Grievance Procedure

Columbus Technical College Disability and Special Services will receive and respond to complaints categorized as Student Affairs’ complaints. Student Affairs’ complaints pertain to admissions, disability and special services, financial aid, disability services, and registration. Students having complaints in those areas should follow these procedures:

1. Secure a grievance form from either an advisor or instructor.
2. Complete a grievance statement.
3. Submit the grievance form to the Administrative Assistant for Student Affairs, Hartline Room 172.
4. In response to the complaint, the Director of Disability and Special Services or designee will
   1. schedule an informal conference with the student filing the complaint;
   2. investigate the area of grievance;
   3. provide the student with an opportunity to acknowledge the results of the inquiry/investigation.

In instances where the results of the inquiry/investigation are not acceptable, students may make an appeal to the Vice President of Student Affairs as referenced in the "Students’ Rights and Responsibilities" section of this catalog and student handbook.

Academic Complaints:

Students having complaints in areas other than those listed above (i.e., academic affairs, etc.) should follow these procedures:

1. Secure a grievance form from an instructor or appropriate Academic Dean.
2. Complete a grievance statement.
3. Submit the grievance form to the instructor or appropriate Academic Dean.
4. In response to the complaint, the instructor/Academic Dean will
   1. schedule an informal conference with the student filing the complaint;
   2. investigate the area of grievance;
   3. provide the student with an opportunity to acknowledge the results of the inquiry/investigation.

In instances where the results of the inquiry/investigation are not acceptable, students may make an appeal to the Vice President of Academic Affairs as referenced in the "Students’ Rights and Responsibilities" section of this catalog and student handbook.

Procedure: Student Grievances

1. Policy:

It is the policy of the Technical College System of Georgia to maintain a grievance process available to all students that provides an open and meaningful forum for their complaints, the resolution of these complaints, and is subject to clear guidelines. This procedure does not address complaints 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.

2. Applicability:

All technical colleges associated with the Technical College System of Georgia.

3. Related Authority:

Procedure: Unlawful Harassment and Discrimination of Students

4. Definitions:
1. Grievable issues: Issues arising from the application of a policy/procedure to the student’s specific case is always grievable. Specifically grievable are issues related to student advisement, improper disclosure of grades, unfair testing procedures and poor treatment of students; this is a representative list and is not meant to be exhaustive.
2. Non-grievable issues: Issues which have a separate process for resolution (i.e. disciplinary sanctions, FERPA, financial aid, academic grades, etc.) are not grievable and a student must take advantage of the process in place.
3. Business days: Weekdays that the college administrative offices are open.
4. Vice President of Student Affairs (VPSA): The staff member in charge of the student services division at the college.
5. Retaliation: Unfavorable action taken, condition created, or other action taken by a student/employee for the purpose of intimidation directed toward a student because the student initiated a grievance or participated in an investigation of a grievance.
6. Grievant: the student who is making the complaint.
5. Attachments:

None

6. Procedure:
1. Informal Complaint Procedure: Student complaints should be resolved 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 their complaint 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 grievance, the student may proceed to the formal grievance procedure.
2. Formal Complaint Procedure: where a student cannot resolve their complaint informally, they may use the 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 of Student Affairs (VPSA) 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 VPSA, the student shall file the grievance in the Office of the President.
3. The VPSA, or his 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 Harassment and Discrimination of Students.
5. If the grieved incident is closely related to an incident being processed through the disciplinary procedure, the disciplinary procedure will take precedence and the grievance will not be processed until after the disciplinary procedure has run its course.
6. The VPSA, or his designee, shall be granted an additional 15 business days to investigate the grievance upon notice to the grieving student.
3. Appeal of Staff Response: If a student is unsatisfied with the response from the VPSA, the student may appeal the decision to the President of the college. The college staff has no right to appeal.
   1. A student shall file a written appeal to the President within 5 business days of receiving the response referenced in VI.B.3.
   2. The appeal will be decided based entirely on documents provided by the student and the administration; therefore the student must ensure that he has provided all relevant documents with his appeal.
   3. At the President of the college’s sole discretion, grievance appeals at their institution 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 comprised of 5 members, including one chair, to make the final decision.
   • The decision of either the President or the cross-functional committee shall be made within 10 business days of receipt by the President of the appeal.
   4. Whichever process is chosen by the President, the decision of the grievance appeal is final.
   5. Retaliation against a student for filing a grievance is strictly prohibited.
7. Record Retention:

Documents relating to formal grievances including investigations, dispositions and the grievance itself shall be held for 5 years after the graduation of the student or the date of the student’s last attendance.

Columbus Technical College has established procedures to address unlawful harassment (including sexual harassment and sexual violence), discrimination and retaliation.  All students and employees are encouraged to report events of unlawful harassment, discrimination, sexual violence and/or retaliation (prohibited conduct) against themselves or others.  Reports will be treated in an expeditious and confidential manner.  Victims have the right to file or not file a criminal complaint for sexual violence with the local law enforcement authorities before, during, or after filing a complaint with the college.  Counseling and referral services are available.  The college will assist with remedies to prevent contact between a complainant and an accused party, such as academic and working accommodations, if reasonably available. The College will make such accommodations, if the victim requests them and if they are reasonable available, regardless of whether the victim chooses to report the crime to the Campus Police or local law enforcement. Students and employees should contact the Campus Police Department at 706-649-1933 or the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs at 706-649-1820.

 

After an incident of sexual violence, the victim should consider seeking medical attention as soon as possible. If victims seek counseling, they may contact the CARE Center at 706-649-1938.

 

 

 

Procedures Victims Should Follow. If you are a victim of sexual violence, call the Campus Police, at 706-649-1933 or dial 911 to activate the SANE program. Victims do not have to press charges. By having a rape kit completed to collect evidence at the time of the assault, victims can press charges at a later date.

 

 

It is important that a victim of sexual assault not bathe, douche, smoke, change clothing or clean the bed/linen/area where they were assaulted if the offense occurred within the past 120 hours so that evidence may be preserved that may assist in proving that the alleged criminal offense occurred/or is occurring or may be helpful in obtaining a protection order. In circumstances of sexual assault, if victims do not opt for forensic evidence collection, health care providers can still treat injuries and take steps to address concerns of pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted disease. Victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, and dating violence are encouraged to also preserve evidence by saving text messages, instant messages, social networking pages, other communications, and keeping pictures, logs or other copies of documents, if they have any, that would be useful to College hearing boards/investigators or police. Although the college strongly encourages all members of its community to report violations of this policy to law enforcement, it is the victim’s choice whether or not to make such a report and victims have the right to decline involvement with the police. The College will assist any victim with notifying local police if they so desire. The Columbus Technical Campus Police may also be reached directly by calling 706-649-1933, in person at Patrick Hall, room P-206. Additional information about the Campus Police department may be found online at https://www.columbustech.edu/why-ctc/campus-police.cms.

 

Victims of sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking should report the incident promptly to the Title IX Coordinator, Henry Gross, 706-649-1883, hgross@columbustech.edu and to Campus Police (if the victim so desires). The college will provide resources on campus, off campus, or both, to persons who have been victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, and will apply appropriate disciplinary procedures to those who violate this policy. The procedures set forth below are intended to afford a prompt response to charges of sexual assault, domestic or dating violence, and stalking, to maintain confidentiality and fairness consistent with applicable legal requirements, and to impose appropriate sanctions on violators of this policy.

 

Once an individual makes a complaint, or receives notice that a complaint has been made against him or her, that individual should receive information about support services, such as counseling, academic support, and disability services, as is available at the institution.

 

Upon receipt of any allegation of sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking, the college will follow the procedures listed below:

1. The Title IX Coordinator is primarily responsible for directly overseeing the investigation and resolution of the complaints. All complaints of prohibited conduct under this procedure shall be investigated by local investigators thoroughly and should be completed within 45 business days of the receipt of the complaint. The parties will be notified if extraordinary circumstances exist requiring additional time.

2. A complaining party will be notified within 5 business days of receipt of the complaint if the complaint does not specify facts sufficient to allege unlawful discrimination, harassment, sexual

violence or retaliation and that a formal investigation will not be conducted pursuant to this procedure. The complaining party may appeal the decision in writing to the president within 5 business days of receiving the notice. The president’s decision will be final.

3. Individuals designated to investigate or recommend corrective actions in response to allegations will be trained to conduct investigations in a manner that protects the safety of victims and promotes accountability. Individuals assigned as the investigator for a particular incident shall disclose to the president any relationship with the parties that could call into question their ability to be objective prior to taking any action with respect to the investigation. The president will reassign alternate individuals if necessary.

4. Investigations will be conducted by gathering relevant information and interviewing appropriate witnesses. Both the complaining party and the respondent (the parties) will be given equal opportunity to identify witnesses and offer evidence in person or in writing. Best efforts will be made to interview all witnesses identified by the parties. Both the complaining party and the respondent may be accompanied by an advisor of his or her choice. However, the advisor may not speak on behalf of the party.

5. The college will evaluate the information collected during the investigation and determine whether a preponderance of the evidence substantiates that unlawful harassment sexual violence and/or unlawful retaliation has occurred.

6 Investigations and summary findings will be documented appropriately.

7. No later than 10 business days after completion of an investigation, both of the parties will be simultaneously provided the findings in writing.

8. Any information prohibited from disclosure by law or policy will be redacted from any documents prior to distribution.