All offices and academic departments at Longwood are required by Longwood University Policy 3411 to keep a record of received written student complaints which must include: the date the complaint was received, the type of complaint, a brief description of the complaint, the date of the resolution, a brief description of the resolution, a notation if the complaint was forwarded to another department, and any external action taken.

A complaint is defined as an expression of dissatisfaction or formal allegation against the university, its employees, faculty, or students. A request for decision-making is not a complaint, nor is a request for reexamination of a decision. Complaints covered by this policy include those directly addressing some element of Longwood’s mission. Examples include, but are not limited to, grade appeals and complaints concerning curriculum, discrimination, sexual harassment, class scheduling, teaching, registration, academic and student support services, financial aid and faculty. Complaints not covered in this policy include: academic petitions, satisfactory academic progress appeals, suspension appeals, graduate student termination appeals, residency appeals, tuition surcharge complaints, tuition appeals, parking appeals, and complaints about food service and informal complaints (i.e., those not received in writing).

A student is defined as a currently enrolled person who is receiving instruction at the university, including part-time, full-time, online, for credit, not for credit, undergraduate, graduate, or continuing education.

Written complaints include letters and emails sent from a university account. All complaints must include the student’s signature (or name in the case of email submission) and contact information so the university may respond and/or notify the student of the status of the complaint. Complaints submitted by parents or employees of the university on behalf of a student, are not to be included within this log.