Student Complaints and Academic Appeals

Policy

Students have a reasonable opportunity to register their concerns, complaints and academic appeals for fair and timely response and action. Dev Academy receives feedback that can be used to continually improve our service to students and the quality of education.

Related Policies/Documents

Students  are informed about this policy and process as part of the information included in their Enrolment Confirmation Form, and attached Terms and Conditions. At Orientation Day, students will also be shown how and where to access this part of the Policy and Procedures Manual, as well as all other sections that relate to student rights and responsibilities.

Definitions

Concern - is a less serious or minor problem. A situation best resolved by direct and informal contact with the person/people involved. Often raised in conversation without being written down.

Complaint - is a more serious or significant problem that requires formal consideration and resolution. A situation with significant impact. A concern may be escalated into a complaint if not resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant. Normally submitted in writing.

Academic Appeal - is a situation where a student does not agree with an academic decision relating to their programme of study.

General principles

• Concerns and complaints must be dealt with in a sensitive manner. There may be times when it is necessary to discuss the issues with the person against whom the concern or complaint is directed in order to help achieve a resolution. If so, this course of action should be discussed with the complainant and agreement should be secured before proceeding.
• Problems should be dealt with as close to the source as possible. They should be referred to a higher level only after attempts to resolve them at the lower level have failed.
• If a concern or complaint is about another person, that person must be given an opportunity to respond to the complaint that was made about them. Any person being complained about is regarded as having as much right to a fair hearing as the person making the complaint. Both sides should be heard without prejudice before any further action is taken.
• A focus on problem solving and conflict resolution will be applied as a standard response, rather than focusing on laying blame. However, Dev Academy will apply disciplinary action in cases where it becomes necessary to do so; including in cases where serious misconduct was involved.
• Academic appeals are investigated as quickly as possible so that a student’s ability to continue on their programme is not delayed.

Procedures

Concerns

Examples of concerns might include the following:

• minor classroom irritations (other students break concentration by always talking in class, teacher fails to keep order)
• concerns arising from miscommunication or misunderstanding
• minor disagreements over academic matters, resource issues
• facilities issues.

Concerns will be resolved as quickly as possible.

Concerns are usually made verbally to a staff member, who should interview the person in private, allowing a support person to attend if requested. A teacher will evaluate the nature and seriousness of the concern, resolve it at the time if possible, or refer it on to the CEO as a complaint. If the concern is about one or more other staff, students or other people who are frequently present at the campus, those people should initially be interviewed separately.

Any staff member who initially responds to or receives a concern may choose to seek advice or involvement from another staff member, particularly if another staff member’s role or actions are relevant to the concern and/or if the student specifically requests another staff member’s involvement in the process. The staff member who initially responds to or receives a concern should use their discretion to judge whether it is necessary to refer the concern to another more senior staff member to:

• have input into achieving a remedy or resolution, and/or
• take over the handling of the concern, and/or
• manage any conflict of interest or bias that may be real, or perceived as existing between the student and the initial responder.

A resolution or remedy to a concern is deemed to have been achieved when the complainant agrees that a resolution or remedy has been achieved, and accordingly confirms that they accept that no further action will be taken in response to their concern .

If a student does not agree that a resolution or remedy has been achieved, after steps have been taken by relevant Dev Academy staff to address their concern, the student then has the option to lodge a Complaint.

Complaints

A  complaint must be submitted to the CEO for investigation and resolution.  Complainants have the right to bring a support person to meetings regarding their complaint. Students can submit complaints only during the period of their enrolment.

Complaints will be investigated, resolved and the outcome statement communicated to the complainant within 20 working days.

A written record will be kept in a central filing system detailing:

• what the complaint was, and any background or context details of significance
• any meeting/s that were held (when, where, with who), or other correspondence that happened as part of attempts to discuss or respond to the complaint
• an account of whatever steps were taken to achieve a resolution
• an Outcome Statement (i.e. a statement about whether and what remedy/resolution was agreed upon, or whether a remedy/resolution was not agreed upon, and what is expected to happen next)

The CEO will authorise the outcome statement and communicate this to the complainant. The outcome statement should be signed by the student who made the complaint and the CEO.

Students who are not satisfied with the outcome from the complaint handling process are advised of their right to appeal the outcome statement. An appeal must be submitted by the student within 10 days of the decision. Appeals will be investigated and the decision communicated to the appellant within 10 working days.

If the student who made a complaint is then not satisfied with the outcome from the complaint handling process and appeal, they are advised of their right to take the complaint to the relevant and appropriate external authority****

1. For complaints about not meeting NZQA regulations: Visit NZQA
2. For complaints about not meeting the Pastoral Care Code of Practice: Visit NZQA’s Pastoral Care website
3. For complaints about financial or contractual matters, whether you are a Domestic or International student, visit Study Complaints for further support.

Academic Appeals

Academic matters should first be discussed with the student’s teacher to try to resolve the issue. If this is not successful, an academic concern should be raised with the Head of Teaching and Assessment. If there is no resolution at this point, it becomes an academic appeal that must be submitted to the CEO in writing.

An academic appeal must be submitted by the student within 10 days of the decision.

Academic appeals will be investigated and the decision communicated to the appellant within 10 working days.

A written record will be kept in a central file detailing:

• details of the decision being appealed and the student case for overturning the decision.
• any meeting/s that were held (when, where, with who), or other correspondence that happened in the decision making process.
• The decision to uphold or overturn the original decision.
• The date the decision was communicated to the student appellant.
• Any action required to amend the student record.

If the student who made a complaint is not satisfied with the outcome from the complaint handling process (as summarised in the Outcome Statement), they are advised of their right to take the complaint to the relevant and appropriate external authority, as outlined by NZQA (http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/about-us/make-a-complaint/make-a-complaint-about-a-provider), e.g. the Tertiary Ombudsman.**

Concerns, complaints and academic appeals investigations and resolution processes are carefully managed to ensure all people involved are treated fairly and with dignity.