Student Academic Complaint Process

Student academic complaints are complaints about a faculty member’s classroom practices, policies, or behaviors not covered by other institutional or federal policies such as Title IX (related to sexual harassment and assault), Non-discrimination, Harassment, and Other Unwanted Conduct, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Misconduct, and Grade Change Policies. Student academic complaints might include, among others, concerns about how often a faculty member cancels class, lack of regular feedback on assignments, faculty expertise in the subject area, and treatment (other than harassment and bias) of students in class.

In most cases, a student who has an academic complaint should first discuss the concern with the instructor. This action should end the matter in most cases, but if not, the student should discuss the concern with the department chair or other senior member of the department/program. If that does not resolve the issue, or if the faculty member is the department chair, the student should contact the Provost’s Office (507-933-7541 or provostoffice@gustavus.edu). The Provost or Dean will meet with the student and decide whether the issue warrants immediate intervention with the faculty member, intervention at the end of the semester, and the nature of that intervention (e.g., conversation to address the concern; required course evaluations to understand the extent of the concern; performance improvement plan, etc.).

When applicable, responses to student academic complaints will inform the complaining party of how the institution will integrate the complainant’s concerns into plans for college process and/or improvement. Because of the nature of student academic complaints and the private nature of personnel interventions, students will not learn the details of specific interventions that the Provost's Office may undertake with a faculty member.New subpage content