Student Feedback and Grievances Policy and Procedure

The School of Nursing and Health Studies welcomes constructive comments and feedback to help us improve the student experience. Your informal feedback helps us understand and address student concerns. You can communicate feedback to us in many ways, such as: Have a conversation with a staff or faculty member, the Director of Academic Services, Associate Dean or Dean.

  • Have a conversation with a staff or faculty member, the Director of Academic Services, Associate Dean or Dean.
  • Send an email to uwbnhs@uw.edu

The University of Washington (UW) and the School of Nursing and Health Studies have established procedures to address most concerns and grievances, as outlined below. If you would like to discuss any of these procedures, or if you have a concern that is not listed here, please contact the School of Nursing and Health Studies at uwbnhs@uw.edu.

UW concerns and complaint procedures

  • Grade Appeal: The UW’s Change of Grade Policy helps students who believe that an instructor erred in the assignment of a grade, assigned the grade unfairly, or made a grade recording error or omission. Students should start this process by discussing the issue with the instructor before the end of the following academic quarter. See the SNHS Grade Appeal page for more information.
  • Misconduct by other students: The UW Bothell Office of Student Conduct provides an online reporting form for students to report alleged violations of the UW Student Conduct Code, including behavioral misconduct and academic misconduct such as plagiarism and cheating.
  • Discriminatory or harassing behavior by a University employee: The Civil Rights Compliance Office is responsible for compliance with civil rights laws and University policies. Federal and state laws collectively prohibit discrimination based on protected characteristics, including age, citizenship, disability, national origin or shared ancestry, race, sex, gender, veteran status, and more. The University encourages reporting to provide support and resources, offer resolution options, stop the conduct, prevent its recurrence, and remedy its effects.  
  • Academic accommodations: The UW Bothell Disability Resources for Students (DRS) partners with students with disabilities to request accommodations that grant access to educational opportunities. Students can register with DRS to request academic accommodations.

Academic grievance procedure for undergraduate, graduate and non-matriculated students

The School of Nursing and Health Studies’ grievance process is available for students to address academic complaints or issues, including, but not limited to, academic policies, grading practices, fair treatment, etc. Any complaint must first be addressed through the informal process before proceeding to the formal grievance procedure. Students must initiate a request for conciliation (informal process) within three months of the incident.

Informal process

  1. Students are first encouraged to attempt, in good faith, to resolve any grievance with the member or members of the faculty or academic staff most directly concerned. All parties are urged to make a sincere effort to resolve the issue at this level with direct communication.

The Office of the Ombud of the University of Washington has been established to assist in the protection of the rights of all members of the UW community. If a student prefers to have a neutral third party to navigate the issues and participate in the problem-solving process, the Ombud is available to support them. To facilitate early and informal resolution of grievances, the ombudsman will be available, at the request of any party concerned, to act as an impartial conciliator. The Office of the Ombudsman may be called upon to intervene at any stage of grievance procedures.

  1. If direct communications at Step 1 are not successful in resolving the issue, the student should contact the School of Nursing and Health Studies Director of Academic Services about the issue. This step represents the effort of a third party to examine the situation with some degree of objectivity and attempt to resolve the issue. If this attempt proves unsuccessful, the process should move on to Step 3.
  2. If the issue cannot be resolved at the director’s level, the problem may be referred to the associate dean, who shall attempt to resolve the issue. The associate dean may confidentially consult with faculty, staff, and/or students in an effort to resolve the issue. If this attempt proves unsuccessful, the process should move on to Step 4.

Students should note that the associate dean may directly inform the dean of any complaints. The dean reserves the right to address the matter by administrative action, especially when the actions of a UW employee are involved. Administrative action can occur independently of any grievance procedures pursued by the student.

  1. If all efforts at informal resolution prove to be unsuccessful, the next step is to move to filing a formal written grievance complaint.
  2. A student who has not had their issue resolved through the informal process can continue with a formal grievance procedure by submitting a written complaint to the dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies. Upon receipt of the written complaint, the Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies (or their designee) shall refer the matter to an ad hoc committee, appointed by the Dean, which shall consist of up to three (full time) faculty members and two students. The chairperson of the committee shall be a faculty member appointed by the Dean, as will the additional two committee members. It shall be the responsibility of the committee to provide the student a prompt hearing regarding the filed grievance.
  3. The Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies (or their designee) shall notify all persons directly involved and provide each with a copy of the written complaint. The chairperson shall establish a time and place of the hearing to be held within 15 school days after the receipt of the formal grievance by the Dean.
  4. All parties may individually and personally present evidence and testimony necessary either to establish or to refute the alleged grievance. Only evidence presented at such a hearing shall be considered in determining the validity of the complaint. All hearings must be conducted in closed session; however, by mutual agreement of the student and the concerned faculty or staff, the hearing may be opened to the public to the extent mutually agreed. All documentation of the proceedings shall be kept on record. Such a summary shall be maintained for a period of five years to ensure adequate review, if requested.
  5. Within 10 school days after the adjournment of the hearing, the committee shall present to the Dean (or their designee) and all parties involved, a report of the committee, including findings of fact, conclusions, and recommendations. The committee shall reach its findings and recommendations by a majority vote. Dissenting opinions may be presented with the majority report, if desired.
  6. Within 10 school days after receipt of the committee report, the Dean (or their designee) shall issue a final decision on the grievance. Such a decision and the reasons therefore, together with an enumeration of the actions to be taken, if any, shall be transmitted to all parties. This concludes the formal grievance process.

Policy Approved by the Elected Faculty Council (EFC): 10/29/2025 and School Dean Approval: 11/13/2025

Updated November 2025