Complaints

Eastern Washington University is committed to providing students, faculty, and staff with a safe environment in which to pursue their studies, research and/or career. To ensure that all members of the University community feel safe and are afforded appropriate due process, EWU has a number of different avenues by which students, faculty, and staff may pursue complaints about violations of policy or practices that infringe on their ability to successfully pursue their goals. This decentralized approach at the University allows community members to pursue complaints that include, but are not restricted to:

· Student complaints against faculty

· Student complaints against administrators or staff

· Student conduct

· Academic integrity

· Grade appeals

· Bullying

· Sexual harassment

· Discrimination

· Academic program complaints

There are two primary means of pursuing a complaint: Informal and Formal Resolution Procedures.

Informal Resolution Procedure

For cases that do not involve harassment or discrimination, the student arranges a meeting with the person involved with the complaint and/or with the direct supervisor of the person involved. For example, a student who perceives that he or she has been graded unfairly on an assignment should meet with the faculty member who assigned the grade. In this example, the meeting with the faculty member may be followed up with a meeting with the department chair or the original meeting might be with the department chair. Another example would be a complaint regarding Student Financial Aid. The student would meet with the Director of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships or the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services. As appropriate, if the informal process does not resolve the complaint, the student may use one of the university's formal complaint procedures.

Formal Resolution Procedure

A formal complaint is documented in writing. The complaint should outline the issue and, wherever possible, the specific University policy or procedure violated. The university has specific policies and protocols for responding to the following complaints:

Academic Integrity Complaints

Bullying Complaints

Sexual Harassment or Discrimination Complaints*

Student Conduct Complaints (violations of the Student Conduct Code)

Unless otherwise indicated above, formal complaints may be documented in writing (as outlined above) and submitted to the following individuals:

· Academic complaints to the academic dean of the appropriate college

· Student Affairs complaints to the Dean of Students or the Vice President for Student Affairs

· Business and Finance department complaints to the appropriate department head or the VP for Business and Finance

· Financial Aid complaints to the Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships

· Admission complaints to the Director of Admissions

· Registrar Office complaints to the Registrar

· Unlawful discrimination and harassment complaints to the Title IX Coordinator