If a student feels unfairly treated or aggrieved by faculty, staff, or another student, the university offers several avenues to resolve the concern. All graduate programs, departments and schools/colleges have established specific grievance procedures for handling such situations; these grievance procedures are found in the program’s Graduate Guide page under the policy tab.
The department-school/college academic grievance process should be used to resolve academic issues or disputes. Examples of matters suitable for this process may include a qualifying exam failure, author dispute, or concerns regarding advising/mentoring, to name a few.
Graduate Assistants in TA, PA and/or RA appointments may utilize the Graduate Assistantship Policies and Procedures (GAPP) grievance process to resolve employment-related issues. Examples of matters appropriate for the GAPP grievance process include allegations of violation of GAPP, including allegations excessive work hours, violations of sick days or vacation policies, or disputes regarding the assignment of duties.
For issues involving hostile and intimidating behavior (HIB) by a faculty or staff member, students should contact the Graduate School Assistant Dean for Academic Services for information on accessing the the appropriate HIB process.
For issues involving civil rights, ADA, Equal Opportunity or Sexual Misconduct, students should contact the Office of Compliance.
If you have questions about whether the grievance policy at the program level or GAPP procedure would be suitable for your concern, you are encouraged to reach out to your college, school or division human resources representative.
Through A Graduate Student Guide to Working with Faculty Advisors, an interactive, self-paced micro-course, graduate students learn about the characteristics of functional and dysfunctional relationships with faculty advisors, strategies for communicating effectively and aligning expectations, as well as program grievance processes and Hostile and Intimidating Behavior resources. Completion of the micro-course takes about 20 minutes and is optional but encouraged for all graduate students.
In addition, the following administrative offices have procedures available for addressing various concerns:
Office of Student Assistance and Support (for all issues of concern involving students)
70 Bascom Hall
608-263-5700
Employee Assistance Office (for conflicts involving graduate assistants and other employees)
Rm. 1109 WARF Building, 610 Walnut St.
608-263-2987
Ombuds Office for Faculty and Staff (for graduate students and post-docs, as well as faculty and staff)
523-524 Lowell Center
608-265-9992
Graduate School (for informal advice at any level of review and for official appeals of program/departmental or school/college grievance decisions)
217 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1380
608-262-2433
Graduate students have two levels of appeal when they disagree with the outcome of a grievance or academic decision made at the program/departmental level; these occur in sequence. The first appeal is to the school/college and final appeals are to the Graduate School.
Graduate School Appeal Process
Graduate students who believe their appeal was not appropriately handled or resolved at the school/college level may appeal to the Graduate School using the process described below. (For students in programs housed in the Graduate School, the appeal of a program decision will typically be handled by the school/college in which the faculty/academic advisor of the student has their tenure/primary appointment before an appeal may be considered by the Graduate School.)
Appeals of school/college decisions to the Graduate School should be based upon one or both of the following grounds:
- There was a procedural error that substantially affected the fairness or outcome of the school/college grievance or academic decision appeal process.
- The information in the record does not support the school/college decision.
If a student believes that their appeal meets one or both grounds listed above, they may file an official appeal of a school/college decision with the Graduate School using the process described below.
A student must submit an appeal to the Graduate School Assistant Dean for Academic Services within 14 calendar days of the school/college decision. Prior to submitting an appeal, students are encouraged to contact the Assistant Dean to obtain information about the process, timelines, and to seek clarification of any questions they may have about the process.
To be considered, appeals must include the following information:
- The student’s name, local address, university email address and phone number.
- The student’s program name and degree level.
- The ground(s) upon which the appeal is based and for each ground stated, an explanation of why the student’s appeal meets those criteria.
- Copies of the department and school/college appeal decisions and any other relevant communications.
Upon receipt of all the above materials:
- The Assistant Dean for Academic Services will forward the appeal and related documents to the Dean of the Graduate School.
- The student will be notified in writing within 10 calendar days after the appeal materials arrive in the Graduate School, acknowledging receipt of the formal appeal and giving the student a timeline for the appeal to be completed.
- The program and school/college will be notified of the appeal to the Graduate School and will be provided with a copy of the student’s appeal statement and associated documents. The program and school/college will be invited to submit a written response.
- The dean will appoint an advisory committee comprised of faculty and/or staff with the appropriate expertise to evaluate the appeal.
- The dean will charge the committee and set appropriate time frame (30 calendar days within the fall and spring semester; appeals received in the summer may take up to 60 calendar days) for completing a review and making a recommendation.
- The committee will review the student’s appeal, including all the materials previously submitted. If necessary, the committee may request and review additional information relevant to the appeal from the student and/or program/department/School/College before making a recommendation.
- The dean will issue the final decision in writing.