Student Grievances

Key Definitions

Complainant(s)

A person who is subject to alleged inequity as it applies to Board Policies, System President’s Procedures, or College Procedures.  For purposes of this procedure, a complainant is student who was enrolled at the time of the alleged incident.

Respondent(s)

A person whose alleged conduct is the subject of a complaint.  For purposes of this procedure, a respondent can be a MCC employee(s), student(s) who was enrolled at the time of the alleged incident, authorized volunteer(s), guest(s) or visitor(s).

Grievance

A grievable offense is any alleged action which violates or inequitably applies State Board Policies, System President’s Procedures, and College Procedures.  The complainant must be personally affected by such violation or inequitable action.

Non-Grievable Matters

The following matters are not grievable under this procedure except as noted: matters over which the college is without authority to act; grades and other academic decisions unless there is an allegation that the decision was motivated by discrimination and/or harassment which should be filed under the appropriate Civil Rights Grievance and Investigation Process.

Chief Student Services Officer (CSSO)

The college employee designated by the college president to administer student grievances. The CSSO may delegate the responsibility over student grievances to another person.

Notice

Notices which are required to be given by this procedure shall be considered served upon the student when given by personal delivery, mailing by certified mail, or email with receipt notification to the address the student has filed with the College’s admissions and records office. If notice is mailed, student shall be given three (3) additional days to respond.

Day

Refers to calendar day unless otherwise noted below.

Remedy

The relief that the Grievant is requesting.

Complaint Procedure

Filing a Complaint

All complaints shall be made as promptly as possible after the occurrence. A delay in reporting may be reasonable under some circumstances; however, an unreasonable delay in reporting is an appropriate consideration in evaluating the merits of a complaint or report.

Procedures

Students must timely submit all grievances in writing (See Appendix) to the CSSO.  The grievance should clearly and concisely describe the alleged incident(s), when and where it occurred, and the desired remedy sought.  The grievance should be signed by the initiator or, in the case of an email submission, sent as an email attachment, in letter format and should contain the name and all contact information for the grievant. Any supporting documentation and evidence should be referenced within the body of the formal grievance. Additionally, the initiator of a formal grievance should submit any supporting materials in writing as quickly as is practicable.

The complainant’s supporting documentation should clearly demonstrate all informal efforts, if any, to resolve the issue(s) with the person involved and the person’s supervisor. This includes names, dates and times of attempted or actual contact along with a description of the discussion and the manner of communication made in the course of each effort.  If contacting the person involved and/or the supervisor is impracticable, the complainant should state the reasons why.

The MCC community benefits from informal and formal procedures that encourage prompt resolution of complaints and concerns students may have about the implementation of policies and procedures that govern the institution.

Informal Grievance Process

Complainant is encouraged to resolve the issue with the Respondent through the informal process.  The CSSO shall facilitate the informal process.  If the informal grievance process is unsuccessful, or if MCC or the complainant chooses not to pursue the informal process, the CSSO will open a formal grievance case.

Formal Grievance Process

Complainant must timely file a written statement of the actions complained of and describes the remedy s/he is seeking with the CSSO.  A matter could also be referred to this process by the College president or his/her designee. Once a written grievance is filed or referred, the CSSO or designee will determine whether or not the situation states a grievable offense. The matter will be closed if the situation is determined not grievable and the Complainant will be notified of the reasons.

If the matter is determined to be grievable, the CSSO will request a meeting (hearing) with both the complainant and respondent.  Both parties will be given the opportunity to discuss the allegations of the grievance and may offer any documentation, witnesses, or other materials in support of the complaint.  During this hearing, neither party may have a representative, including attorneys or law students.  These procedures are entirely administrative in nature and are not considered legal proceedings.

No audio or video recording of any kind other than as required by institutional procedure is permitted.

Based on Procedures: BP 4-31 Student Complaints; SP 4-31 Student Complaint Procedure