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Student Complaints and Grievances
How to raise a concern with the University, what we do with it, how to appeal, and how to contact a regulator.
Who Handles Complaints
The Grievance Officer is responsible for this policy and procedure. Contact the Grievance Officer at [email protected]. If your complaint is about the Grievance Officer, write to the Director of Student Services, Sarah Reyes, at [email protected].
What You Can Complain About
A complaint may be about grades, the learning environment, harassment, health and safety, the behavior of a student or a staff member, or a change in your enrollment conditions. This list is not complete. You can try to settle a smaller matter informally first, but you do not have to.
Step 1: Informal Discussion (Optional)
Talk with your instructor, or with Student Affairs at [email protected]. If the matter concerns an instructor or advisor, you may ask for an informal meeting. They will try to settle it quickly. If they cannot, they send it to the Grievance Officer.
Step 2: Formal Complaint
Send a letter or email to [email protected]. State: who the complaint is about or who should receive it; what happened, with all details; the evidence, in date order, with copies of documents; and the solution you propose. If the complaint is about behavior that may lead to disciplinary action, such as harassment or violence, write directly to the Grievance Officer.
Step 3: What the University Does
- The University confirms in writing that it received your complaint, within five business days.
- The Grievance Officer talks with you to understand the matter fully.
- The Grievance Officer gives the person complained about a copy of the complaint. That person has 15 calendar days to reply in writing. If there is no reply, the review goes on.
- The Grievance Officer arranges mediation where it can help, and tells you the result in writing.
- The Grievance Officer starts the investigation, or asks a suitable investigator to do it, no later than 15 days after the person complained about is notified.
- The University keeps the information it gathers confidential and shares it only with the people involved.
- The University tells you in writing at each stage: receipt, the start of the investigation, the result of any mediation, the formal decision, and the appeal result.
- The University sends its written decision to you and to the person complained about within 45 calendar days of receiving your complaint, and carries out any action the decision requires.
Step 4: Appeal
You and the person complained about may appeal the decision. Send the appeal to [email protected] within 10 calendar days of the decision. The University considers an appeal if there is new information that was not available earlier, a procedural error that would affect the decision, or if the decision does not match the facts. An Appeals Committee of unbiased, competent and objective members reviews the fairness of the procedure, whether the decision was reasonable and whether the penalty was suitable. It does not start a new investigation. It decides within 20 calendar days of receiving the appeal, and its decision is final within the University.
Your Rights
You may receive a copy of any allegation made against you and may respond to it. The University treats every student equally and keeps the matter confidential. The University does not retaliate against any student for making a complaint to the University, to the Higher Education Licensure Commission, or to any other regulatory or oversight body.
Records
The University keeps a record of every written student complaint, whichever office receives it, for at least five years. The record includes the dates, the status letters and the outcome. Any complaint that reaches another office is sent to the Grievance Officer.
Contacting a Regulator
You do not need to use the University's complaint process before you contact a regulator. You may file a complaint with the Higher Education Licensure Commission (HELC), or with any other regulatory or oversight body, at any time. The University will not discourage or prevent you from doing so.
| Higher Education Licensure Commission (HELC) | |
|---|---|
| Agency | Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), District of Columbia |
| Address | 1050 1st Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 |
| Phone | +1 (202) 727-6436 · TTY 711 |
| Website | helc.osse.dc.gov |
| [email protected] |
Need assistance?
Questions about this policy?
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