By Lydia Hansen
Editor-in-Chief
Lydia.Hansen1961@mb.rctc.edu
Ever been told to “save it for the Complaints Department?” only to realize that there isn’t one? It’s frustrating. But it doesn’t have to be. RCTC not only has a Complaints Department, but it’s also highly accessible.
RCTC has multiple procedures in place which allow individuals to express any suggestions or concerns they have about issues relating to the college.
Informal complaints can be filed electronically through the RCTC website at www.rctc.edu/studentaffairs/complaint-procedure.html. Contact information for the individual expressing the complaint is required along with short answers to questions describing the issue, any steps taken to resolve it, and a proposed potential solution. Additionally, the form allows for the attachment of photos or video to provide further information in regards to the concern being expressed.
Jeanne Wilson
Submitted complaint forms are reviewed and discussed with the appropriate RCTC staff or faculty members and their supervisors. Jeanne Wilson, executive assistant to the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management directly supervises this process. Records of complaints are kept, which she says allows administration to track trends.
“We can document complaints and how they were resolved, so we can see if there’s a bigger issue involved,” Wilson explained. This allows for more targeted and effective solutions to be proposed.
Not interested in filing a complaint but still want to make a comment and have it heard? Fill out a comment card online at http://www.rctc.edu/commentcard/. Submitted comments will be similarly reviewed and taken under consideration by the appropriate departments.
If the issue is not resolved through informal complaint procedures, RCTC policy 3.8 allows these issues to be advanced to a formal grievance procedure. Wilson explained that this procedure is for when a student feels a policy has been broken or violated in some way that the informal policy cannot resolve.
Any RCTC student has the right to seek remedy through the student grievance process. However, students are encouraged to settle disputes via the available informal means (complaints form or comment cards) before filing a formal grievance.
“We want our students to have a voice and feel that if they’ve been wronged, they can get a resolution,” Wilson said. “They might not always get the answer they’re looking for, but the point is to address the issue and hopefully make both sides happy.”