will have access to any relevant documents or evidence and the names of witnesses to be presented by either side (62).
At the beginning of the Hearing, both sides, beginning with the Disciplinary Officer, make summary presentations (67). Both sides are entitled to present their evidence and call and questions their witnesses (69), as well as question the other party and their witnesses (70 (b)). The student can elect to present evidence on their behalf and if they do, they will be subject to questioning. The student is not obligated to answer any questions (71). The Hearing Committee can exonerate, admonish, or reprimand the student (75). If the student is admonished or reprimanded, the Hearing Committee can place the student on conduct probation, require up to 25 hours of community service, suspend the student for one year, dismiss or expel the student, revoke a degree, or issue a fine (76). Either party can appeal the decision of the CSD to the Appeal committee based on limited grounds listed under art. 81.
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