Student Complaints
Policy 108
Nicolet Area Technical College, in accordance with the United States Department of Education regulation 34 CFR Ch. VI 602.16 (a)(1)(ix), maintains a log of student complaints. The log contains the following information:
- the date the complaint was first formally submitted to an appropriate institutional officer
- the nature of the complaint
- steps taken by the College to resolve the complaint
- the institution's final decision regarding the complain
- and any other external action initiated by the student to resolve the complaint
- Formal complaints are defined as:
Complaints made formally in writing, signed by the student, and addressed to an administrator with the responsibility to handle the complaint.
- A student may file a complaint about the College, its staff, policies, and procedures at any time. A student is defined as someone who is currently enrolled full or part time or who was a full or part-time student and has been out of school for no more than one year and is not required to reapply for admission to the college should he or she want to return. The definition of student also includes alums who received a degree or certificate within the last two years.
- The administrator with whom the formal complain is filed will attempt to resolve the issue with the student, or the administrator may forward the complaint to another administrator or staff member if more appropriate. If resolution cannot be found, the complaint can be sent to a higher authority, or the student may initiate the Nicolet College grievance process.
- A copy of the formal complaint and the name of the administrator should be sent to the Vice President of College Services who will maintain the log. The log can contain no more information on a student than is defined by the College as Directory Information. Directory information pertinent to tracking and logging complaints includes: student name, full or part-time status, major field of student, and dates of attendance. The Vice President will track all complaints until the complaint is resolved or escalates to a formal grievance.
- The processing and tracking of student complaints is not a substitution for or replacement of the formal grievance procedures established by the college. Grievances are monitored separately. Although a complaint may evolve into a formal grievance, complaints will be handled outside the grievance process until such time a student wishes to escalate the complaint to a grievance.
- A formal complaint and a formal grievance are differentiated as the following: A grievance is a much more formal process than a written complaint. A grievance is processed through the Vice President of College Services office and is reserved for those incidents of perceived violation of policy and practice where regular communication channels and approaches have failed and require a formal investigation and hearing for resolution. Although a complaint may involve a violation of a policy or practice, complaints typically include a wider, and often more minor, scope of issues where the student seeks more informal resolution with the individual responsible for the area in which the concern resides.
DATE ADOPTED: September 8, 2004
DATE(S) REVISED:
DATE(S) REVIEWED:
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