Doctoral

Graduate Grievance Policy

A multi-level procedure for redress of grievance concerning academic and instructional matters is available to any graduate student enrolled in the C. T. Bauer College of Business.

1. Every effort shall be made by the student, faculty, and chair to resolve the grievance within the departmental structure. If this process does not alleviate the grievance, the graduate student may:
2. Petition the Dean (or designated Associate Dean) for redress of grievance by filing a formal written complaint. This formal complaint must be filed within 30 days of the point in time when the grievant had knowledge or should have had knowledge of the problem being grieved. The Dean may then either make a ruling or refer the grievance to a college committee. If the Dean makes a ruling, and that ruling is not satisfactory to the grievant or to the respondent, he or she may, within a period of 15 days from the receipt of the Dean's decision, request that the Dean (or designated Associate Dean) appoint an ad hoc grievance committee to hear the complaint.

The ad hoc grievance committee will be composed of three tenured faculty members and two graduate students from the Bauer College of Business. A faculty member will serve as chairperson of the ad hoc grievance committee. One of the three faculty members will be from the department concerned, but will not serve as chairperson. The three faculty members and the two graduate students will each have a vote. The college Hearing Officer will serve as facilitator of the hearing, but will not have a vote. The ad hoc grievance committee will be notified of the department's and Dean's rulings and will be provided with copies of all relevant information.

The committee will conduct a hearing, during which the student will appear and present his or her case. The committee can also call on faculty members involved with the case to appear at the hearing to answer questions. After the committee hears from all parties concerned, the hearing officer will let the committee deliberate and conduct a vote, all of which will be done with only the committee members present in the room. A majority vote will determine the outcome of the hearing.

While no formal transcript of the proceedings need be kept, the committee chair will notify the student in writing of the committee's ruling within 15 days of the hearing. The ad hoc grievance committee's ruling will be the final step in the college grievance procedure. However, either party may appeal beyond the college level (refer to http://www.uh.edu/graduate-catalog/policies/grievance-policy/index.php)