Complaints and Academic Appeals
13.1 Students may have legitimate complaints relating to their programme of study, the availability or quality of facilities, other students or staff of the College. It is the College’s policy to respect the rights of any student to state a legitimate complaint and to expect such complaints to be dealt with without recrimination.
13.2 Students have the opportunity to raise matters of proper concern through the Student Complaints Procedure, or through a number of individual procedures for dealing with specific problems or complaints about certain decisions or types of treatment which take precedence over the Student Complaints Procedure. These include:
i. Appeals against Decisions of the Boards of Examiners
ii. Complaints about students (Code of Student Discipline)
iii. Complaints involving alleged harassment by staff (Dignity at Work and Study)
iv. Termination of Registration
In any case of doubt the matter should be referred to the Academic Registrar for a ruling.
13.3 The College procedures encourage and enable initial resolution by means of students pursuing matters informally at the level at which the matter arose, but directly with the person concerned. Such complaints should normally, wherever possible, be put simply, clearly and promptly directly to the members of staff or student(s) concerned. It is hoped that most complaints can be resolved in this manner.
13.4 Where an informal approach is adopted, staff should be briefed on how the informal stages relate to the formal ones; the importance of keeping notes of any discussions and their outcomes; the limits of their authority.
13.5 Where the informal approach fails or where the matter is serious or urgent, a remedy should be sought through the formal complaints procedure (see 13.2 above).
13.6 Heads of Departments/Executive Deans and Programme Directors should ensure the routine provision of written information annually that shows all College, School, Department or programme staff from whom impartial and authoritative guidance may be sought by students on the applicability and operation of procedures regarding complaints and appeals and the grounds for such. Sources of impartial help on using the Student Complaints Procedure should also be published within the procedural documentation.
13.7 Members of Complaints Panels should be independent of the complaint and of any School, Department, programme or service that may be directly concerned with the complaint. Appeals Panels should comprise members of the Academic Board who are independent of the case and are not members of the same Department (or programme or module) as the candidate making the appeal.
13.8 Complainants or appellants should be entitled to be accompanied at all stages of the complaints or appeals process by a member of the College.
13.9 Those involved in these processes should ensure that appropriate action is taken following a complaint or appeal and that the outcome is clearly communicated to the person making the complaint or appeal and to all other relevant parties as soon as possible. This should state the reason for reaching the decision in order to ensure that this is clearly understood by the student and staff involved.
13.10 The Head of Department or central service, or Programme Director should keep a record of each complaint received and the outcome to enable the production of summary reports. Reports, excluding the identity of individual students, summarising complaints received and outcomes, should be made at the request of the Academic Board or other appropriate Committee of the College as part of the College’s processes for monitoring quality assurance/enhancement procedures. All academic appeals are referred to the Academic Registrar who keeps a record of each appeal and the outcome. The College Deputy Academic Registrar (Academic Services) should submit an annual report of academic appeals and student complaints on academic matters to the College Teaching and Quality Enhancement Committee (TQEC) for scrutiny as part of the College’s process for monitoring quality assurance/enhancement procedures. The TQEC will ratify any follow up actions from the previous reports and may make further recommendations for enhancing current practices or procedures or for taking action at the College level.
13.11 Documentation with regard to student complaints should indicate further internal procedures open to a student dissatisfied with the response to a complaint. This should explain that the Higher Education Act 2004 allows students who have exhausted the College’s internal procedures for complaints or appeals to bring their grievance to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE). In such cases students should be provided with advice and information on the OIAHE and its procedures by the College.
13.12 All staff and students involved in handling or supporting complaints should be provided with suitable induction, briefing and support in order that they can be alerted to the interests of all parties, the general legal context and the College’s own regulations.