The University administration recognizes its particular obligations in areas such as faculty members,' employees,' and students' rights to privacy and the confidentiality of their records. The University administration also strives to balance the need to keep data about students from being misused with allowing proper access by faculty members and administrators to student records for academic advising and disciplinary inquiries. The University's Registrar and the records offices of the separate Schools and Colleges recognize a strict obligation to protect the privacy of records in their custody. The University's Code of Student Responsibilities , published in the annual Boston University Lifebook , specifies students' right to appeal both determinations of fact and sanctions to the Provost or to a hearing before the Board of Student Conduct, a three-person panel of faculty, students, and administrators. Students who have grievances not related to disciplinary matters are encouraged to present their issues to University officials.
Grievance procedures exist for all non-represented employees.
This report is evidence of Boston University's forthright and candid response to the standards, policies, and requests of the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. Particular issues of institutional integrity are addressed in context in other sections of this report. Boston University assesses the effectiveness of its ethical policies and procedures each time it deals with a significant infraction of its established rules. The Office of Internal Audit includes in all of its reports recommendations for improving internal controls and keeping faculty members, staff, and students informed of such rules. In the rare cases of severe faculty misconduct, the University attempts not merely to adjudicate the problem properly, but to learn from the experience.