/Institutions/Catholic-University-of-America/json/2025-2026/Undergraduate-Announcements-local.json

/Institutions/Catholic-University-of-America/json/2025-2026/Undergraduate-Announcements.json

Undergraduate Announcements > Conway School of Nursing > Policies and Regulations > Complaint Policies and Procedures

Complaint Policies and Procedures

The Catholic University of America Conway School of Nursing has established policies, processes, and procedures to address concerns related to grade appeals, committee decision appeals, academic integrity, sexual misconduct, discrimination, harassment, and general complaints.

Complaints

Definition of a Complaint: A formal student complaint is a signed statement submitted by a student alleging discriminatory, arbitrary, or improper treatment.

Process for Filing and Documenting a Complaint:

1. Filing a Complaint:
A formal student complaint must be submitted within 10 days of the event in question to the appropriate course faculty member, program director, or associate dean. The written complaint should include:

        a. A factual description of the issue or dispute leading to the complaint.
        b. The names of any individuals involved, if applicable.
        c. A brief summary of all informal resolution attempts made prior to filing the formal complaint.
        d. Any additional information the student considers relevant to the complaint.

2. Documentation of Complaint Response:

 The faculty, staff, program director, or associate dean addressing the complaint must document the following details and submit the record to the Vice Dean:

1. The date the complaint was formally submitted.
2. A summary of the complaint, including the factual description, names of individuals involved (if any), informal resolution attempts, and any other relevant details as outlined in the filing process (#1 above).
3. The steps or actions taken to resolve the complaint.

The formal complaint process established here is not meant to supplant attempts at resolving complaints through informal discussion. However, there are no circumstances under which a formal complaint must be settled informally (e.g., when a student submits a formal complaint, the student cannot be told to work out the complaint informally).

Whether settled informally or formally, the complaint process should move expeditiously without compromising the integrity of the process. Nothing in this policy should be construed to impinge upon the responsibilities of any office and/or regularly constituted body of the University. Moreover, no action may be taken concerning a formal complaint that would conflict with a university policy, such as those stated below, federal, state, or local law or regulation.

Note: If a student has a concern that is consistent with the definition of a complaint above and falls outside of Grade Appeals, Academic Integrity, Sexual Misconduct, or Anti-discrimination and Anti-harassment policies outlined above, he/she should follow the “Process for Filing Complaints” under the Complaints section of this policy.

 

Decisions of the Progression Committee

There are three Progression Committees, one for the undergraduate program and two for the graduate programs (Advanced Practice Nursing and PhD). Each committee provides oversight of academic progression and retention policies and procedures as outlined in the Undergraduate Announcements Policies Concerning Probation and Dismissal from the Conway School of Nursing, Undergraduate Student Nursing Handbook, the Graduate Announcements MSN Grading Policy, and the General Policies for the Ph.D. Program