4. Students who have legitimate grievances which cannot be resolved at the departmental level are encouraged to pursue their cases and follow the procedures outlined below. However, frivolous or mendacious complaints are discouraged. Students and faculty are further advised that adherence to the full truth represents the best service to their cases, and indeed that misstated or overstated claims by the principals or their witnesses about the misdeeds of others may lead to civil penalties.

Administrators shall not discuss the details of a specific grievance with a student who has not followed the procedure outlined herein, and any representative of a student must follow the same procedure. Public statements about a case shall be withheld by the parties involved, by the board of review, and by all participants in the hearings until the final decision has been communicated to the parties to the grievance. If and when an official statement is made of the result of the procedures outlined below, it shall be made through the office of the appropriate dean. Access to the written record of the hearing, and to all other records, findings, and recommendations of the board of review and any administrators involved in appeals shall be limited to authorized personnel.

In the following document, the term "faculty" shall be construed to mean those persons defined as "faculty" by the Bylaws and Policies of the Board of Regents, the Statutes of the University and those persons appointed by the President to administrative positions at the institution.

I. Stage One: The Informal Procedure. The student should first make a sincere attempt to settle a dispute in an informal manner with the instructor. If the student is still not satisfied with the instructor's decision, he/she may then discuss the matter with the instructor's department chair. If the problem remains unresolved, the student may then discuss the matter with the instructor's dean.
II. Stage Two: The Written Grievance. If the student has exhausted the procedures outlined in section I above, he/she may continue as follows:
A) The student shall submit the grievance in writing to the instructor involved. This document, hereinafter referred to as the written grievance, shall include, but not be limited to, all supporting documentation and a statement of the specific relief sought by the student. The written grievance must be submitted to the instructor no later than midterm of the semester following the actions which gave rise to the grievance.
B) If agreement is not reached within five (5) days of the submission of the written grievance to the instructor, the student shall submit a copy of the written grievance to the department chair.
C) If a fair and equitable solution has not been found within five (5) days of the submission of the written grievance to the department chair, the student shall submit the written grievance to the appropriate dean.

58Augusta State University Catalog

Back
one page
Top of
current page
Next
page

To Table
of Contents