Opinion
January 31, 1991
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Albany County (Cheeseman, J.).
Petitioner was dismissed from the midwifery program at the College of Health Related Professions at the Health Science Center of the State University of New York (hereinafter SUNY) at Brooklyn after failing various examinations. She sought administrative review of her dismissal by respondent who declined jurisdiction over postsecondary education decisions under Education Law § 310. Petitioner then commenced this CPLR article 78 proceeding to have respondent review her dismissal. Respondent raised objections in point of law and moved to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action. Supreme Court denied the motion and granted the petition by requiring respondent to review petitioner's dismissal. Respondent appeals.
We reverse. Supreme Court relied on Matter of Patti Ann H. v New York Med. Coll. ( 88 A.D.2d 296, affd 58 N.Y.2d 734) in holding that respondent was required to review petitioner's graduate school dismissal before any judicial review was available. Although there is language in the Second Department's decision concerning respondent's authority to review college student dismissal decisions under Education Law § 310 (supra, at 300-301), the Court of Appeals' affirmance reached the merits relying on findings that the dismissal at issue was a good-faith decision based on the exercise of sound academic judgment (Matter of Patti Ann H. v New York Med. Coll., 58 N.Y.2d 734, 735). It is clear, then, that Matter of Patti Ann H. does not recognize any statutory requirement on respondent to review postsecondary school dismissals. This view is entirely consistent with our earlier position that respondent has no authority under Education Law § 310 to review academic controversies in SUNY (see, Matter of Bowen v Allen, 17 A.D.2d 12, affd 13 N.Y.2d 663). Since there is no statutory basis under which respondent can review petitioner's dismissal from the SUNY academic program, petitioner has no grounds to receive the relief sought (see, Matter of Board of Educ. v Ambach, 118 A.D.2d 932). Accordingly, the judgment must be reversed, respondent's motion to dismiss granted and the petition dismissed.
Judgment reversed, on the law, without costs, motion to dismiss granted and petition dismissed. Mahoney, P.J., Casey, Weiss, Mikoll and Yesawich, Jr., JJ., concur.