Complaint Procedure

It is the policy of Chattahoochee Technical College, a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, to maintain a grievance process available to all staff and students that provides an open and meaningful forum for grievances, the resolution of grievances, and is subject to clear guidelines. This procedure 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 Title IX Coordinator.

Repeated filings of the same complaint, filings of a frivolous nature, or capricious complaints made against school personnel and policies will be considered an abuse of the student complaint process and will be dismissed.

6.1 Complaint Procedure

1. Informal Procedure: Student has 10 business days from date of incident being grieved to resolve the complaint informally by meeting with the college faculty or staff member directly involved in the incident. It is incumbent upon the student to document the date, time, and place of the meeting as well as the concern. If this process does not result in resolution of the grievance, the student may proceed to Step 2 – Formal Grievance.
2. Formal Procedure: To submit a grievance/ concern at the local college level please access the Grievance/ Complaint form via the Chattahoochee Technical College website. Upon completion of the form, it should be emailed to Grievances@ChattahoocheeTech.edu
3. Processing by Conduct Officer: The form will be forwarded directly to the Conduct Officer for the College for processing.  The Conduct Officer or his designee will have 15 business days to investigate and respond to the student. In complex cases, the Conduct Officer may notify the student that an additional 15 business days will be needed to respond. The response will be sent via email to the student college email address with copy to private email address provided on the form.
4. Appeal of Conduct Officer Decision: If a student is unsatisfied with the response from the Conduct Officer, the student may appeal his/her decision to the Vice President of Student Affairs for the College within 5 business days of receipt of the Conduct Officer response. The student must provide all relevant documents with his appeal, as the appeal will be decided based entirely upon the documentation provided with the appeal. The Vice President of Student Affairs and his/her appeals committee will make a decision within 10 business days of receipt of the appeal. The Vice President of Student Affairs decision is final.

6.2 Applicability. The Student Complaint Policy applies to matters that may include: classroom learning environment, course content, access to classes, student advisement, and quality of services to students. The policy also applies to matters concerning services provided by Administrative Offices, including Admissions, Registrar, Financial Aid, Assessment and Advisement, Business Office, and Facilities.

6.3 Referred Complaints. The following forms of complaints will be referred to the appropriate administrator:

            Academic Grade Appeals- Academic Affairs Office

            Harassment- Title IX/ Equity Coordinator

            Sexual Harassment/ Sexual Violence- Title IX/ Equity Coordinator

            Discrimination- Title IX/ Equity Coordinator