A student who believes that his or her rights have been violated by a member of the university faculty or administration may make a formal complaint to an appropriate administrative officer (see A.2.b.) under the following circumstances:
A student may make a formal complaint after making an informal complaint and receiving a response from the person involved that is not satisfactory to the student (i.e., if informal resolution fails at that level).
A student may make a formal complaint without having made an informal complaint if the student has a justifiable basis for not going directly to the person involved. The administrative officer receiving the formal complaint will determine whether or not the basis is justifiable. If the complaint is not determined to be justifiable, the complaint procedure ends
A formal complaint should be made to the administrative officer who is the immediate supervisor of the person involved in the alleged violation. The appropriate administrative officer may be one of the following:
A department head or similar academic officer, if one exists within the particular school or unit involved.
The dean or director of a school or unit, if the school or unit does not have a department head or similar academic officer.
Even if a school or unit has a department head or similar academic officer, the dean or director of the school or unit may adopt a rule that formal complaints are to be submitted directly to the dean or director.
A formal complaint must be in writing, signed by the complainant, and must be submitted to the appropriate official. A copy of the signed, formal complaint will be given to the individual charged. This formal complaint must be filed within the following time limitations:
After making an informal complaint and receiving an unsatisfactory response, a student must file a formal complaint within 21 calendar days after the termination of discussions with the person charged in the complaint.
If a formal complaint is made without the making of a prior informal complaint, the formal complaint must be filed within six months after the student should reasonably have learned about the event which is the basis of the complaint.
A formal complaint must be considered within 14 calendar days by the appropriate administrative officer.
The officer shall inquire into the facts of the complaint and discuss the matter individually with the student and the person charged in the complaint.
If the officer considers it to be appropriate, the officer may ask the student and the person charged in the complaint to meet together with the officer in an effort to resolve the complaint.
The officer shall have the opportunity to remove himself or herself from considering a complaint for reasons of bias or personal involvement.
If the complaint is not resolved within 14 calendar days from the day it was filed, the officer must refer the complaint along with a written response concerning the incident to the Campus Grievance Commission. The response shall include all documents pertaining to the complaint.
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