Complaint Process
To comply with federal and regional and program accreditation agency regulations, the College of Nursing will maintain records of formal, written student complaints that are filed with the offices of the President, Deans, or Assistant Dean of Support Services.
The records will include information about the disposition of the complaints, including those referred to external agencies for final resolution. These records will be available to team members during scheduled accreditation visits.
College of Nursing Guidelines
To implement this policy, the College of Nursing will keep a record of:
- Signed, written, formal complaints from students
- Formal academic grievances – (Using the current Appeal Procedure)
- Reports of signed, written student complaints sent to the College from governmental and accrediting agencies
Examples of student complaints are: alleged personal injury from decisions made by faculty, staff, and/or administration; procedural unfairness; and accusations about a decision-making process. The log of student complaints will be kept in the President’s office.
Included in the log will be:
- Date the complaint was first formally submitted to the appropriate person
- The nature of the complaint
- The steps taken by the institution to resolve the complaint
- Resolution by CON, including date of resolution
- External actions initiated by the student to resolve the complaint, if known to the institutional, e.g., lawsuit
The above information must be shared with accrediting agencies, but student identity will be protected.
The procedure for making a formal complaint is found in the Student Handbook , which is located on the College of Nursing website.
Click here to go to the Illinois Board of Higher Education site for complaints.
Academic Complaints
The student has the right to appeal grade reports, course or clinical grades that result in academic probation or dismissal from the College, or decisions where there is reason to believe that they were capricious, discriminatory, arbitrary, or in error. Dissatisfaction with a grade is not a sufficient reason to appeal the grade.
In order to provide a mechanism for the fair resolution of disagreements, the College has developed an Academic Appeal Procedure for students. Students have the right to appeal grades, academic or student policies, and disciplinary action resulting from violation of academic or student policies and Professional Code of Conduct.
Students should refer to the Student Appeal Procedure, Academic Appeal Procedure found in the Undergraduate and Graduate Student Handbooks.
Non-Academic Complaints
The Assistant Dean for Support Services shall be responsible for responding to complaints from students on non-academic (non-classroom and grading) issues. These issues include, but are not limited to:
- Parking violations and towing
- Refunds of tuition and fees
- Admission, registration and records matters
- Financial aid matters
- Residence building issues
- Counseling matters
- Student activities.
The student is expected to initiate her/his complaint with the staff member immediately responsible for the area in which the problem occurred, in a sincere effort to resolve the issue in an informal manner at the lowest level.
If the issue is not resolved in an informal manner, the student may proceed with a formal written appeal of the matter to the Assistant Dean of Support Services. The Assistant Dean of Support Services shall meet with the student within ten business days of receipt of the request in an attempt to resolve the issue.
If the decision of the Assistant Dean is unacceptable to the student, the student may file a written notice of intent to further appeal to the President within three business days of receipt of the decision.
The President shall have a maximum of ten business days to call a meeting of all parties to resolve the situation. The President will review all current records or documentation relating to the appeal. No new documentation may be introduced at this time. The written decision of the President shall be sent to the student and Assistant Dean within three business days following the appeal meeting.
The decision of the President with regard to student non-academic complaints shall be considered final.