SEAS Student Handbook

STUDENT GRIEVANCES, ACADEMIC CONCERNS, AND COMPLAINTS
The following procedures are part of a process to ensure that student concerns about
experiences in the classroom or with faculty are addressed in an informed and appropriate
manner.
Due to the size and diverse nature of our scholarly community, each school maintains its
own processes for addressing issues raised by students, including their concerns about
experiences in the classroom or with faculty at their school. Experience has shown that
most student concerns are best resolved in a collaborative way at the school level.
Columbia Engineering offers several informal paths for students to use, as described in
this statement.
If a student’s concerns are not satisfied through this process, or if the student believes that
a direct complaint to the Dean is more appropriate, formal grievance procedures are
available through the Vice Dean of the School. These procedures should be used for
complaints about Engineering faculty. For those faculty who are not members of
Columbia Engineering, the student should consult the procedures of the school in which
they serve.
For academic complaints relating to Engineering faculty, these procedures, like those of
other schools, provide for a final appeal to the University Provost.
We welcome students’ thoughts on ways to clarify or enhance these procedures. If you
are an Engineering student, please email seasdean@columbia.edu.
Complaints about Faculty and Staff Academic Misconduct
In fulfilling their instructional responsibilities, faculty are expected to treat their students
with civility and respect. They “should promote an atmosphere of mutual tolerance,
respect, and civility. They should allow the free expression of opinions within the
classroom that may be different from their own and should not permit any such
differences to influence their evaluation of their students’ performance. They should
confine their classes to the subject matter covered by their courses and not use them to
advocate any political or social cause” (2008 Faculty Handbook). A fuller description of
faculty rights and obligations may be found in the Faculty Handbook. Students who feel
that members of the Engineering faculty have not met those obligations may take the
following steps (the procedure below also applies to complaints against instructional and
administrative staff):
Students are encouraged to seek a resolution to their complaints about faculty misconduct
by talking directly with the faculty member. If they feel uncomfortable handling the
situation in this manner, they may ask for guidance from a departmental faculty mediator,
who will assist students with complaints about faculty members, other academic
personnel, or administrators.
The name of the faculty mediator may be obtained from the department chair or
administrator. The faculty mediator tries to resolve any issue by informal meetings with
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