Additional Process for Resolving Complaints Involving Students from Outside MN

Process for Resolving Complaints Involving Students from State other than MN

• Students who attend the Adler Graduate School but live in another state have access to an additional source for resolving complaints through the State Authorized Reciprocity Agreement
• Complaints against an institution operating under SARA go first through the institution’s own procedures for resolution of grievances (please see http://alfredadler.smartcatalogiq.com/2020-2021/2020-2021-Catalog-Student-Handbook/All-School-Policies-Academic-Student/Academic-Appeals-and-Grievance-Policy
• Complaints regarding student grades or student conduct violations are governed entirely by institutional policy and the laws of the SARA institution’s home state.
• If a person bringing a complaint is not satisfied with the outcome of the institutional process for handling complaints, the complaint (except for complaints about grades or student conduct violations) may be appealed, within two years of the incident about which the complaint is made, to the SARA portal entity in the home state of the institution against which the complaint has been lodged (Betsy.Talbot@state.mn.us, MN Office of Higher Education). The resolution of the complaint by the institution’s home state
• While the final resolution of the complaint rests with the SARA portal entity in the home state of the institution against which the complaint has been lodged, the portal entity in the complainant’s location state may assist as needed. The final disposition of a complaint resolved by the Home State shall be communicated to the portal entity in the state where the student lived at the time of the incident leading to the complaint, if known to the institution’s Home State.
• While final resolution of complaints (for purposes of adjudication of the complaint and enforcement of any resultant remedies or redress) resides in certain cases with institutions (complaints about grades or student conduct violations), or more generally with the relevant institution’s home state SARA portal entity (all other complaints), the regional compact(s) administering SARA may consider a disputed complaint as a “case file” if concerns are raised against a participating state with regard to whether that state is abiding by SARA Policies and Standards. The regional compact may review such complaints in determining whether a state under its purview is abiding by the SARA standards. Similarly, a complaint “case file” may also be reviewed by NC-SARA in considering whether a regional compact is ensuring that its member states are abiding by the SARA standards required for their participation in the agreement.
• Nothing in SARA Policies and Standards precludes a state from using its laws of general application to pursue action against an institution that violates those laws.

If you have questions about this process, please contact the principal SARA contact for AGS, Jeffrey Allen, President, at jeffrey.allen@alfredadler.edu.