Friend kicked out of PsyD program - Suggestions?

[Finette]

I have a friend who completed their masters degree in clinical psychology, and then went on to a PsyD program, which they were in for 6 years. He had completed thousands of supervised hours, and had multiple internships. He was honestly a wonderful, compassionate, and talented therapist. Right around the time he was about to wrap up his dissertation, his life imploded. He had a lot of personal hardship hit him at once, and he was struggling to stay afloat - even those who help others, need help sometimes.


The long and the short of it is during this time he made a tasteless joke to a staff member off hours. Not realizing that he had offended anyone, and having never been told he had any behavioral issues prior, he didn't realize there was a problem until his university informed him that a complaint had been filed. The complaint was reviewed, and they expelled him. No corrective actions were offered. (I'd like to note that he was not only person he knows in the last few years to be kicked out of this program. This particular university has a pattern of expelling people late in their degree, with no second chances offered.) This all happened a year ago. Since then, he's been extremely depressed, since therapy was the only thing he ever wanted to do in life.


He still has contact with his therapist friends, who have moved onto licensure. They often seek his help on peer review consultations, and I know they would be willing to write him a letter of recommendation. I've been trying to keep his spirits up, and am looking into whether it is possible for him to take the professional counseling examination in his state (I know there are state specific requirements), and he has all or most of the requirements but thinks they won't let him sit in for the exam once they see he was expelled from the PsyD program (even though a psyd/doctorate degree is not required for licensure).


I don't know if anyone here would have any suggestions, but I'm at a loss. It seems incredible to me that he could do ALL this work for this many years, and not have it be worth anything. Do you have any suggestions of things that could help get him on the right path to pursuing his dream? Has this sort of thing happened to anyone you know, and how did they recover from it?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[borne_before]

Dude needs a lawyer.

 

[Sanman]

Yeah, this is the point at which you consult someone with expertise in employment law. Having/being intimately familiar with the student handbook and procedures to appeal the dismissal would be helpful as well.

 

[Finette]

Yeah, this is the point at which you consult someone with expertise in employment law. Having/being intimately familiar with the student handbook and procedures to appeal the dismissal would be helpful as well.

Looking in the student handbook in their section on dismissals, a plan of remediation should be proposed, and only if that plan seems to not be working is a suggestion made to the college of science as a whole that the person should be withdrawn from the program.

I asked him about this, and he said a plan of remediation was given to him a few years prior when he left an internship site. They were neglecting/abusing employees, and he asked for help from the department, but they offered none. He said he had no choice but to leave the internship site, and as a result they said he was at risk in the program, and put him on a remediation plan. The two incidents were not related, and honestly the fact that they wanted him to keep working at a site where they were not following policy is appalling to me, but I'm not as familiar with this field as others may be (is this normal?). I've suggested to him that he get a lawyer.

 

[Sanman]

Looking in the student handbook in their section on dismissals, a plan of remediation should be proposed, and only if that plan seems to not be working is a suggestion made to the college of science as a whole that the person should be withdrawn from the program.

If the program provided him with a remediation plan and he did not follow it, that makes things much more difficult. Leaving an internship is a huge deal (same a leaving a medical residency program) as this is a national matching program with a strict contract. He would need to consult a lawyer. However, if the program did the paperwork correctly, I am not sure there will be recourse unless there is a pattern of misconduct on part of the university/program. That is much harder to prove. Beyond that, I am not sure about options as many of the licensing boards and schools will not give you a chance if you have been dismissed from a program. Their job is to protect the public and your friend has been deemed unfit to be a psychologist by the program.

 

[Finette]

If the program provided him with a remediation plan and he did not follow it, that makes things much more difficult. Leaving an internship is a huge deal (same a leaving a medical residency program) as this is a national matching program with a strict contract. He would need to consult a lawyer. However, if the program did the paperwork correctly, I am not sure there will be recourse unless there is a pattern of misconduct on part of the university/program. That is much harder to prove. Beyond that, I am not sure about options as many of the licensing boards and schools will not give you a chance if you have been dismissed from a program. Their job is to protect the public and your friend has been deemed unfit to be a psychologist by the program.

This is good to know. I genuinely feel bad for the guy. He really cared about the patients, and was good at what he did. I'll try to advise him accordingly. It may be that he has to find a way to help people outside the confines of traditional therapy.

 

[StuckPointLogOff]

What is meant by multiple internships? Did they complete an APA accredited internship and then returned to finish up the dissertation. Why 6 years in program if entered with a master's degree? Did he have other disciplinary challenges while in the program?

Seems like something is missing. Most programs would not do this especially at that stage in the game, unless the joke involved the threat of harm or violence.

 

[Finette]

What is meant by multiple internships? Did they complete an APA accredited internship and then returned to finish up the dissertation. Why 6 years in program if entered with a master's degree? Did he have other disciplinary challenges while in the program?

Seems like something is missing. Most programs would not do this especially at that stage in the game, unless the joke involved the threat of harm.

Most students completed multiple unpaid internships throughout their time in the program. I don't think these were APA accredited - from my understanding, that's what he was trying to apply to when he was kicked out. I was curious about the timeframe myself, as six years post masters seems like a very long time to me, and its quite normal in this program. Something like <5% of students admitted with a masters degree finish it in four years or less, with roughly 15% of students taking longer than 8 years (again, those are the stats for those admitted with a masters already). Seems crazy to me.

 

[BuckeyeLove]

This seems like a super sketch program.

 

[Finette]

What is meant by multiple internships? Did they complete an APA accredited internship and then returned to finish up the dissertation. Why 6 years in program if entered with a master's degree? Did he have other disciplinary challenges while in the program?

& no, there was no threat of harm. He told me the joke, and it was not in the best of taste - definitely not something to say in the place of work, but no threat of harm.

 

[StuckPointLogOff]

Most students completed multiple unpaid internships throughout their time in the program. I don't think these were APA accredited - from my understanding, that's what he was trying to apply to when he was kicked out. I was curious about the timeframe myself, as six years post masters seems like a very long time to me, and its quite normal in this program. Something like <5% of students admitted with a masters degree finish it in four years or less, with roughly 15% of students taking longer than 8 years (again, those are the stats for those admitted with a masters already). Seems crazy to me.

I think it is meant externship or practicum experiences. We usually save the word internship for the actual paid internship year required for degree conferral, so that's why I was confused by the use of the term in your original post. Thank you for clarifying. I agree with the previous poster that this program sounds very sketchy based on the information presented.

 

[StuckPointLogOff]

& no, there was no threat of harm. He told me the joke, and it was not in the best of taste - definitely not something to say in the place of work, but no threat of harm.

Then they should definitely contact a lawyer and become a strong advocate for themselves. I believe most universities have processes put in place to contest these types of things. Best of luck to your friend.

 

[Sanman]

I think it is meant externship or practicum experiences. We usually save the word internship for the actual paid internship year required for degree conferral, so that's why I was confused by the use of the term in your original post. Thank you for clarifying. I agree with the previous poster that this program sounds very sketchy based on the information presented.

This...there is a big difference between leaving an externship (akin to a med school rotation) and an internship (akin to medical residency)

 

[psych.meout]

There is a lot left unsaid here.

Looking in the student handbook in their section on dismissals, a plan of remediation should be proposed, and only if that plan seems to not be working is a suggestion made to the college of science as a whole that the person should be withdrawn from the program.

I asked him about this, and he said a plan of remediation was given to him a few years prior when he left an internship site. They were neglecting/abusing employees, and he asked for help from the department, but they offered none. He said he had no choice but to leave the internship site, and as a result they said he was at risk in the program, and put him on a remediation plan. The two incidents were not related, and honestly the fact that they wanted him to keep working at a site where they were not following policy is appalling to me, but I'm not as familiar with this field as others may be (is this normal?). I've suggested to him that he get a lawyer.

Did he follow the terms of the remediation plan? Were the faculty satisfied with his progress otherwise?

The long and the short of it is during this time he made a tasteless joke to a staff member off hours.

What is the full story of what happened. In particular, what did he specifically say to this staff member?

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I'd probably say getting a lawyer is their best bet, and it sounds like they're looking into it. I suspect there may be stipulations for skipping steps in a due process system if the mistake is significant/grievous. And once a complaint is filed with the university instead of the department, different rules may apply. It's also possible, as has been said, that the prior remediation plan and experience at his externship site may have factored in; if he made a joke in poor taste to a faculty member without realizing it was inappropriate, perhaps similar behavior had occurred previously (again, without his knowledge)?

And not specific to your friend, but I think it's also important to point out that there's certainly much more to being a psychologist, and being deemed competent for that role, than caring about patients and being adept at therapy. A program could find a trainee not to meet the standards of the profession despite their being an excellent therapist.

 

[WisNeuro]

Since this gets brought up a lot, how exactly do so many people know about the therapy acumen of their friends in different programs? It is possible in some programs, we had the one-way mirrors. So, between group supervision and supervising younger grads in PE, I can speak to their abilities. But how would one know this about others who do not have that first hand experience?

 

[PsyDr]

It’s over. Your friend could hire an educational attorney, file suit either under Goss, Title IX, contractual law, or something else. Guessing this is about $40k out of pocket. If he won, I would expect that he would suddenly experience unexplainable poor grades, difficulty with registering for classes, and unexplainable conduct complaints. The end result would be a well documented reason for his second expulsion. Even if that didn’t happen, the DCT would write him the most ice cold "recommendation" letter for internship. That letter would basically end his ability to get an internship, which means he couldn't graduate. Or they could use that and say he didn’t graduate in the required time, since most programs have a maximum on that.

sorry.

 

[psych.meout]

I have a friend who completed their masters degree in clinical psychology, and then went on to a PsyD program, which they were in for 6 years.

Aren't PsyD programs usually shorter than PhD programs? It sounds like this guy is on his 6th year and still not on internship. I wonder if not making satisfactory progress to going on internship played a factor here.

Since this gets brought up a lot, how exactly do so many people know about the therapy acumen of their friends in different programs? It is possible in some programs, we had the one-way mirrors. So, between group supervision and supervising younger grads in PE, I can speak to their abilities. But how would one know this about others who do not have that first hand experience?

So much this. People are incorrectly projecting their personal feelings about their grad student friends onto their clinical skills when they don't have any firsthand knowledge of their skills. I've done group supervision with other grad students and interns and been shocked at the lack of knowledge, missteps, and other issues demonstrated by otherwise very nice and enjoyable people.

 

[Finette]

Aren't PsyD programs usually shorter than PhD programs? It sounds like this guy is on his 6th year and still not on internship. I wonder if not making satisfactory progress to going on internship played a factor here.

So much this. People are incorrectly projecting their personal feelings about their grad student friends onto their clinical skills when they don't have any firsthand knowledge of their skills. I've done group supervision with other grad students and interns and been shocked at the lack of knowledge, missteps, and other issues demonstrated by otherwise very nice and enjoyable people.

These are all really good points everyone is making.

To the point made about him being on his 6th year - I just wanted to reiterate that yes that seems abnormal to me too, but looking at the stats this is extremely normal in this particular program. The vast majority of psyd students graduate in 6 years or more - with a sizeable percentage taking longer than 8 years. Seems like a problem of the program to me.

 

[WisNeuro]

These are all really good points everyone is making.

To the point made about him being on his 6th year - I just wanted to reiterate that yes that seems abnormal to me too, but looking at the stats this is extremely normal in this particular program. The vast majority of psyd students graduate in 6 years or more - with a sizeable percentage taking longer than 8 years. Seems like a problem of the program to me.

Yikes, a sizable% taking 8+ years? That is....no bueno. That's a LOT of money in program fees just adding up there.

 

[Sanman]

Yikes, a sizable% taking 8+ years? That is....no bueno. That's a LOT of money in program fees just adding up there.

If that is the case, what are the stats on graduates getting licensed out of this program? Nothing like spending significant time and money with a lawyer to get reinstated to a bottom of the barrel program.

On a personal note, the more this thread unfolds, the more I believe that your friend should move on and find something else to do with his time. No career is worth this level of headache and the truth is that even if he wins, there will be a stain on his early career and he will have to work his way up from some unenviable early positions. If I were him, I would take my skills and look into a career that utilizes them in some other way. Hell, there are days I contemplate this and I am a licensed clinician with a good job.

 

[chicandtoughness]

The vast majority of psyd students graduate in 6 years or more - with a sizeable percentage taking longer than 8 years. Seems like a problem of the program to me.

Damn. Does this program have a high number of part time students? That’s the only situation in which this seems okay to me. Alternatively, the program is not giving appropriate dissertation support and folks are going ABD for years.

 

[Finette]

If that is the case, what are the stats on graduates getting licensed out of this program? Nothing like spending significant time and money with a lawyer to get reinstated to a bottom of the barrel program.

On a personal note, the more this thread unfolds, the more I believe that your friend should move on and find something else to do with his time. No career is likely this level of headache and the truth is that even if he wins, there will be a stain on his early career and he will have to work his way up from some unenviable early positions. If I were him, I would take my skills and look into a career that utilizes them in some other way. Hell, there are days I contemplate this and I am a licensed clinician with a good job.

After all the comments and insights people have made about this situation, I think I've also come to agree with this. I'm going to suggest he look into some alternative career options - maybe something like life coaching? It seems like traditional therapy is a done deal.

 

[Finette]

Damn. Does this program have a high number of part time students? That’s the only situation in which this seems okay to me. Alternatively, the program is not giving appropriate dissertation support and folks are going ABD for years.

Well there's 0 funding offered in the program, so students have to work jobs to support themselves while completing the requirements. I imagine it makes it harder to get everything done.

 

[chicandtoughness]

Well there's 0 funding offered in the program, so students have to work jobs to support themselves while completing the requirements. I imagine it makes it harder to get everything done.

Aha. Yep, I can think of a few schools where this is rampant (*cough*starts with a W ends with a C*cough*).

 

[DynamicDidactic]

Well there's 0 funding offered in the program, so students have to work jobs to support themselves while completing the requirements. I imagine it makes it harder to get everything done.

These are the types of programs that this forum usually warns students not to attend. I am not hoping to blame the student but the red flags for these types of programs are bountiful.

 

[Peacemaker36]

This might be the rare case where getting an online MA degree makes sense. Assuming this person had 6 years of training and everything was going well until his unfortunate comment, he wouldn't need more intense training, and could approach the MA degree as a formality so that he could get licensed.

On the other hand, it is hard to imagine, in a vacuum, that all was really going well until his comment. I suppose it could be a case of unjustified "cancellation."

 

[AcronymAllergy]

As others have said, the path of least resistance would probably be seeking a new career and/or trying to obtain a licensable masters degree.

If it's truly a grievous misstep by the program, your friend could certainly pursue legal action and seek re-instatement, and if granted, then look to transfer to a different program (which would probably tack a few years on to his training). But even that could be an uphill battle.

 

[foreverbull]

I also wonder if there's a way to salvage the clinical psychology master's degree and hours put into that path?
It may require postgraduate supervised hours for state licensing boards/licensure but I'm assuming that the degree was meant for practice and can still be used as such?

 

[CheetahGirl]

The long and the short of it is during this time he made a tasteless joke to a staff member off hours. Not realizing that he had offended anyone, and having never been told he had any behavioral issues prior, he didn't realize there was a problem until his university informed him that a complaint had been filed. The complaint was reviewed, and they expelled him. No corrective actions were offered. (I'd like to note that he was not only person he knows in the last few years to be kicked out of this program. This particular university has a pattern of expelling people late in their degree, with no second chances offered.) This all happened a year ago. Since then, he's been extremely depressed, since therapy was the only thing he ever wanted to do in life.

I just quickly scanned the above replies...is it an APA accredited program (I didn't notice anyone asking)? If so, THEY could lose their accreditation if this is a pattern, and no remediation was offered prior to expelling the student. This is what bothers me most.

Each program must have a protocol manual/handbook, and each university has one, also. Ask your friend to search for the procedures of the university and program to see if they followed their own protocol/handbook. If not, that is where your friend can petition the university and appeal their decision. If they did not follow their own laws/rules, then it seems like it cannot be a final decision.

And the APA has lawyers (in your area) they can suggest.

 

[psych.meout]

I just quickly scanned the above replies...is it an APA accredited program (I didn't notice anyone asking)? If so, THEY could lose their accreditation if this is a pattern, and no remediation was offered prior to expelling the student. This is what bothers me most.

Each program must have a protocol manual/handbook, and each university has one, also. Ask your friend to search for the procedures of the university and program to see if they followed their own protocol/handbook. If not, that is where your friend can petition the university and appeal their decision. If they did not follow their own laws/rules, then it seems like it cannot be a final decision.

And the APA has lawyers (in your area) they can suggest.

Like I said earlier, there seems to be a lot left unsaid, which isn't necessarily OP's fault. I imagine that they only have their friend's side of the story, which is generally going to be biased in their favor, from minimizing what this "joke" was, to not giving the complete context of that situation, to not fully explaining what happened with the previous remediation plan.

 

[thebalmofhurtminds]

The previous meditation plan is a pretty huge part of this story. It makes the offcolor joke seem more like a last straw and that the program had already had tallies against him.

 

[WisNeuro]

This story feels like a sweater with frayed threads, they keep getting pulled and it starts unraveling...

 

[Doctor Koala]

It’s over. Your friend could hire an educational attorney, file suit either under Goss, Title IX, contractual law, or something else. Guessing this is about $40k out of pocket. If he won, I would expect that he would suddenly experience unexplainable poor grades, difficulty with registering for classes, and unexplainable conduct complaints. The end result would be a well documented reason for his second expulsion. Even if that didn’t happen, the DCT would write him the most ice cold "recommendation" letter for internship. That letter would basically end his ability to get an internship, which means he couldn't graduate. Or they could use that and say he didn’t graduate in the required time, since most programs have a maximum on that.

sorry.

Game Over

 

[Mercury in Taurus]

Game Over

It’s over. Your friend could hire an educational attorney, file suit either under Goss, Title IX, contractual law, or something else. Guessing this is about $40k out of pocket. If he won, I would expect that he would suddenly experience unexplainable poor grades, difficulty with registering for classes, and unexplainable conduct complaints. The end result would be a well documented reason for his second expulsion. Even if that didn’t happen, the DCT would write him the most ice cold "recommendation" letter for internship. That letter would basically end his ability to get an internship, which means he couldn't graduate. Or they could use that and say he didn’t graduate in the required time, since most programs have a maximum on that.

sorry.

Sadly true. Some people in positions of power can be mean, even in a helping field. A school as an institution is much more powerful than an individual. They might have an in-house legal department that won't cost the DCT and faculties a penny to defend themselves in the lawsuit if they are named as defendants. Their in-house counsel may fight back aggressively by countersuing libel, defamation, damage to business goodwill.... They can drag the suit strategically by delaying the process. For example, filing a motion for extension of time to answer the complaint, filing a counter-complaint, postponing court date, requesting and/or producing massive documents and evidence that will overwhelm the plaintiff during the discovery... It can be years of misery. Will that really be a good investment of $$$, time, and energy to file a suit?

 

[psych.meout]

Sadly true. Some people in positions of power can be mean, even in a helping field. A school as an institution is much more powerful than an individual. They might have an in-house legal department that won't cost the DCT and faculties a penny to defend themselves in the lawsuit if they are named as defendants. Their in-house counsel may fight back aggressively by countersuing libel, defamation, damage to business goodwill.... They can drag the suit strategically by delaying the process. For example, filing a motion for extension of time to answer the complaint, filing a counter-complaint, postponing court date, requesting and/or producing massive documents and evidence that will overwhelm the plaintiff during the discovery... It can be years of misery. Will that really be a good investment of $$$, time, and energy to file a suit?

Do those things happen? Sure, sometimes.

Are those things happening here? We have no idea. As has been said multiple times here, we're not getting the full story, which isn't necessarily OP's fault, but we shouldn't be passing judgment either way when we have barely any information and it's all from one side.

 

[thebalmofhurtminds]

Do those things happen? Sure, sometimes.

Are those things happening here? We have no idea. As has been said multiple times here, we're not getting the full story, which isn't necessarily OP's fault, but we shouldn't be passing judgment either way when we have barely any information and it's all from one side.

Exactly. People love to blame DCTs, but as I've gotten further along through this career, I can say it must be incredibly difficult to handle some of these situations when you need to balance the needs of your students and the good of the field.

 

[foreverbull]

Do those things happen? Sure, sometimes.

Are those things happening here? We have no idea. As has been said multiple times here, we're not getting the full story, which isn't necessarily OP's fault, but we shouldn't be passing judgment either way when we have barely any information and it's all from one side.

This is true.

A few possibilities:

1. The student may have been on probation for more egregious reasons than we are made aware, and the joke may have been inappropriate and offensive in the presence of faculty, which was the final straw in a pattern of poor behaviors, some of which we aren’t aware of.

2. The program is bad and the student was being a whistleblower at the practicum site which the program didn’t like because x faculty member is friends with x practicum supervisor (or some related reason that the program is motivated to lie about), and the joke was the last straw and an excuse to kick them out, whether harmless or not. This requires lying on the part of the program/multiple faculty to throw the student under the bus.

3. A combination of poor behavior on the part of both student and program. Both contributed to the outcome of expulsion.

We occasionally have these anecdotes or statements from time to time that sound really unfair, but when we ask for more details, are given very little and then silence or defensiveness. It’s possible that there really are some rare but terrible and unethical programs out there, and it’s also possible that students screw up and do bad things in their programs.

We’ll never know which scenario this is, but at least the student has some tips for moving forward.

 

[VirginiaIsForLovers]

Damn that sucks, sorry to hear this. Whether he can get licensed at a master's level clinician will depend state to state - the counseling/clinical political piece gets confusing. Was the master's from a different school? Usually applications will ask if they have been dismissed from a practicum or internship experience, not sure about academic program though.

If he meets academic requirements and clinical supervised experience hours, I think it's worth giving it a shot or at least ask the licensure board. The Worst case scenario is they say no, and he will at least know to pursue other options, instead of feeling stuck. His master's degree is conferred and passed classes in an accredited PsyD program, so they'll look at the specific classes for a master level licensure instead of whether his PsyD was conferred or not.

I randomly looked up Maryland and one of the questions is: "Has any state licensing or disciplinary board ever taken any action against your license and/or certification, including but not limited to limitations of practice, required education, admonishment, reprimand, revocation, suspension?" None of the questions are related to academic program.

I had a colleague who graduated from a APA PhD program, completed an APA internship, but took the EPPP multiple times and couldn't pass, so has just given up on that. He's licensed as an LPC or LCPC now and just practices with that.

 

[psych.meout]

I had a colleague who graduated from a APA PhD program, completed an APA internship, but took the EPPP multiple times and couldn't pass, so has just given up on that. He's licensed as an LPC or LCPC now and just practices with that.

It's a bit of a derail, but this seems a little short-sighted. The EPPP is the only thing holding him up? I'd question whether he has exhausted all avenues to pass the EPPP, including getting some professional tutoring, working on test anxiety, etc.

 

[msc545]

I'm sorry about your friend. This is really a disaster. Consider that if he was to retain an attorney, that attorney could negotiate with the school to get him the best deal possible, with the potential threat of a lawsuit and bad publicity looming in the background. He is entitled to due process, and if he didn't get that (and I am assuming he did not), then his chances of winning are are much better.

Also - ruining someone's career over a joke seems grossly disproportionate to the offense, and a court will not look kindly on this at all. You have not told us what the joke was, and so I can only say that if it was sexual in nature at all, that might change the landscape slightly, but it also triggers a Title IX investigation (and may already have done so), and Title IX investigations are notorious for messing things up to the point that their decisions are almost always reversed by real courts. What was the process for kicking him out, and was it a Title IX issue?

 

[psych.meout]

I'm sorry about your friend. This is really a disaster. Consider that if he was to retain an attorney, that attorney could negotiate with the school to get him the best deal possible, with the potential threat of a lawsuit and bad publicity looming in the background. He is entitled to due process, and if he didn't get that (and I am assuming he did not), then his chances of winning are are much better.

Also - ruining someone's career over a joke seems grossly disproportionate to the offense, and a court will not look kindly on this at all. You have not told us what the joke was, and so I can only say that if it was sexual in nature at all, that might change the landscape slightly, but it also triggers a Title IX investigation (and may already have done so), and Title IX investigations are notorious for messing things up to the point that their decisions are almost always reversed by real courts. What was the process for kicking him out, and was it a Title IX issue?

You should read the rest of the thread. There's a lot not being said, but their friend was already put on a remediation plan earlier in grad school, though it's unclear if they met the terms of the plan.

Whatever the full story is, it's not the case that this student had an otherwise spotless record and this is all about a joke.

 

[msc545]

Sorry.

 

[Fan_of_Meehl]

I'm sorry about your friend. This is really a disaster. Consider that if he was to retain an attorney, that attorney could negotiate with the school to get him the best deal possible, with the potential threat of a lawsuit and bad publicity looming in the background. He is entitled to due process, and if he didn't get that (and I am assuming he did not), then his chances of winning are are much better.

Also - ruining someone's career over a joke seems grossly disproportionate to the offense, and a court will not look kindly on this at all. You have not told us what the joke was, and so I can only say that if it was sexual in nature at all, that might change the landscape slightly, but it also triggers a Title IX investigation (and may already have done so), and Title IX investigations are notorious for messing things up to the point that their decisions are almost always reversed by real courts. What was the process for kicking him out, and was it a Title IX issue?

I was wondering about this, too. It's fascinating (scary?) to think that a single occasion off-color joke (outside work hours) could cost someone their entire career in the blink of an eye. I realize we're just hearing one side of the story here...but still.

 

[WisNeuro]

I was wondering about this, too. It's fascinating (scary?) to think that a single occasion off-color joke (outside work hours) could cost someone their entire career in the blink of an eye. I realize we're just hearing one side of the story here...but still.

Person was on a remediation at an unfunded program, I'm thinking there is a LOT more to the other side of the story.

 

[Temperance]

It's never "just an off-color joke". There's missing reasons here.

 

[Spydra]

This whole circumstance, at least what has been shared of it here, is horrifying. I do not know what this program is and am not wagering any guesses, but its possible that 6 years after completing a Master's is due to that Master's not having a thesis component or the thesis not being accepted by the doctoral program. It's also possible that none of the Master's courses were accepted for transfer. So a Master's may have made this student more appealing in some ways, but not saved any time. That possibility combined with the program being unfunded will certainly expand the time clock. This may have also been in a high cost of living area and the student may not have had support from family and there may have been a lack of support to complete the Master's portion, comprehensive exams, and dissertation.

I also agree that there are a lot of unknowns surrounding the remediation plan. Even in the poorest quality programs it is not easy to end up here. However it is possible that whatever the terms were there were challenges to actually meeting them and adequate support may not have been requested or requests were ignored.

I do wonder if the prior Master's is licensable and/or can be combined with the hours completed during the doctoral program to lead to a career. Or perhaps that earlier degree is not licensable, but can lead to a non-therapy career. It does not sound like fighting for this program is worthwhile, but finding a way to repurpose what this student does have may be the best way to move forward.

 

[Fan_of_Meehl]

As a practical suggestion to OP's earlier request: has the person considered a career in addiction counseling? My understanding is that in many places one needs only a bachelor's plus a bit of additional training? If they truly have a passion for therapy and were actually good with their patients, it's an area where that's needed.