Student Grievances, Academic Concerns, and Complaints

The academic experience of Columbia Engineering students is governed by a variety of School and University policies and procedures. The following procedures are part of a process to ensure that student concerns about experiences in the classroom or with faculty are addressed in an informed and appropriate manner.

Due to the size and diverse nature of our scholarly community, each school maintains its own processes  for addressing issues raised by students, including their concerns about experiences in the classroom or  with faculty at their school. Experience has shown that most student concerns are best resolved in a collaborative way at the school level. Columbia Engineering offers several informal paths for students, as described in this statement. 

Students should follow the recommended course of action when filing grievances or concerns. If the issue is not resolved, the student may appeal and file a formal grievance to the Senior Vice Dean of Academic Programs. In all cases, Columbia Engineering seeks to address issues in a timely manner at the most immediate level available, before moving up to higher levels of authority and responsibility.  

These procedures should be used to address concerns regarding the Columbia Engineering faculty. For  those faculty who are not members of Columbia Engineering, the student should consult the procedures of  the school in which the faculty is appointed. The Office of Engineering Student Affairs is available if a Columbia Engineering student has questions about navigating the procedures of another Columbia school. 

Complaints about Faculty and Staff Academic Misconduct 

In fulfilling their instructional responsibilities, faculty are expected to treat their students with civility and respect. They “should promote an atmosphere of mutual tolerance, respect, and civility. They should  allow the free expression of opinions within the classroom that may be different from their own and  should not permit any such differences to influence their evaluation of their students’ performance. They should confine their classes to the subject matter covered by their courses and not use them to advocate any political or social cause” (Faculty Handbook). A fuller description of faculty rights and obligations may be found in the Faculty Handbook. Students who feel that members of the Engineering  faculty have not met those obligations may take the following steps (the procedure below also applies to  complaints against instructional and administrative staff): 

• Informal Resolution: Students are encouraged to seek a resolution to their complaints about faculty misconduct by talking directly with the faculty member. If they feel uncomfortable handling the situation in this manner, they may ask for guidance from a departmental ombudsperson or the program director (e.g., Director of Undergraduate Studies or Director of the MS program), who will try to resolve any issue through informal meetings with the student and others, including faculty, as seems appropriate. Students who are dissatisfied with the outcome may request a meeting with the department chair. The chair will review the program director's recommendation and seek to informally resolve the student’s complaint. 
• Mediation: Students may bring their concerns to the University’s Ombuds Office, who serves as an informal,  confidential resource for assisting members of the University with conflict resolution. The  Ombuds Office provides information, counseling, and referrals to appropriate University offices and will also mediate conflicts if both parties agree. The Ombuds Office does not have the authority to adjudicate disputes and does not participate in any formal University grievance proceedings. Further information on the Ombuds Office may be found on the Ombuds Office  website. 
• Formal Grievance: Students may seek a grievance hearing if informal resolution and/or mediation fails. The grievance procedures students should follow will depend upon the school within which the faculty member is appointed  and the nature of the alleged misconduct. If the faculty member holds an appointment in Columbia Engineering, the student may use the procedures described below to address the issues listed below. If the faculty member belongs to another school, students must use the procedure of that school. They may, however, ask for help from their own departmental advisors, CSA advisors (for undergraduates), or Engineering Student Affairs. 

Conduct that is subject to formal grievance procedure includes: 

• Failure to show appropriate respect in an instructional setting for the rights of others to hold  opinions differing from their own. 
• Misuse of faculty authority in an instructional setting to pressure students to support a political or  social cause; and 
• Conduct in the classroom or another instructional setting that adversely affects the learning environment. 

Concerns and reports of discrimination and discriminatory harassment, including reports that involve alleged violations of Title VI and Title VII, reports that involve alleged violations of Title IX and the University's Gender Based Misconduct Policy, as well as reports that relate to violations of the Protection of Minors Policy, are managed by the Office of Institutional Equity. 

Formal Grievance Procedure at Columbia Engineering 

If the informal resolution and/or mediation mentioned above failed, the student should compose and submit to the Senior Vice Dean of Academic Programs a written statement documenting the grievance and should also include a description of the remedy sought. This should be done no later than 30 working days after the end of the semester in which the act relating to the grievance occurred. 

The Senior Vice Dean will review the complaint to determine if a grievance hearing is warranted and, if so, will convene an ad hoc committee consisting of Engineering Student Affairs deans and, if appropriate, a faculty member chosen by the committee. 

The faculty member respondent is given the student’s letter of complaint and invited to submit a written response. The  Committee reviews both statements and is given access to any other written documents relevant to the  complaint. It may normally interview both the student and the faculty member and may, at its discretion,  ask others to provide testimony. The merits of the grievance are evaluated within the context of University and Engineering School policy. 

The ad hoc committee is expected to complete its investigation in a timely manner. The Senior Vice Dean will inform both the student and the faculty member of the final decision in writing. 

In consultation with the Senior Vice Dean of Academic Programs and the Senior Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs, the Dean of Columbia Engineering may discipline faculty members who are found to have committed professional misconduct. Any sanctions will be imposed in a manner that is consistent with the University’s policies and  procedures on faculty discipline. 

All aspects of an investigation of a student grievance are confidential. The proceedings of the ad hoc committee are not open to the public. Only the student grievant and the faculty member accused of misconduct receive copies of the decision. Everyone involved in the investigation of a grievance is expected to respect the confidentiality of the process. 

Disputes Over Grades or Other Academic Evaluations 

The awarding of grades and all other academic evaluations rests entirely with the course instructor, and students have the right to understand how their grades were determined. If students have a concern  relating to a particular grade or other assessment of their academic work, the student first should speak  with the instructor of the class to understand how the grade or other evaluation was determined and to  inquire about the specific concern.

For undergraduate students, if the student does not feel comfortable speaking with the class instructor about the matter, they should bring the issue to the attention of their Advising Dean who will then advise and support the student in a different course of action. 

For graduate students, if a resolution is not achieved in speaking with the course instructor, students should first contact the appropriate academic committee of the department for the course (Director of  Graduate Studies, the M.S. Committee, or the Ph.D. Committee), then the chair of the department offering the course, and finally Engineering Student Affairs by email at esa-deans@columbia.edu to submit a petition for review by the deans. 

Discrimination, Harassment, and Gender-Based Misconduct 

Concerns and reports of discrimination and discriminatory harassment, including reports that involve alleged violations of Title IV and Title VII, reports that involve alleged violations of Title IX and the Univeristy's Gender Based Misconduct Policy, as well as reports that relate to violations of the Protection of Minors Policy, are managed by the Office of Institutional Equity. 

See Formal Complaint Procedures. 

Scientific or Scholarly Misconduct 

Complaints against the School’s faculty that allege scientific or scholarly misconduct are evaluated using  other procedures. These are contained in the Columbia University Institutional Policy on Misconduct in  Research.