School of Nursing & Health Studies Student Feedback and Grievances Procedure

Student Feedback and Grievances

The School of Nursing and Health Studies welcomes constructive comments and feedback to help us to improve the student experience. Your informal feedback helps us understand and address student concerns.

You can communicate feedback to us in many ways, such as:

• Have a conversation with a staff or faculty member, the director of the school’s Academic Services or one of the school’s academic program directors.
• Send an email to school leadership.

The University of Washington (UW) and the School of Nursing and Health Studies have procedures in place to address most formal concerns and grievances, as listed below. If you would like to discuss any of these procedures, or if you have a concern that is not listed here, please contact the School of Nursing and Health Studies at uwbnhs@uw.edu.

UW Formal Concerns and Complaint Procedures

Grades or academic evaluation
The UW’s Change of Grade Policy  helps students who believe that an instructor erred in the assignment of a grade, assigned the grade unfairly, or made a grade recording error or omission. Students should start this process by discussing the issue with the instructor before the end of the following academic quarter.

Misconduct by other students
The UW Office of Community Standards & Student Conduct provides an online reporting form for students to report alleged violations of the UW Student Conduct Code, including behavioral misconduct and academic misconduct such as plagiarism and cheating.

Discriminatory or harassing behavior by a University employee
The Resolution of Complaints Against University Employees policy helps students who have complaints about the behavior of University employees, including behavior that may violate the University’s nondiscrimination and non-retaliation policies.

Academic accommodations
The UW Bothell Disability Resources for Students (DRS) partners with students with disabilities to request accommodations that grant access to educational opportunities. Students can register with DRS to request academic accommodations.

Academic Grievances

The School of Nursing and Health Studies grievance process is available for students to address academic complaints or issues, including, but not limited to: academic policies, grading practices, fair treatment, etc. Any complaint and issue must first go through the informal process before it goes to the formal grievance procedure. Students must initiate an informal request for conciliation (informal process) or move to filing a formal complaint (grievance procedure) within three months of the incident.

Informal process

1. Students are first encouraged to attempt, in good faith, to resolve any grievance with the member or members of the faculty or academic staff most directly concerned. All parties are urged to make a sincere effort to resolve the issue at this level with direct communication.

The Office of the Ombudsman of the University of Washington has been established to assist in the protection of the rights of all members of the UW community. In order to facilitate early and informal resolution of grievances, the ombudsman will be available, at the request of any party concerned, to act as an impartial conciliator. The Office of the Ombudsman may be called upon to intervene at any stage of grievance procedures.

2. If direct communications at Step 1 are not successful in resolving the issue, the student should contact the school’s appropriate academic program director or the School of Nursing and Health Studies Academic Services Director about the issue. This step represents the effort of a third party to examine the situation with some degree of objectivity and attempt to resolve the issue in an informal way. If this attempt proves to be unsuccessful, the process should move on to Step 3.

3. If the issue cannot be resolved at the director level, the problem may be referred to the associate dean. If this attempt proves to be unsuccessful, the process should move on to Step 4.

Students should note that the associate dean may directly inform the dean of any complaints. The dean reserves the right to address the matter by administrative action, especially when the actions of a UW employee are involved. Administrative action can occur independently of any grievance procedures pursued by the student.

4. The associate dean, at their own initiative, or upon petition by any of the parties involved, may appoint an ad hoc committee of faculty, staff, and/or students to hear and review the matter. This committee shall advise the associate dean, who shall then notify all relevant parties of their recommendation, including the outcome of the committee review and other grounds on which the recommendation was based. The associate dean’s recommendation must be completed within 10 school days of the conclusion of the committee review.

5. If all efforts at informal resolution prove to be unsuccessful, the next step is to move to filing a formal written grievance complaint.

At this next juncture, there are separate processes for graduate, undergraduates and all matriculated students. See below:

Formal Student Academic Grievance Procedure for Graduate Students

Graduate students are encouraged, but not required, to first attempt to resolve grievances with the faculty or staff member(s) most directly concerned as outlined in steps 1-4 of the informal process.

If discussion with the faculty or staff member(s) concerned, facilitated by the appropriate director of the School of Nursing and Health Studies, does not resolve the grievance, the student may request The Graduate School to assist in an informal resolution. Complete information about the informal and formal grievance procedures for graduate students is found online.

Formal Student Academic Grievance Procedure for Undergraduate and all Non-Matriculated Students

1. A student who has not had their issue resolved through the informal process can open a formal grievance procedure by submitting a written complaint to the dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies. Upon receipt of the written complaint, the dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies (or their designee) shall refer the matter to an ad hoc committee, appointed by the dean, which shall consist of up to three (full time) faculty members and two students. The chairperson of the committee shall be a faculty member appointed by the dean, as will the additional two committee members. It shall be the responsibility of the committee to provide the student a prompt hearing regarding the filed grievance.

2. The dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies (or their designee) shall notify all persons directly involved and provide each with a copy of the written complaint. The chairperson shall establish a time and place of the hearing to be held within 15 school days after the receipt of the formal grievance by the dean.

3. All parties may individually and personally present evidence and testimony necessary either to establish or to refute the alleged grievance. Only evidence presented at such a hearing shall be considered in determining the validity of the complaint.

4. All hearings must be conducted in closed session; however, by mutual agreement of the student and the concerned faculty or staff, the hearing may be opened to the public to the extent mutually agreed.

5. All documentation of the proceedings shall be kept on record. Such a summary shall be maintained for a period of five years in order to ensure adequate review, if requested.

6. Within 10 school days after the adjournment of the hearing, the committee shall present to the dean (or their designee) and all parties involved, a report of the committee, including findings of fact, conclusions, and recommendations. The committee shall reach its findings and recommendations by a majority vote. Dissenting opinions may be presented with the majority report, if desired.

7. Within 10 school days after receipt of the committee report, the dean (or their designee) shall issue a decision on the grievance. Such a decision and the reasons therefore, together with an enumeration of the actions to be taken, if any, shall be transmitted to all parties.

8. The decision of the dean (or their designee) shall become final at the close of 5 school days after issuance.

Policy Approved by the Elected Faculty Council: 3/8/23

Dean Approval: 6/16/23