No./Title: COM-G02/ Student Complaint Logs (Guideline)	Resp. Office: Medical Education Approval Body: CUME	Effective Date: 04/19/21
Category: COM/UME	Last Review: N/A	Next Review: 04/19/24
Contact: Michael Whitt, Ph.D. Assoc. Dean for Medical Education	🕿 901-448-4634	🖂 mwhitt@uthsc.edu
Related Policy: SA110 – Student Complaint Procedures

University policy regarding student complaints:

Maintaining a student complaint log is required by the US Department of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). UTHSC practices are detailed in Policy SA110 – Student Complaint Procedures and can be summarized as follows.

Complaints requiring submission of a student complaint log include:

• Academic Issues-pertaining to unsatisfactory result of an appeal to the dean
• Discrimination
• Sexual Harassment
• Financial Aid
• FERPA violation of a student’s academic information
• HIPAA violation of a student’s private information
• Unresolved Complaints
• Complaints Regarding Distance Education
• Complaints Reported to Accreditors
• Complaints Made to the State of Tennessee

All academic and administrative units/departments that collect and address student complaints must maintain ongoing logs of such complaints that include the following elements:

• unit/department
• date of the complaint
• issue(s)
• the remedy sought
• findings
• the date and nature of the final resolution of the complaint
• location(s) of complaint documents

Copies of student complaint logs from each unit/department must be provided to the Office of Academic Faculty and Student Affairs each quarter. They are due to the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and Community Engagement by the 15^th of the next month, following the close of the quarter

COM guidelines concerning student complaints:

Any written complaint submitted by a student should be logged, regardless of whether it falls into one of the above-listed categories. Course evaluation comments are typically NOT considered complaints to the extent that they are more consistent with feedback, or pertain to pedagogy, content or grading. Comments in a course evaluation that should be considered complaints relate to:

• diversity practices,
• student mistreatment,
• classrooms or infrastructure
• administration,
• campus services,
• policies or processes,
• financial aid,
• parking,
• campus closures,
• faculty bias and homophobia,
• food options or lack thereof in campus dining and at student organization/college events, etc.   

Note that it is not necessary that a complaint be remedied prior to reporting.

COM procedures for reporting student complaints:

Pre-Clinical Curriculum:

• All pre-clinical course/module directors will review the course evaluations as soon as they are available after the course ends.
• If a complaint is identified in the course evaluations or via a formal written complaint from a student, course/module directors should fill out a Student Complaint Form.
• All forms will be submitted to the Sr. Assistant Dean for the Basic Science Curriculum at the end of each course or module.
• The Sr. Assistant Dean for the Basic Science Curriculum will compile the complaints and report them quarterly to the Course and Module Directors Curriculum Subcommittee (CMDCS).
• CMDCS will submit the student complaint log to the Associate Dean of Student Affairs who will then submit the log to the Chief Student Affairs Officer.
• Any complaints of a serious nature will be dealt with immediately and reported to the Sr. Assistant Dean of Basic Science Curriculum.

Clinical Curriculum:

• All clerkship directors across the state will review the clerkship course evaluations as soon as they are available after a rotation.
• If a complaint is identified in the course evaluations or via a formal written complaint from a student, clerkship directors should fill out a Student Complaint Form.
• Memphis clerkship course directors will review the course evaluations after completion of a clerkships for the campuses where there are insufficient student numbers to guarantee anonymity.
• All forms will be submitted to the Memphis clerkship course directors after each clerkship.
• Memphis clerkship course directors will compile the complaints and report them quarterly to the Clinical Sciences Subcommittee (CSS).
• CSS will submit the student complaint log to the Associate Dean of Student Affairs who will then submit the log to the Chief Student Affairs Officer.

APPROVAL HISTORY

Effective: 04/19/21

Revised: N/A