Attachment XVII

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STUDENT GRIEVANCES AND APPEAL PROCEDURES

Purpose and Scope

The purpose of these procedures is to afford graduate students in the School of Social Welfare an opportunity to resolve complaints about dismissal from graduate standing, placement on probationary status, denial of readmission, and other administrative or academic decisions that terminate or otherwise impede progress toward academic or professional degree goals.

The scope of this procedure excludes complaints regarding denial of admission, student records, grades in courses of instruction, student employment, student discipline, and auxiliary student services (such as housing, child care, etc.). This procedure may not be used for complaints regarding actions based solely on faculty evaluation of the academic quality of a student's performance, or decanal evaluation of a student's appropriate academic progress, unless the complaint alleges that the actions may have been influenced by non-academic criteria.

Informal Resolution Procedures

A student may pursue informal resolution of a complaint by scheduling a meeting with their Specialization Adviser or the Coordinator of Academic Programs to discuss the complaint and explore possible avenues of resolution. If informal resolution is pursued, it must be initiated, and should be completed, within 30 days. At any point in this process, if a satisfactory solution cannot be reached, the student may initiate formal resolution by putting the complaint in writing.

Formal Resolution Procedures

A written complaint must include information regarding the action being complained of and the date it occurred, the grounds upon which the appeal is based, and the relief requested. The complaint must be based on one or more of the following grounds:

• Procedural error or violation of official policy by academic or administrative personnel;
• Judgments improperly based upon non-academic criteria including, but not limited to, discrimination or harassment on the basis of sex, race, national origin, color, age, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.
• Specific mitigating circumstances beyond the student's control not properly taken into account in a decision affecting the student's academic progress.

A written complaint must be received by the Dean within thirty days from the time the student knew or could reasonably be expected to have known of the action that is the subject of the complaint. The department should complete its investigation and notify the student of the outcome of the complaint within sixty days of the date it was received.

Appeal to the Graduate Division

If the student is not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint under the department's procedure, he or she may bring the complaint to the Formal Appeal Procedure of the Graduate Appeals Procedure. The formal appeal must be received in the Office of the Dean of the Graduate Division, 424 Sproul Hall, within fifteen days of the date of the written notification of the result of the unit-level procedure. Copies of the Graduate Appeals Procedure (updated February 12, 1996) may be obtained from the Office of the Dean of the Graduate Division.

If the complaint is about an action taken by the Dean, Specialization Adviser, or Coordinator of Academic Programs, the complainant may elect to take the complaint directly to the Chair of the Faculty. If the student is still not satisfied with the outcome, the student may take the complaint to the Formal Appeal stage of the Graduate Appeals Procedure. Such a complaint must be received by the Office of the Dean of the Graduate Division within thirty days from the time the student knew or could reasonably be expected to have known of the action that is the subject of the complaint.

Complaints Involving Discrimination

If the complaint involved allegations of discrimination or harassment on the basis of sex, race, national origin, color, age, religion, sexual orientation, or disability, the department should consult the appropriate campus compliance officers prior to commencing informal or formal resolution. The names, phone numbers, and campus addresses of these individuals are listed in various campus publications and may be obtained from the Office of the Dean of the Graduate Division at (510) 642-5472 or the Academic Compliance Office at (510) 642-2795.

Other Complaint Procedures

Graduate students may contact the Office of the Ombudsman for Students, the Title IX Compliance Officer, or the 504/ADA Compliance Officer for assistance with complaint resolution. There also are other complaint resolution procedures listed in the Graduate Appeals Procedure for use regarding complaints that do not fall under this procedure.

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