(1) Outstanding financial obligations.

The college expects that students who receive services for which a financial obligation is incurred will exercise responsibility in meeting those obligations as stated in WAC 132S-90-020(12). Appropriate college staff are empowered to act in accordance with regularly adopted procedures to carry out the intent of this regulation, and if necessary to initiate legal action to ensure that collection matters are brought to a timely and satisfactory conclusion.

To the extent permitted by law, in response to a student or former student's failure to pay a debt owed to the college, the college may:

(a) Initiate collection action;

(b) Make collections from funds received from or on behalf of a student;

(c) Deny or withhold admission to or registration with the college, conferral of degrees or certificates, and/or issuance of academic transcripts;

(d) Refer the matter for discipline under chapter 132S-100 WAC;

(e) Deny any other provisions or other services, including refunds.

(2) Withholding services for outstanding debts. Upon receipt of a request for services where there is an outstanding debt owed to the college from the requesting person, the college shall notify the student by the most expedient means that the services will not be provided since there is an outstanding debt, and further that until that debt is satisfied, no such services will be provided to the student. The notice shall include a statement that they have a right to an informal appeal before the debt review committee if they believe that no debt is owed. The notice shall state that the request for the informal appeal must be made to the president's office within twenty-one days from the date of notification. The informal appeal request must be in writing and must clearly state error(s) in fact or matter(s) in extenuation or mitigation which justifies the informal appeal. The informal appeal process excludes parking citation appeals heard by the citation review committee (basis for parking citation) or those waived by untimely filing, but includes appeals before the debt review committee on whether the debt(s) for parking citation(s) are owed.

(3) Appeal of decision to withhold services for outstanding debt(s).

The request may be for an in-person presentation of the appeal before the debt review committee or include a submission of a written appeal for review by the debt review committee.

Upon receipt by the president's office of a timely request for an informal appeal, the president or designee will designate three staff members and/or student(s) to a committee for the purpose of hearing or reviewing the informal appeal, depending on the request. The debt review committee will render a decision in writing within five business days of the hearing or review. If the outstanding debt is found to be owed by the student involved, services shall not be provided until the debt is paid or otherwise resolved. If the outstanding debt, and any resulting action taken under WAC 132S-90-070, is found to be an institutional error, steps will be taken to lift the restriction on services.

If the decision made by the debt review committee is not satisfactory to the student, they may file a more formal appeal through the brief adjudicative process in chapter 132S-20 WAC.