Graduate Student Code of Conduct and Grievance / Appeals Processes


Haas School of Business Grievance/Appeals Procedure


The purpose of this procedure is to permit students in the Haas School of Business to resolve complaints at the school level prior to filing complaints pursuant to the Berkeley Campus Student Grievance Procedure or the Graduate Appeals Procedure.

INFORMAL RESOLUTION PROCEDURES

    A student may pursue informal resolution of a complaint by scheduling a meeting with the appropriate Haas School Degree Program Director (Undergraduate, MBA, Evening/Weekend MBA, Berkeley-Columbia MBA, MFE or PhD) to discuss the complaint and explore possible avenues of resolution. Attempts to resolve a complaint informally should be completed within thirty days. At any point in this process, if a satisfactory solution cannot be reached, the student may initiate formal resolution by putting the complaint in writing.

  1. FORMAL RESOLUTION
    A written complaint must include information regarding the action being complained of and the date it occurred, the grounds upon which the complaint is based, and the relief requested. A written complaint must be received by the Haas School’s Associate Dean of Instruction within thirty days from the time the student knew or could reasonably be expected to have known of the action that is the subject of the complaint. All time frames in this procedure refer to calendar days during the regular educational term of the program. Summer and inter-semester recesses are not included within these time frames (for programs that are off-cycle, and/or in which the regular schedule runs through the summer, please contact the program office for the correct schedule).

    The School will complete an investigation and notify the student in writing of the outcome of the complaint within sixty days of the date it was received. Generally, an investigation should include an interview with the student and other relevant witnesses and a review of any relevant documents related to the complaint.

  2. APPEAL
    If a student is not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint under this procedure, he or she may appeal by bringing a written complaint under the appropriate campus level procedure, depending on the subject of the complaint: the Berkeley Campus Student Grievance Procedure for matters unrelated to academics, financial aid or student conduct proceedings, or the Graduate Appeals Procedure for complaints regarding dismissal, probation status, denial of readmission, or joint authoring of research. Appeals to the campus procedures must be brought within fifteen days of the date of the written notification of the result of the Haas School procedure.

  3. COMPLAINTS INVOLVING DISCRIMINATION
    If the complaint involves allegations of discrimination or harassment on the basis of sex, race, national origin, color, age, religion, sexual orientation, or disability, the department may consult the appropriate campus compliance officers prior to commencing informal or formal resolution. The names and phone numbers of these individuals are listed in various campus publications and may be obtained from the Academic Compliance Office at (510) 642-2795.

  4. OTHER PROCEDURES INVOLVING DISCRIMINATION
    Students are encouraged to resolve their complaints at the School level. However, students may elect to take their complaint directly to campus complaint procedures. Such complaints may be filed within the time frames specified by those procedures.

    Students with complaints involving sexual harassment may file such complaints pursuant to the Campus Sexual Harassment Policy Complaint Resolution Procedure.

    Students may contact the Office of the Ombudsperson for Students at (510) 642-5754 for assistance with informal complaint resolution.