Editing Herzing Issues: Academic Appeals and Due Process (section)

=== HU-166c: Herzing IT communication required as a blocking condition for an appeal about a non-technical weather and vendor failure, with no documented Herzing technical issue for the student to have raised with IT ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:14em" | Severity
| Medium
! Status
| CONFIRMED
|-
! Issue type
| IT-Contact Requirement as Blocking Condition for Non-Technical Appeal
! Date added
| 2026-06-09
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Shannon Bishop (Senior Student Services Advisor) / Herzing Academic Affairs
|}
'''Finding.''' Shannon Bishop required the reporting student to contact Herzing IT and provide documentation of that communication as a condition of his NSG524 appeal. The appeal arose from the weather-and-vendor failure documented in {{HU|HU-163}}: the reporting student's internet was interrupted by severe weather, no ProProctor was available for the in-window reschedule date, and the exam was marked a no-show by ProctorU/Meazure. The reporting student states this was not a technical issue with Herzing systems and that there was accordingly no Herzing IT communication to provide. Bishop acknowledged his position but maintained the requirement, citing tracking purposes. Requiring a student to initiate IT contact for an issue that did not involve a Herzing technical failure imposes a procedural step with no substantive connection to the appeal's subject matter and creates a document-production requirement the student cannot legitimately fulfill.

'''Evidence.''' Shannon Bishop email requiring IT communication as part of ProctorU appeal documentation; the reporting student reply: "There is no communication with Herzing IT as it was not a technical issue"; Bishop second email: "I understand, but all ProctorU appeals must have communication with our IT for tracking purposes." Source: Email thread among Shannon Bishop (Senior Student Services Advisor), the reporting student, and Dr. Raywattie Prashad (Program Chair of Online Prelicensure Nursing); cc'ing IT Support (ServiceNow), Dr. Danielle Laban, and Dr. Stephanie Black; provided by the reporting student, June 2026.

'''Reported statement.'''
<blockquote>There is no communication with Herzing IT as it was not a technical issue. [Bishop:] I understand, but all ProctorU appeals must have communication with our IT for tracking purposes.</blockquote>

'''Standards.''' 34 C.F.R. 668.14 (administrative capability, including fair and proportionate student-services processes); HLC Criterion 2.A (fair process). Imposing a procedurally required step that has no substantive connection to the appeal's facts, and that Bishop herself describes as for tracking rather than for merit review, may constitute an unreasonable procedural barrier to a weather-related appeal. The requirement also places the student in an impossible position: he cannot provide documentation of IT contact for an issue that did not involve a Herzing technical system. Lead: {{HU|HU-166}}.

'''Impact.''' The IT-contact requirement, if treated as a hard prerequisite, gives the institution a basis to deny the appeal for missing documentation even though the missing documentation reflects the nature of the appeal rather than any failure by the student to follow proper steps.

'''Notes.''' Sub-issue of {{HU|HU-166}} (lead). CONFIRMED that the requirement was imposed; the appropriateness of its application in this context is the concern. Dr. Gombar also directed the reporting student to obtain a Herzing IT ticket (cross-ref {{HU|HU-163e}}). Documented 2026-06-09.

<span id="HU-177"></span>