Body
Unit Procedure
Title
School of Medicine Offices of Medical Student Education: Procedure for Learning Environment and Student Mistreatment
Introduction
Purpose
This Procedure outlines the processes to be followed following a Mistreatment and/or Learning Environment report.
Scope
This Procedure applies to all University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (University) School of Medicine (SOM) Medical Degree (MD) program students, faculty and staff at all campuses and sites.
Procedure
Mistreatment Response Protocols
Response to Students
Upon receiving a report of Mistreatment or a poor Learning Environment:
- The Director of the Learning Environment (DLE) will contact the Student who made the report.
- The DLE and the Student will decide if and when to pursue action in response unless Human Resources and/or the University Compliance Office dictate otherwise. If the report was submitted anonymously, the DLE will move forward immediately with the response protocol.
- If the report involves risk of immediate harm to an individual or a compliance concern, the DLE shall have the discretion to move forward while maintaining the Student's confidentiality.
- The DLE will "close the loop" with the Student to let the Student know that their report has been managed per protocol. The DLE will not provide the Student with details about institutional responses specific to the Student's report but may provide the Student with information regarding general resulting systemic changes in processes and/or procedures.
- If the Learning Environment report is serious enough to consider removing the Student immediately, the DLE will confer with representatives from the Office for Curricular Affairs and the Office for Student Affairs. Together, this group will make a decision about any shift in the Student's schedule. Oftentimes, an immediate substitution cannot be made but every effort will be made to provide the Student a comparable clinical experience while taking into account the Student's planned graduation date, limitations of preceptor availability, campus capacity, general clinical capacity as well as site contracts that are already in place.
Incident Management
- The DLE reviews all Mistreatment and Learning Environment reports with Human Resources and, if appropriate, the University Compliance Office (UCO).
- The DLE must report Discrimination and harassment to the UCO in accordance with the University's Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct Including Sex-Based Harassment, Sexual Assault, Interpersonal Violence and Stalking
- Human Resources will assume responsibility for reports which the DLE determines involve egregious or concerning repetitive patterns of behavior.
- The DLE must inform department leadership of reports as follows:
- Department chairs are provided aggregate data without specific faculty information for minor Learning Environment issues (i.e., concern that does not constitute Mistreatment or a policy violation).
- Program directors will be informed of any Graduate Medical Education (GME) learners who are reported.
- Any report involving GME learner Mistreatment will be shared with the Chief Graduate Medical Education Officer/Accreditation Counsel for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Designated Institutional Official.
- The Vice Dean for Education will be informed of reports that involve a program director or department chair.
- The DLE or departmental/divisional designees will meet with reported faculty to provide feedback while maintaining Student anonymity.
- The DLE will manage any reports involving a staff member with the staff member's supervisor.
- The DLE will manage any reports involving a resident with the resident's program director.
Learning Environment Reports
- The DLE will share all Learning Environment reports from branch campuses will be shared with campus leaders at SOM regional campuses and sites on a bimonthly basis unless the severity of the concern dictates otherwise.
- All learning environment reports are tracked by the DLE to help identify those individuals or locations with repetitive reports.
- The DLE will share aggregated Learning Environment data with all department chairs, branch campus leaders, the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Student Education, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, and the Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs.
- The DLE will provide separate trimester reports to departments and divisions with higher numbers of learning environment reports, branch campus leaders and the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.
Definitions
Learning Environment: Diverse physical locations, contexts and cultures in which students learn. The learning environment influences: 1) Engagement, motivation, 2) Wellness, belonging, and 3) Emotional and social dimensions of the classroom.
Mistreatment: Inappropriate treatment of an individual, including, but not limited to:
- sexual harassment;
- discrimination based on race, color, genetic information, national origin, age, religion, disability, veteran's status, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or gender expression;
- purposeful humiliation, verbal abuse, threats, or other forms of psychological mistreatment;
- physical harassment, physical endangerment and/or physical harm; and
- any other conduct towards Students prohibited by the University's Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct Including Sex-Based Harassment, Sexual Assault, Interpersonal Violence and Stalking.
Specific examples of Mistreatment include, but are not limited to, the following:
- to speak insultingly or unjustifiably harshly to, or about, a person;
- to ask for sexual favors;
- to belittle or humiliate;
- to threaten with physical harm;
- to physically attack (e.g., hit, slap, kick);
- to require performance of personal services (e.g., shopping, babysitting);
- to deliberately and repeatedly exclude from reasonable learning experiences (faculty, residents or staff);
- retaliation for making an allegation of mistreatment; and
- to make a person uncomfortable with respect to age, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, appearance, or any other personal attribute.
Related Requirements
External Regulations
Unit Policies, Standards, and Procedures
Contact Information
Primary Contact
Title: Senior Director for Student Affairs
Name: Valerie Glassman
Email: valerie_glassman@med.unc.edu
Publication Details
Issuing Officer: Alice Chuang, Associate Dean for Student Affairs, alice_chuang@med.unc.edu
Effective Date: November 1, 2025
Review Cycle: The Education Committee with input from Student Affairs reviews in odd numbered-years or on an as-needed basis this Policy.
Next Review Date: October 31, 2027