PSE Applicant Appeals Procedure

1. Guiding Principles

The fundamental principles that guide the use of this procedure are:

1.1. Whether conducted in public or in private, the appeal procedure should be clear, open, fair, unbiased and proportionate; essentially, it should accord with the principles of natural justice;

1.2. All persons involved should respect the confidentiality of the proceedings;

1.3. No person should participate in decision-making in more than one stage of the procedure in any particular case. All persons who are asked to participate in the appeal procedure and have a conflict of interest in relation to any part of the procedure, or have a connection with the applicant which creates a real danger of bias, or which could cause others to think it could influence their decision, should declare it and disqualify themselves from participating;

1.4. While the procedure is the responsibility of the NAFEMS Council, it should delegate authority in order to comply with principles 1.1 and 1.3 above;

1.5. Judgement by peers. NAFEMS Staff may provide administrative and secretarial support and procedural advice but should not influence or participate in the decision-making process, even if they are a Professional Simulation Engineer.

2. Review of Appeal

2.1. An applicant for Professional Simulation Engineer (PSE) registration who is dissatisfied with the process or the decision of the PSE assessment may request an appeal within 60 days of notification of the result of the assessment.

2.2. When a request for appeal is received by NAFEMS, the CEO will inform the NAFEMS Chairman (Chairman) who informs the PSE Board.

2.3. The Chairman appoints a reviewer who must not be an employee of NAFEMS and not have been involved with the application.

2.4. The reviewer considers whether there are grounds for appeal.

2.5. The grounds for appeal are:

2.5.1. Unanticipated exceptional personal circumstances that caused the applicant to under perform.

2.5.2. Mishandling of the application or a fault with the PSE registration process which interfered with the applicant’s ability to present their case.

2.6. If the reviewer determines that the appeal is unfounded the Chairman and the applicant are informed of this decision. The applicant is also informed of the reasons for the decision and the right to appeal against this decision within 30 days.

2.6.1. If the complainant appeals against the decision of the reviewer, the Chairman will appoint an independent reviewer to review the decision. The independent reviewer must not be an employee of NAFEMS and not have been involved with the application.

2.6.2. The independent reviewer will review the decision of the reviewer and determine if the appeal should proceed or the decision of the reviewer is upheld. The Chairman and the applicant are informed of this decision. If the decision of the reviewer is upheld, the applicant is also informed that there is no further right of appeal.

2.6.3. If there is no appeal within the time limit or the appeal is not upheld, the Chairman is informed and records of the appeal should no longer be maintained.

3. Appeal Panel

3.1. If the reviewer or the independent reviewer concludes there is a “case to answer”, the Chairman will appoint an Appeal Panel of not fewer than three senior, experienced members of NAFEMS.

3.2. Panel members must be sufficiently independent of the PSE Board to avoid any real or perceived bias or conflict of interest, and so should never include current members of the PSE Board or employees of NAFEMS. Panel members must not have been involved with the application. The applicant should be informed and kept informed of developments.

3.3. The Appeal Panel will consider all the information available to the reviewer.

3.4. If the Appeal Panel decides the appeal is not upheld, the Chairman and the applicant are informed of the decision. The applicant is also informed there is no further right of appeal. Records of the appeal process are produced and maintained.

3.5. If the appeal is upheld, the Chairman and the applicant are informed of the decision of the Appeal Panel. The Chairman informs the PSE Board which should proceed with the application on the basis of the decision by the Appeal Panel. Records of the appeal process are produced and maintained.

4. Record Outcome

4.1. Records that are to be maintained following the appeals process will be archived and retained for a minimum of 10 years. Records to be retained comprise:

4.1.1. A copy of all written information submitted;

4.1.2. A summary of the Panel’s reasons for its decision.

Summaries should contain sufficient detail for a reviewer to understand the issues and to be able to judge whether the proceedings had been fairly and properly conducted.