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Letter from Vice-Chancellor
Dear Student
At the Ulster University we are committed to providing all our students with a high quality educational experience which is fully supported by a range of academic and personal support services.
Securing feedback from our students on their experience of university life is an integral part of the University’s approach to the development and enhancement of the quality of all aspects of our services. This is achieved by a variety of means, including student participation in staff/student consultative committees, the use of student questionnaires and the National Student Survey. All these arrangements are designed to provide opportunities for students to comment on aspects of their university experience which they particularly enjoyed and to identify problems or make suggestions for improvement.
In addition, we believe it is important that our students should feel able to express dissatisfaction about any aspect of the services we provide or about the actions or lack of action by our staff. This student complaints procedure seeks to provide an accessible, fair and straightforward system which enables students to raise concerns and which ensures an effective, timely and appropriate response. No student will be disadvantaged because he or she has made a complaint in good faith.
The Student Complaints procedure aims to:
- Be easily accessible
- Allow speedy handling, with established time limits for action;
- Ensure a full and fair investigation;
- Respect students’ desire for confidentiality;
- Address all the points at issue, and provide an effective response and appropriate redress;
- Provide information to management so that services can be improved.
I hope you will find little to complain about during your time with us but if you do bring concerns to our attention you can be sure that they will be treated seriously and every effort made to ensure their satisfactory resolution.
Yours sincerely
Professor Paul Bartholomew
Vice-Chancellor
Scope of the Procedure
To use the Student Complaints Procedure you must be a current student or recent graduate of the University. You can use the Procedure for 2 months after your award has been conferred or 2 months after your exit from the University.
The Procedure can be used to complain about:
- Any service or facility provided by the University. This includes academic services such as teaching facilities or resources. Other examples may include IT support or building maintenance.
- Action or inaction taken by the University. This includes administrative decisions.
Please note that you cannot use the Procedure to complain about academic judgement or grades.
The Procedure also does not cover the following categories of complaint: -
- Grievances relating to personal harassment or discrimination on sexual, religious, racial or other grounds
- Requests for reviews of academic decisions
- Complaints relating to the Students' Union
- Appeals against decisions taken under disciplinary proceedings
- Complaints about businesses operating on University premises but not owned by the University.
Separate procedures exist to cover these categories of complaint- please look at the Complaint Procedure to help with these issues.
For complaints about processes relating to application and admission, please contact the Admissions Team.
Advice
You may wish to seek advice prior to making a complaint. For advice and assistance please contact QA Higher Education’s Student Advice & Support Centre. You can find contact information here. Student Advice & Support Centre |
You have the right to be accompanied by a member of the University Community, such as a lecturer or a fellow student, at all stages of the complaint process.
Procedure
Ulster University aims to resolve complaints quickly, and appropriately, as early in the process as possible. You should always raise your complaint with staff at QA in the first instance. You can do this by emailing QAHE.Complaints@qa.com.
This will provide QAHE the opportunity to resolve your concerns at a local level.
You can make a complaint as an individual student or as a group of students.
If you remain unhappy following the response from QAHE, you can then submit a complaint to Ulster University. You must submit this complaint within 10 working days after receiving the response from QAHE. You do this by completing the S1CF .
Stage 1 deals with two types of complaint
- those that have not been resolved at early resolution with QAHE; or
- those that are more complex and require more detailed investigation and consideration.
If you wish to make a Stage 1 complaint please complete the S1CF Complaint Form, which will help you to state your complaint clearly. This will automatically go to the Student Academic Affairs Team, who will initiate an investigation and liaise with the faculty/department to investigate your complaint.
Please be aware that the complaint form and any supporting documents that you may want to provide will be seen by the person investigating your complaint, and potentially by anyone named in the complaint/relevant staff in the department (s) being complained about.
At Stage 1 we will:
- Acknowledge receipt of your complaint within three (3) working days of receipt of the S1CF form.
- Engage with you, where appropriate, to clarify your complaint; understand why you remain dissatisfied following early resolution and confirm the outcome you are seeking.
and
- Provide a full written response to your complaint, normally within 15 working days. The timeframe for investigation will begin once the issues of complaint have been established and the scope of the complaint has been determined. If the investigation requires more time, we will inform you of the reasons for the delay, agree a revised timeframe, and keep you updated on progress.
If you are still dissatisfied with outcome of the investigation you can ask to have your complaint heard by a student complaints panel. To escalate your complaint to Stage 2, you must complete and submit the S2CF form within 10 working days of receiving the outcome of your Stage 1 complaint.
The panel will normally meet within twenty (20) working days of receipt of your complaint form. If it is likely to take longer than 20 working days we will tell you and agree a revised timeframe with you.
The panel will consist of:
- a lay member of the University Council (who will normally Chair the panel)
- a Dean (Executive or Associate) of a Faculty not involved in the complaint,
- a Head of an Administrative/Non-Academic Department (Professional Services) not involved in the complaint and
- the President of the Students Union or their nominee.
The panel will want to meet with you and the other parties involved in complaint separately. You will have the right to be accompanied to this meeting by a member of the University (a fellow student, staff member, Student Wellbeing or Students Union Advice Team member). The panel will have available to it all documentation relating to the complaint.
The conclusions of the panel will be communicated to you in writing, by SAAT, normally within ten (10) working days of its meeting.
Confidentiality
As far as is practicable confidentiality shall be preserved in the investigation of a complaint. Such an approach is in the interests of both the student making the complaint and those about whom the complaint is being made.
Please note, in support of this approach, no meeting or call that is part of this investigation, panel or complaints process, may be recorded using audio or video methods. Unauthorised filming or recording by a student is covered under the Student Conduct Ordinance as misconduct, and may incur disciplinary measures.
Further Information
For any information regarding Ulster University’s Complaint Procedure please email the Student Academic Affairs Team (SAAT) or call 028 7012 3838.
Categories dealt with through other procedures
Complaint about an academic decision (taught courses)
In certain circumstances you may request that the decision relating to academic progress taken by a Board of a Faculty or a Board of examiners be reviewed.
Full details of the review of decisions procedures are available in the Student Guide.
Complaints relating to sexual, racial or religious harassment or discrimination
If you consider that you have been subject to harassment on the grounds of religious beliefs, political opinion, gender, marital status, having or not having dependants, sexual orientation, disability, race, ethnic origin or age you should consult the University's Policy and Procedures on dealing with Bullying and Harassment (Dignity at Work).
This summarises the University's policy in this area, lists people and organisations from whom you can seek advice and support and indicates how you can pursue any complaint of this nature.
