Student Formal Complaint Process

(Adopted November 2016, Last Updated August 2022)

LIM College is committed to providing quality education and support services for students attending the College. 

In support of our students, we have established a formal student complaint process as an avenue of communication with students and to identify any problems so they may be appropriately addressed. Additionally, the College has a federal obligation to track significant student complaints so we may monitor the quality of our services. 

Students have multiple means to express concerns or complaints and many faculty and staff with whom concerns can be shared. Established appeals and grievance processes are available for students to address many common issues and these can be found on the Student Policies & Procedures page of the College website in the document Student Appeals & Grievances. To assist the College in identifying patterns of concerns and to comply with our obligations, the following Student Formal Complaint Process is defined: 

Documented student complaints of significance are those that meet the below definition and that come to the attention of the Vice President of Student Affairs for follow-up and resolution. The College employee receiving the complaint determines whether a concern meets the definitions offered below and is of sufficient substance to be tracked. 

DEFINITIONS FOR THIS PROCESS: 

  • Complaint:
    • in writing: hand-delivered, via mail, by email, or by fax
    • signed/identified by student (not anonymous)
    • addressed to/submitted to an institutional employee and forwarded to the Vice President of Student Affairs or submitted directly to the Vice President of Student Affairs
    • not a request for a routine decision (e.g., grade change, requirement waiver, etc.)
    • not an appeal or a grievance for which a defined process already exists
  • Student:
    • an individual currently enrolled full-time or part-time
    • a person recently enrolled at the institution in the previous two semesters/academic year
    • an alumnus/a who earned a degree from the institution in the past 12 months
    • not a parent, relative, employer, member of the public, etc. – even if related to a student 

COMPLAINT INFO THAT IS TRACKED: 

  • Date complaint received
  • Student(s) identified with complaint
  • Nature of the complaint 
  • Office assigned to address the complain to Steps taken to resolve complaint and final decision or College action taken
  • External actions by complainant (e.g., lawsuit, EEOC, OCR) 

In accordance with our federal regulatory and accreditation standard requirements in this area, the College will annually review student complaints tracked in accordance with this process and will look to identify patterns in types of complaints and their resolution. The review will also include an assessment of what, if any, modifications or improvements the College needs to make as a result of information identified in handling student complaints and a process for implementing appropriate institutional enhancements accordingly. 

REGULATORY REFERENCES 

  • Federal Regulations 34 CFR 602.16(a)(1)(ix) 
  • The Middle State Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), Verification of Compliance with Accreditation-Relevant Federal Regulations