Policy on Student Complaints

You may make informal complaints about any matter relating to the College of Law to the administration by communication to the dean, the associate dean or the associate dean for Student Affairs. The administration will attempt to resolve such complaints informally.

Alternatively, you may wish to file a formal complaint. Pursuant to ABA Standard 510, any student at the College of Law may bring a formal complaint to the administration of the College of Law “of a significant problem that directly implicates the school’s program of legal education and its compliance with the ABA Standards.” The ABA Standards may be found on this page of the ABA website.

If you wish to bring a formal complaint, you need to do the following:

  1. Submit the complaint in writing in hard copy to the Dean’s Office (Swen Parson Hall Room 270) on a form available from the Dean’s Office and on the College of Law website
  2. Describe in detail the substance of the complaint and explain how the matter implicates the law school’s program of legal education and compliance with specific ABA Standard(s).
  3. Provide your name, official College of Law email address and street address for further communication about the complaint if appropriate.

When the Dean’s Office receives a formal complaint, the following procedures will be followed 

  1. The Dean’s Office will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within five business days. Acknowledgement will be made by email and/or U.S. mail.
  2. Within a reasonable time after acknowledgment of the complaint, the Dean’s Office shall either meet or correspond with the you, providing a written response to the substance of the complaint or informing you that further investigation is needed. In the event that further investigation is necessary, the Dean’s Office shall complete the investigation within a reasonable time and provide a written response to the substance of the complaint. Any written response from the Dean’s Office to may be by email to your official College of Law email address.
  3. If the Dean’s Office provides a written response to the complaint from an associate dean, an appeal may be taken to the dean of the College of Law. Any decision made by the dean, either as an original response to the complaint or as an appeal from a decision of an associate dean, shall be final.
  4. A copy of the complaint and the final written response shall be kept in the Dean’s Office for a period of eight years from the date of the final resolution of the complaint.