Student Complaints, Appeals, and Exceptions

Student Complaints, Appeals, and Exceptions

This policy provides students with a fair process to address their concerns, complaints, and appeals, or to request an exception to policy. Students have the right to a fair process in which to address their grievances on academic and non-academic issues through the process of submitting a student appeal.

Academic appeals may be requested for (a) final grades; (b) re-enrollment; (c) administrative withdrawals; (d) academic clean slate; (e) satisfactory academic progress; (f) academic integrity; and (g) course repeats.

Non-academic appeals may be requested for (a) tuition refunds above and beyond the normal refund policy; (b) medical/personal leaves of absence; (c) military active-duty deployment extensions; (d) course extensions due to military deployment; and (e) military withdrawals (MW) from courses due to military deployment.

Any student who has a complaint with a university employee, department, school, or process is encouraged to resolve the concern first through direct communication with the individual or department involved.

ADA accommodation appeals are outside the scope of this policy. See the ADA Accommodations for Students policy and procedure.

Procedure

Any student who has a concern with an Excelsior employee, department, school, or process is encouraged to resolve the concern first through direct communication with the individual or department involved.

Appeals

If the issue cannot be resolved, an appeal may be submitted. The nature of the appeal determines which office reviews the appeal.

Academic Appeals

Students must submit an appeal in writing via email to the Student Support team at studentsupport@excelsior.edu. Additional information or documentation relevant to the appeal may be required.

  • Receipt of appeal letters will be acknowledged within three (3) calendar days.
  • Appeals shall be reviewed and decisions rendered within 30 days of receipt of a completed student appeal, unless otherwise notated by a specific policy.
  • Appeal decisions shall be documented in SIS. All documentation pertaining to the appeal must be scanned into the student file in SIS and appropriate staff will be notified.

Non-Academic Appeals

Non-academic appeals may be submitted in writing to the Ombudsperson at ombudsperson@excelsior.edu for the following items:

  • tuition refunds above and beyond the normal refund policy
  • medical/personal leaves of absence
  • military active-duty deployment extensions
  • course extensions due to military deployment
  • military withdrawals (MW) from courses due to military deployment

Appeals - Further Information

A student who is not satisfied with the formal complaint, appeal, or exception resolution may submit their complaint or appeal in writing to the provost at provost@excelsior.edu.

Notification to Accrediting Agency

A student who is not satisfied with the resolution provided by the University may file a written complaint with the University’s accrediting agency, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Complaints to the Commission must be in writing and signed by the complainant.

They should be sent to:

President
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2680

Notification to State Authorities

A student may also file a complaint with the appropriate state agency within the state in which the student resides. A list of contact information for the appropriate state agencies is available on the University’s website at www.excelsior.edu/policy/consumer-complaint-process.

New York State Education Department’s Complaint Procedures

Notification to the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA)

As an institution participating in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA), students residing in SARA states/territories may contact our home state SARA State Portal Entity (New York State Education Department) to file a complaint if resolution is not found within the institution. However, students cannot file complaints relating to grades or student conduct violations.
Information can be found on our website at:
www.excelsior.edu/about/transparency/state-authorization-reciprocity-agreement-sara-disclosures/.