Student Complaints and Grievances

E. Attribution - All works created by faculty, students, and staff at Fielding Graduate University under the provisions of Section II (D) of this policy shall include the names of the creators of the work, unless the creators request in writing the removal of their names.

F. Applicability and Amendments - This policy will govern all matters of intellectual property at the University from the time of its formal adoption. Regular reports will be issued from the office of the Provost.

Policy Revised 12/01/2012

The purpose of this procedure is to assure prompt and equitable resolution of problems arising from the implementation of academic and administrative policies of Fielding Graduate University as they affect students. If possible, it seeks to find resolution through mutual agreement between the parties and by a process as close to the original difficulty as possible. At the same time, it attempts to be responsive to student concerns and to provide a thorough review and due process with regard to any difficulty that has arisen.

Whenever possible, students will utilize the informal procedures for addressing and resolving complaints. When necessary, students may file a formal grievance according to the procedures described below.

Definitions

A grievance is a formal written request by a student to a designated academic or administrative officer for which specific remedies are requested. In their written request, students must use the terminology that they are filing a “formal grievance.”

The parties to a grievance are the student filing the grievance and the person(s) against whom the grievance is filed.

A student complaint is an allegation by a student that there has been, in an individual case, an arbitrary or discriminatory application of, or failure to act pursuant to, the policies of Fielding Graduate University in relation to students.

An academic complaint is one involving faculty members, the Program Director of a particular program, or the Dean for a particular program/school. Faculty evaluations and grading of student work are based upon the substantive judgment of the faculty and are not subject to a complaint or grievance.

An administrative complaint is one involving staff of Fielding Graduate University.

A Diversity and Inclusion inquiry or complaint is one involving a member of Fielding faculty, staff, or student.

The Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) investigates complaints of discrimination pursuant to the University's Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation Prevention Policy, which provides, in part:

Fielding seeks to create an environment that supports personal development, the discovery and transmission of knowledge, and a positive work experience. All members of the Fielding community are expected to contribute to maintaining this environment by adhering to high professional standards of conduct and ethical principles. As part of Fielding’s commitment to creating such an environment, this policy prohibits unlawful discrimination and harassment.

Parties

Any student, staff member, or faculty member may file a complaint of discrimination with the CDO against any other member of the university community who is believed to have violated the policy. Where appropriate, such complaints may be filed against units, departments, or other organizational components of the University.

Complaint options

Persons who believe they have been subjected to discrimination in violation of the policy may file an informal complaint with the CDO.

Informal complaints

An informal complaint is a request that the CDO seek to reach an informal resolution of the complainant's concerns. The procedures for such complaints are designed to be very flexible so as to enable the University to be able to address an individual's situation in the most effective and expeditious manner possible.

Informal Procedure for Resolving Student Complaints

A student is encouraged to discuss their complaint with the person(s) who is (are) directly involved in the complaint, in an effort to come to a satisfactory resolution. Resolutions of informal complaints are accomplished with the assistance of other offices or University administrators in the area relevant to the complaint.

In the case of an informal complaint, the accused party normally will not be informed of the complainant's action or identity without the consent of the complainant unless circumstances require. No disciplinary action can be taken against the accused party on the basis of a complaint of which the accused party has not been informed.

If these informal direct discussions are not successful, then the student may pursue one of several different informal avenues.

If the matter is an academic complaint, the student may contact: • their Graduate Program Advisor; • their Faculty Advisor or mentor; • the head or the head’s designee of the student’s academic program; • the Personnel Committee of the student’s academic program; • the student representative to the Personnel committee.

If the matter is an administrative complaint, the student may contact: • their Graduate Program Advisor; • the administrative department head or the program head.

If the matter is a Diversity and Inclusion inquiry or informal complaint, the student should contact the Chief Diversity Officer (CDO).

Each program may develop procedures for how that program addresses informal academic complaints; see links at the end of this paragraph for any formalized procedures dealing with complaints. The Graduate Program Advisors can be of assistance in directing a student to the appropriate person, if a student is unclear about who performs these functions.

Formal Grievance

a. Academic:

If the informal procedure described above does not resolve the student’s issue, they may initiate a formal grievance no later than 90 days from the precipitating event or action. For academic complaints, the formal grievance shall be submitted to the Program Director, in writing, stating the nature and time of the offending action and the person(s) involved in the action or failure to act. If the grievance involves the Program Director, the grievance should be addressed to the School Dean. If the grievance involves the School Dean, the grievance should be addressed to the Provost.

The Program Director, or their designee, will follow the academic grievance procedures developed by that program. If the program has not developed grievance procedures, the following procedures will apply: the Program Director, or their designee, will review the grievance. The Program Director, or their designee, will gather information from the parties to the grievance and keep a record or summary of this information. After their review, they will recommend a solution by mutual agreement of the parties, and, if that is not acceptable, they will reach a decision on the grievance. In either case, they will state, in writing, the basis for their recommendation or decision, within 30 calendar days from when the grievance was submitted.

b. Administrative:

Grievances involving non-academic matters must be addressed to the administrative leader involved with that function, (e.g., Academic Conferencing & Events, Financial Aid, Student Accounts, etc.), no later than 90 days from the precipitating event or action. The relevant administrator will review the grievance in conjunction with relevant staff other than the person(s) complained against. Together they will gather information from the parties to the grievance and keep a record or summary of this information. After their review, they will recommend a solution by mutual agreement, and, if this is not acceptable, they will reach a decision on the grievance. In either case, they will state, in writing, a basis for their recommendation or decision, within 15 calendar days from when the grievance was submitted.

If the grievance involves an administrative leader who reports to the Provost, the grievance should be addressed to the Provost.

c. Diversity and Inclusion grievances:

If the informal procedure described above does not resolve the student’s issue, they may initiate a formal grievance no later than 90 days from the precipitating event or action. For Diversity and Inclusion complaints, the formal grievance shall be submitted to the Program Director, in writing, stating the nature and time of the offending action and the person(s) involved in the action or failure to act. If the grievance involves the Program Director, the grievance should be addressed to the School students. If the grievance involves the School Dean, the grievance should be addressed to the Provost.

c. Appeals:

For academic, administrative, diversity and inclusion grievances, if the parties accept the recommendations of the review group in writing, the formal process terminates. If the recommendations are not accepted, the student grievant(s) will indicate, within 15 calendar days of receipt of the decision, whether s/he/they desire(s) to appeal for a further review. If s/he/they accept(s) the decision, the formal process terminates.

If the grievant(s) elect(s) to appeal the decision of the Program Director, their designee, or administrative leader, the appeal will go to the Provost with a copy to the School Dean, along with the written record from the previous steps.

If the Provost was the original arbitrator of the grievance, the appeal will be referred to the President.

Within 15 calendar days from receipt of the appeal, the Provost will constitute a Special Hearing Committee (“Committee”) to hear the grievance. The Committee will arrange for a hearing via teleconference or web-enabling software; there is no requirement that the hearing must be one where all parties are physically present. The Committee will be composed of a Fielding administrator not from the student’s program as chair of the committee, and a faculty member and a student from the student’s program. The Committee will function as an administrative committee, and it will establish its own rules of procedure, of which it will inform the parties to the grievance at the outset of the hearing. The hearing, and report of its outcome, must be conducted within 45 calendar days after the formation of the Committee has occurred.

At the hearing, all parties to the complaint will participate and testimony will be invited from each. Parties to the complaint may request to be accompanied by another person for support and/or assistance. Any parties to the complaint may not act in the capacity of an attorney. The student may not be represented by an attorney at the hearing. If any party to the complaint wishes to involve an additional person, they should inform the chair of the Committee in advance, so that other parties may be informed. A written and/or taped record of the Committee’s proceedings will be maintained. The written record may be a summary of testimony and proceedings, or may be a verbatim transcript, at the discretion of the Committee.

The Committee will either recommend a decision or broker an amicable mutually acceptable potential solution between the involved parties. In either case, the recommendation/solution will be provided in writing to the Provost.

Within 15 calendar days, the Provost will accept, reject, or revise the decision of the Hearing Committee and communicate it to the student grievant(s). This decision will be based on the record of the previous hearing and the Provost will not reopen the hearing for new testimony.

The Provost may: a. uphold the Committee's decision; b. revise the Committee's decision; c. take other appropriate action.

The action of the Provost will be final.

Where a grievance directly involves and is shared by more than one student, the grievances may be joined in a single grievance and treated in a single process, if all parties to the grievance agree to this procedure.