Reviewed & Updated: August 2024
In accordance with Administrative Policy 1.06, the Nicolet College grievance procedure is outlined below:
Grievance Procedure for Nicolet College Students
When students disagrees with how something was handled by an employee of the institution, they are encouraged to first speak with that employee to try to rectify the situation. There are times that the situation might not be resolved and in those circumstances, students have the right, using the Grievance Procedure for Nicolet College Students, to:
A. Contest a policy or practice of the College or College employee that is considered improper or unfair, or;
B. Contest situations where there has been deviation from or misapplication of a policy or practice unrelated to discrimination.
For the purposes of this procedure, days are defined as Monday through Friday when the College is open for business. Weekends, holidays, and the days when the College is closed are excluded.
The following link will open a window that leads to the Grievance Form: https://publicdocs.maxient.com/reportingform.php?NicoletCollege&layout_id=2
Grievance Procedure
For all Grievance Procedures, Nicolet College, in accordance with Federal requirement 34 CFR Ch. VI 602.16 (a)(1)(ix), will create a record of the student’s grievance and add it to a log of student grievances. The log will be maintained and updated through the remainder of the process.
Students choosing to file a grievance will have a Nicolet College employee familiar with the process assigned to them as a navigator to help them understand and work through the process.
1. If a student has not been able to informally resolve an issue with the appropriate College employee, the student must initiate this grievance procedure within ten (10) days of the action causing the complaint.
2. Upon receipt of the Grievance, the College employee’s supervisor will respond to the student within three (3) days of the student initiating the complaint procedure notifying the student of next steps or any information they need to assist them in the decision making process.
3. Within 10 days of the notification of receipt, the supervisor will make a decision and sent it to the student via their College email address.
4. The student has the right to file an appeal to the supervisor’s decision and must do so within 10 days of the date the email was sent to the student.
Students have the right to appeal on the following grounds:
- They may appeal the sanction (if there was one)
- They may appeal the decision of the supervisor.
- They may appeal if there was an instance of a due process violation.
5. The institution will respond within three days to notify the student if the appeal will move forward for one of the above reasons.
6. If the appeal is moving forward, the Executive Vice President or designee will respond with their decision within 10 days to the student’s College email address.
7. Students may appeal a second time within 10 days of the date the email from the first appeal was sent to the student. Students may appeal for the same reasons that are listed in step four (4).
8. Within three days, a hearing committee will meet to hear the appeal of the student.
9. Within ten days of the committee meeting, the committee will make a recommendation to the President on the grounds of the appeal.
10.The President will make their decision and send notification of the decision to the student within three days of the committee making a recommendation.
Timeline Requirements
If the College fails to give a written answer within the designated time frame, the student may immediately proceed to the next step. Failure by the student to meet applicable deadlines may be the basis for dismissal of any grievance. If it is impossible to comply with the time limits specified because of extenuating circumstances, these time limits may be extended by mutual consent in writing.