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Graduate Student Resources

OHS Academic Grievance process

The Department of Oral Health Sciences (OHS) graduate program’s academic grievance process is available for students to address academic complaints or issues, including, but not limited to  academic progress policy, fair treatment, etc.

The academic grievance process does not include issues handled under other policies such as grade disputes, discrimination and conduct violations that do not overlap with student academic progress.

Within three months of the incident, students must either: 1) initiate an informal request for conciliation or 2) file a formal complaint.  Students are encouraged to open the conversation in writing to provide a timestamp.

Informal process

  1. Students are first encouraged to attempt, in good faith, to resolve any grievance with the member(s) 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.
    • 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. 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 Ombud may be called upon to intervene at any stage of grievance procedures.
  2. If direct communications at Step 1 are not successful in resolving the issue, the student should contact the Graduate Program Director or Graduate Program Advisor 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 in an informal way.
  3. If direct communications at Step 1 are not successful in resolving the issue, the student should also contact the OHS Department Chair about the issue. This step represents the effort of an additional third party to examine the situation with some degree of objectivity and attempt to resolve the issue in an informal way.
  4. If the issue cannot be resolved at the department level with the chair, the problem may be referred to the UWSOD Assistant Dean for Student Success to serve in a mediating capacity.
    • Graduate students may choose to request assistance in the informal process from the Graduate School pursuant to Policy 3.8.
  5. If all efforts at informal resolution of the problem prove to be unsuccessful, the next step involves filing a formal written grievance complaint. Review the information below for the separate processes for graduate and non-graduate (undergraduate, non-matriculated, etc.) students.

Formal process

  1. A student who has not had their issue resolved through the informal process can open a formal grievance procedure by submitting a written complaint to the UW School of Dentistry Dean. Upon receipt of the written complaint, the UWSOD Dean (or their designee) refers the matter to the SOD Graduate, Residency and Specialty Programs Committee, appointed by the Dean, which consists of all graduate program directors and one student member from the OHS department. The chairperson of the committee shall be a faculty member appointed by the Dean. It shall be the responsibility of the committee to provide students with a fair and impartial hearing regarding the filed grievance.
    • The student member of the committee will be a student leader/representative.
      (If the student leader is not available, an alternative student will be appointed by the Graduate Program Director.)
    • The student member of the committee will only be present during an appeal process.
  2. The UWSOD Dean (or their designee) shall notify all people 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.
  3. 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.
  4. All hearings must be conducted in closed session; however, by mutual agreement of the student and the faculty or staff concerned, the hearing may be opened to the public to the extent mutually agreed.
  5. All documentation for 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.
  6. Within 10 school days after the adjournment of the hearing, the committee shall present to the Dean (or their designee), with copies to 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.
  7. Within 10 school days after receipt of the committee report, the UWSOD Dean (or their designee) shall issue a 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.
  8. The decision of the Dean (or their designee) shall become final at the close of 21 days after issuance.

Appeals process

Within 15 business days of the conclusion of the school or college-level grievance procedure (receipt of the decision letter), a graduate student may file an appeal with the UWSOD Dean alleging a lack of procedural uniformity in the unit’s application of their grievance procedure. Refer to Policy 3.8 for more information regarding the appeals process