Student Grievances General Policy

It is the policy of the Wiregrass Georgia Technical College to maintain a grievance process available to all students that provides an open and meaningful forum for their grievances, the resolution of these grievances, and is subject to clear guidelines. This policy does not address grievances related to the unlawful harassment, discrimination and/ or retaliation for reporting harassment/discrimination against students. Those complaints are handled by the Unlawful Harassment and Discrimination of Students Procedure.

Student Grievances General Procedure

A. Informal Grievance Procedure: Students with grievable issues should resolve those issues, if possible, on an informal basis without the filing of a formal grievance.

1. A student has 10 business days from the date of the incident being grieved to resolve the matter informally by approaching their instructor, department chair or any other staff or faculty member directly involved in the grieved incident.

2. Where this process does not result in a resolution of the grievable issue, the student may proceed to the formal grievance procedure below.

B. Formal Grievance Procedure: where a student cannot resolve their grievance informally, he or she may use this formal grievance procedure.

1. Within 15 business days of the incident being grieved, the student must file a formal grievance in the office of the Vice President for Enrollment Management (VPEM) or his/her designee with the following information:

• Name,
• Date,
• Brief description of incident being grieved,
• Remedy requested,
• Signed, and
• Informal remedy attempted by student and outcome

2. If the grievance is against the VPEM, the student shall file the grievance with the Wiregrass Georgia Technical College President.

3. The VPEM, or his/her designee, will investigate the matter and supply a written response to the student within 15 business days.

4. If the grieved incident involves possible unlawful harassment, discrimination or retaliation for reporting unlawful harassment/discrimination, the investigation will be handled pursuant to the Procedure: Unlawful

5. If the grieved incident is closely related to an incident being processed through the harassment/discrimination or disciplinary procedures, the proceedings under the Unlawful Harassment and Discrimination of Student’s procedure will take precedence, then the disciplinary procedure and then the student’s grievance will be addressed. The grievance will not be processed until after the other procedures have run their course.

6. The VPEM, or his/her designee, shall be granted an additional 15 business days to investigate the grievance upon notice to the grieving student.

C. Appeal: The student may appeal the decision from the VPEM or his/her designee to the WGTC President. Only the student has the right to appeal.

1. A student shall file a written appeal to the Wiregrass Georgia Technical College President within 5 business days of receiving the response referenced above.

2. The appeal will be decided based entirely on documents provided by the student and the administration; therefore the student must ensure that he or she has provided all relevant documents with his or her appeal.

3. At the sole discretion of the Wiregrass Georgia Technical College President, grievance appeals at WGTC may be held in one of the following two ways:

• The President may review the information provided by the student and administration and make the final decision; or
• The President may appoint a cross-functional committee to make the final decision.
• The decision of either the President or the cross-functional committee shall be make within 10 business days of receipt of the appeal.

D. Retaliation against a student for filing a grievance is strictly prohibited.

Statement of Equal Opportunity

The Technical College System of Georgia and its constituent Technical Colleges do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national or ethnic origin, gender, religion, disability, age, political affiliation or belief, genetic information, disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam Era, spouse of military member or citizenship status (except in those special circumstances permitted or mandated by law). This nondiscrimination policy encompasses the operation of all technical college-administered programs, programs financed by the federal government including any Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIOA) Title I financed programs, educational programs and activities, including admissions, scholarships and loans, student life, and athletics. It also encompasses the recruitment and employment of personnel and contracting for goods and services. The Technical College System and Technical Colleges shall promote the realization of equal opportunity through a positive continuing program of specific practices designed to ensure the full realization of equal opportunity.

Any violation or questions may be directed to any member of the Campus Equity & Compliance Team:

To contact the Compliance Team, please send an email to campusequityandcompliance@wiregrass.edu.

For more information, please visit the Wiregrass Campus Equity & Compliance page at www.wiregrass.edu/hr/cect.php.

Telephone numbers are accessible to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing through the Georgia Relay by dialing 711 or (800) 255-0056 from a TTY/TDD.