Policy for Responding to Student Grievances
The Department of Linguistics has considered the question of student grievances and has established
the following guidelines for resolving such grievances:
- Students having a grievance with an instructor will be advised to address that grievance directly to the instructor for the purpose of trying to resolve the issue through mutual consultation.
- If students wish to pursue their complaint past step (1), they will be advised to consult with the Department Chair on the issue. The Chair will then attempt to settle the issue directly with students. If that proves unsuccessful, the Chair may seek clarification on the instructor’s understanding of the grievance and then schedule a second consultation with students.
- Should the students wish to pursue the grievance further, the Chair will meet together with the students and the instructor in an attempt to resolve the issue.
- In the event that the grievance remains unresolved, the Chair and two members of the Department, not including the instructor against whom the complaint has been lodged, will constitute themselves into an appeals committee to review the merits of the complaint. Both the students and the instructor will be given the opportunity of presenting their own views of the issue. The Department Chair will chair the committee. Should the committee pass negatively on the grievance and the students wish to pursue the issue, the appeals committee will forward its review findings in writing to the office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and will advise the students to address their grievance with the Dean.
- In the event that the Chair of the Department is the instructor against whom the grievance is directed, three other members of the Department will constitute the appeals committee and will select their own chair.