Complaint Process

Academic Complaints

The Dean of Nursing and Health Sciences and Program Chair/Directors are committed to high quality programs at the College. The Dean and Program Chair/Directors are open to hearing complaints concerning faculty or curricular matters.

If a student has a complaint concerning faculty, they should first consult with the faculty member involved. If the student continues to have a concern, they should put that concern in writing and deliver it to the academic secretary who will set up an appointment with the Dean. If the student has a complaint regarding curricular matters, they should first consult with the faculty member involved. If the student continues to have a concern, they should put that concern in writing and deliver it to their Program Chair/Director, who will set up a time to meet with them to discuss the concerns. These complaints will be addressed by the Program Chair/Directors in consultation with or referral to the appropriate Department Director or Dean.

Complaints will remain confidential and only be shared on a need-to-know basis. A written record of formal complaints and their resolution is reported by the Program Chair/Directors annually to the Dean of Nursing and Health Sciences. Any decisions made in response to a complaint will be final.

Student Services Complaints

Complaints that pertain to admissions, post-secondary enrollment, career development, student organizations and activities should be referred to the Director of Student Services. The student should first consult with the person involved, and if a resolution is not satisfactory, they should put the concern in writing and deliver it to the Student Services Specialist who will set up an appointment with the Director of Student Services. The complaint will remain confidential and only be shared on a need-to-know basis. Any decisions made in response to a complaint will be final.

Business Services Complaints

Complaints that pertain to financial aid or business services should be referred to the Director of Business Services. The student should first consult with the person involved, and if a resolution is not satisfactory, they should put the concern in writing and deliver it to the Student Services Specialist who will set up an appointment with the Director of Business Services. The complaint will remain confidential and only be shared on a need-to-know basis. Any decisions made in response to a complaint will be final.

Illinois Board of Higher Education

If you feel your issue is still unresolved after following the Fair Treatment Policy or Complaint procedures you can register an official complaint with the Illinois Board of Higher Education at http://complaints.ibhe.org/.

State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) complaint process:

Trinity College of Nursing & Health Sciences is approved for participation in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) initiative. SARA is a voluntary agreement establishing expectations for distance and online education. It is intended to allow students to reside in a SARA member state (currently that includes 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and complete online courses provided by the college.

Students who are considering an online program that leads to professional licensure should contact the licensing agency in the State where they plan to practice. SARA does not provide reciprocity for professional licensing.

If a student located in a SARA state has a complaint about Trinity College of Nursing & Health Sciences, students should follow the process as outlined below:

• (a) Complaints against an institution operating under SARA policies go first through the institution’s own procedures for resolution of grievances. Allegations of criminal offenses or alleged violations of a state’s general-purpose laws may be made directly to the relevant state agencies.
• (b) Complaints regarding student grades or student conduct violations are governed entirely by institutional policy and the laws of the SARA institution’s home state. NC-SARA | National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements | SARA Policy Manual 24.2 33
• (c) If a person bringing a complaint is not satisfied with the outcome of the institutional process for handling complaints, the complaint (except for complaints about grades or student conduct violations) may be appealed, within two years of the incident about which the complaint is made, to the SARA State Portal Entity in the home state of the institution against which the complaint has been lodged. That SARA State Portal Entity shall notify the SARA State Portal Entity of the state in which the student is located of receipt of that appealed complaint. The resolution of the complaint by the institution’s home state SARA State Portal Entity, through its SARA complaint resolution process, will be final, except for complaints that fall under the provision “g” below.
• (d) While the final resolution of the complaint rests with the SARA State Portal Entity in the home state of the institution against which the complaint has been lodged, the SARA State Portal Entity in the complainant’s location state may assist as needed. The final disposition of a complaint resolved by the home state shall be communicated to the SARA State Portal Entity in the state where the student lived at the time of the incident leading to the complaint, if known.
• (e) While final resolution of complaints (for purposes of adjudication of the complaint and enforcement of any resultant remedies or redress) resides in certain cases with institutions (complaints about grades or student conduct violations), or more generally with the relevant institution’s home state SARA State Portal Entity (all other complaints), the regional compact(s) administering SARA may consider a disputed complaint as a “case file” if concerns are raised against a SARA member state with regard to whether that state is abiding by SARA policies, as promulgated in the SARA Policy Manual. The regional compact may review such institutional concerns in determining whether a state under its SARA purview is abiding by SARA policies. Similarly, a complaint “case file” may also be reviewed by NC-SARA in considering whether a regional compact is ensuring that its SARA member states are abiding by the SARA policies required for their membership in SARA.
• (f) SARA State Portal Entities shall report quarterly to NC-SARA the number and disposition of appealed complaints that are not resolved at the institutional level. NC-SARA shall make that information publicly available on its website. Such data will create transparency and can be used in determining whether a regional compact is ensuring that its SARA member states and those states’ institutions are abiding by the policies required for state membership and institutional participation in SARA.
• (g) Nothing in the SARA Policy Manual precludes a state from using its laws of general application to pursue action against an institution that violates those laws.

• For more information, visit the NC-SARA website at https://www.nc-sara.org/