Graduate School Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Faculty Training Programme
Appendix 5
Problems and Complaints
The University aims to provide the services and facilities for academic study, and for living and working at the University to a high standard, and in line with the undertakings given above.
The University recognises that students may from time to time face problems with the level or quality of provision. The procedures set out below are designed to treat such problems in a manner that is timely, simple, transparent and consistent.
No complaint by a student will prejudice their future dealings with University staff or departments.
Our Commitments
The University undertakes to consider problems or difficulties which are raised, and to publicise the arrangements by which concerns should be addressed.
Students who face problems should discuss them with the immediately appropriate person, who should seek to solve the problem on an informal basis in the first instance.
Written records should be kept at each stage, however informal, to which reference can later be made if necessary.
If meetings are held, to which the student and the person complained of are each invited to bring a second person, that person must be a member of the University.
If informal discussion of a problem proves to be insufficient, the student should approach the appropriate line manager, or head of department or section, and ask that the problem be investigated. There should be no assumption about fault or blame.
The University expects that the line manager, or head of department or section, will make every effort to investigate the problem and to resolve it, in a manner that is timely, transparent and sensitive. Students making complaints should not be subject to verbal or physical harassment.
Students may be informed, in writing, after appropriate investigation and discussion, that they are not justified in taking a complaint further.
If the procedures set out above do not lead to a satisfactory resolution, the formal complaint procedures may be invoked. The appropriate head of department or section or equivalent will either investigate the complaint personally or nominate a relevant individual (who will not have been involved in the specific issues of the complaint but is aware of the relevant issues). Following the investigation a written report will be produced summarising the evidence and proposing recommendations. If these are acceptable to all concerned, they will be formally recorded as the resolved outcome of the complaints procedure.
If the recommendations are not acceptable to all concerned, a second stage institutional-level procedure is available. The student may submit a formal complaint, and – following confirmation by the University Secretariat that the issue cannot be resolved by other means – this will be investigated by a member of the University Complaints Panel. When the investigation is complete, the Panelist will write to the student with details of any findings and outcomes, which will carry the authority of the University.
If the student is not satisfied that the procedures have been followed properly, s/he has the right to appeal against the decision. The only purpose of the appeal, however, is to review the process by which the complaint was considered; it is not an additional opportunity to have a complaint heard owing only to dissatisfaction with the outcomes.
Once all internal complaints procedures have been exhausted, if the student is still not satisfied s/he has the right to take the case to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) for Higher Education, for further review.
A complaint which is upheld may result in a formal apology or appropriate compensation. Malicious complaints will be regarded seriously, and could lead to disciplinary or legal action.
Your Responsibilities
You should take problems about services or facilities to an appropriate person as close to the source of difficulty as possible.
You should draw attention to problems promptly, and in as an informal a manner as possible.
Students drawing attention to problems or pursuing complaints should not resort to verbal or physical harassment, which is a disciplinary offence.
If you need to take a complaint to a line manager or head of section, you should keep a written record of your actions to date.
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Graduate School, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Lancaster University
Lancaster LA1 4YD
United Kingdom Tel: 44 0 1524 510880
Fax: 44 0 1524 510857
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