Policies & Procedures

SA5004.1 Procedures for Addressing General Student Concerns

Purpose

It is the College’s preference that students informally resolve issues and concerns with a particular action by a College employee or affiliate or feel like they have not been treated fairly and/or appropriately by other SUNY Broome students, employees or affiliates. The purpose of this complaint procedure is to allow students to express their concerns and provide a method of recourse when an informal resolution is not possible.

Students are encouraged to contact the Associate Vice President/Dean of Students when such problems arise to determine the best course of action.

Statement of the Procedure

Step 1.

When a student has a complaint about a College employee or affiliate, or College policy or procedure, the student should first attempt to resolve the complaint informally with the employee/affiliate in question or employee/affiliate responsible for the policy or procedure by meeting with the employee/affiliate to discuss the complaint and determine if a mutually agreeable resolution can be made. If the complaint cannot be resolved to the student’s satisfaction with the employee/affiliate, the student may file a formal written complaint with the employee’s/affiliate’s supervisor/Department Chair/Program Manager (Step 2). If the student does not know who the employee’s supervisor/Department Chair/Program Manager is, the student may contact the Associate Vice President/Dean of Students for assistance in identifying this person.

Step 2.

Within ten (10) workdays of receiving the formal written complaint, the supervisor/Department Chair/Program Manager will interview the student and responding employee/affiliate and render a decision in writing to both the student and employee/affiliate. If either party does not accept the decision of the supervisor/Department Chair/Program Manager, either party may appeal to the employee’s/affiliate’s divisional Vice President (Step 3). If the student does not know who the employee’s/affiliate’s divisional Vice President is, the student may contact the Associate Vice President/Dean of Students for assistance in identifying this person.

Step 3.

Within ten (10) workdays of receiving a written appeal of the supervisor’s/Department Chair’s/ Program Manager’s decision, the appropriate Vice President will interview the student and responding employee/affiliate and render a decision in writing to the student, employee/affiliate, and supervisor/Department Chair/Program Manager. The Vice President’s decision is final. If the supervisor/Department Chair/Program Manager listed in Step 2 is the divisional Vice President in Step 3, the President will appoint an alternative divisional Vice President to hear the appeal.

Related Policies (by number)

• Student Code of Conduct
• Academic Grievance Procedure (Procedure #AA4006.2)
• Discrimination Complaint Procedure (Procedure #GA2001)
• Title IX Grievance Procedure
• Policy on Student Complaints (Policy #SA5004)

To whom it applies (title or department)

This procedure applies to any student at SUNY Broome who has a complaint.

General Guidelines

Definitions

Definitions for the Purpose of this Procedure

• Supervisor /Department Chair/Program Manager refers to the College employee or affiliate who supervises the responding party. However, student complaints directed towards full-time faculty are referred to the Department Chair.
• Responding Party refers to the person or office against whom a complaint is directed.
• Affiliate refers a person or office that the College has established a business relationship with to perform work on behalf of the College.
• Final Grade refers to the final grade assigned by the instructor and entered on the student’s transcript.
• Academic Concern refers to any non-final grade complaint with an academic policy, decision, or particular action in relation to an academic course.
• Formal Written Complaint refers to the formal complaint initiated by a student following the steps outlined in this policy and procedure.
• Student refers to an individual who is registered at the College, either full or part-time, in a credit or continuing education class or classes, who has either paid or made arrangement for payment of tuition and/or fees.
• Workdays refers to Monday through Friday and does not include weekends, holidays, scheduled breaks, or other days the College is closed, including those days when the College is closed due to emergency/weather related conditions.
• Record of the Complaint refers to a digital or printed record that contains the date of the complaint, the nature of the complaint, the complaining party, the responding party, the date(s) and steps of the complaint process, and the final resolution of the complaint.

Appendix

Forms for further clarification of procedure