Complaint Process for Consumers

​Complaints pertaining to the accreditation of the AAMU Communicative Sciences and Disorders program may be addressed to the:

UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC APPEALS PROCESS:

The Academic Appeals Process developed for students at Alabama A&M University is detailed in the Student Handbook on pages 31-33. 

Quoting from the text, “The academic appeal is a formal procedure designed to provide students with an optional avenue for review.  Students and faculty members are encouraged to handle issues of academic concern through informal discussion with the appropriate individual (student, faculty, advisor, department chairperson, and/or dean).  If informal procedures fail to resolve the issue(s), students may pursue a formal appeal.  The following steps describe the appeal process:

A. Appeals must originate from the student in written form and must be processed through the department chair, dean of the School, and to the Office of Academic Affairs, in that order.

B. The appeal may be handled as final at any level, with the consent of the applicant student, with a copy of the decision forwarded to the Office of Academic Affairs.

C. If the appeal reaches the Office of Academic Affairs without resolution, the request may be handled within the Office of Academic Affairs or it may be sent to the Academic Appeals Committee.

D. The Academic Appeals Committee shall complete an assessment of the issue(s) through a hearing, (2) individual interviews, (3) acquisitions and review of pertinent data, or other means as deemed appropriate by the Committee.

E. The Academic Appeals Committee shall formulate recommendations based on the results of the assessment.  The recommendations shall be forwarded to the Vice President for Academic Affairs for final disposition.

PROGRAM ACADEMIC APPEALS PROCESS:

The Communicative Sciences and Disorders Program follows the appeals process outlined in the Student Handbook, but adds the following formal procedures which can be found in the AAMU CSD Policies and Procedures Handbook and on the CSD website:

1. Student is asked to write a statement of the grievance and submit the statement to the faculty member involved and/or to the CSD Faculty Coordinator for review.  The faculty member and/or Coordinator will respond to the statement in letter form within a reasonable amount of time.

2. If the issue is not resolved to the student’s satisfaction, the student may submit the statement to the Chair of the Department of Counseling/Psychology, Special Education and Communicative Sciences and Disorders.  The Chair will respond to the statement of grievance within a reasonable amount of time.

3. The student may submit a formal complaint to the Dean of the School of Education if he/she is still dissatisfied with the outcome of the aforementioned procedures.  The Dean will review the grievance and the proceedings, meet with the student and the faculty/coordinator and Chair, and make decide the matter.