Student Complaint Process

Medgar Evers College of the City of New York participates in Federal student aid programs that are authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Participating institutions must be legally authorized to operate with the state in which it is located. Title 34 CFR §600.9 requires states to have a “process to review and appropriately act on complaints concerning the institution including enforcing applicable State laws.” Title 34 CFR §668.43(b) requires that institutions:

“make available for review to any enrolled or prospective student upon request, a copy of the documents describing the institution’s accreditation and its State, Federal, or tribal approval or licensing. The institution must also provide its students or prospective students with contact information for filing complaints with its accreditor and with its State approval or licensing entity and any other relevant State official or agency that would appropriately handle a student’s complaint.”

To comply with this regulation, Medgar Evers College provides the following information to our prospective and current students.

Medgar Evers College makes every effort to resolve student complaints internally, using policies and procedures outlined in the current College Catalog or Student Handbook. It is expected that students will fully utilize any and all of such administrative procedures to address concerns and/or complaints in as timely a manner as possible. For procedures regarding:

• Academic Grade Appeal: refer to the Academic Policies and the student grade appeal procedures available in the College Catalog.
• Student Conduct and Judicial Affairs: refer to the Student Conduct and Judicial Affairs website or College Catalog.
• Non-Academic (Grade) Complaints: Non-Academic (Grade) Complaints refers to incidents of unprofessional behavior and other complaints that are not of an academic grade concern.
• Americans with Disabilities Act: refer to the Office of Services for the Differently Abled.
• Harassment or Discrimination: refer to the handbook on Policies and Procedures on Nondiscrimination and Sexual Harassment.
• Affirmative Action: refer to Affirmative Action Policy.
• Title IX: refer to the Title IX Policy.
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): refer to the Student Handbook.
• Criminal Activity: Complaints involving matters of a criminal nature, such as assault, battery, and theft should be directed to the Office of Public Safety at (718) 270-6069.

In the unlikely event that an issue cannot be resolved by the College, students may file a complaint with New York State Education Department. This agency should be contacted only after the student has registered a complaint with the College and has not received a response to the request for resolution. Contact information for New York State is as follows:

New York State Education Department

Office of College and University Evaluation
89 Washington Avenue, Room 960 EBA, Albany, NY 12234
Telephone: (518) 474-1551
Email: ocueinfo@nysed.gov
https://www.nysed.gov/college-university-evaluation/complaints

Middle States Commission on Higher Education
1007 North Orange Street
4th Floor, MB #166
Wilmington, DE 19801
Telephone: (267) 284-5011
E-mail: info@msche.org

Unresolved complaints may also be filed with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the University’s regional accrediting agency, once all other avenues have been exhausted. The link above provides information on its complaint policies and procedures.