Student Complaints Related to ABA Compliance

As an ABA-accredited law school, the School is subject to the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools.  Under ABA Standard 512, any student at the School of Law may bring a formal complaint to the Law School administration “of a significant problem that directly implicates the school’s program of legal education and its compliance with the ABA Standards.” 

Students seeking to file a formal complaint related to the program of legal education and compliance with the ABA Standards shall do the following:

  1. Submit the complaint in writing to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.  The complaint may be made by email, U.S. mail, or personal delivery.  The complaint must be signed.
  2. Describe in detail the behavior, program, process or other matter that is the subject of the complaint, and explain how the matter implicates the law school’s program of legal education and compliance with specific ABA Standard(s).
  3. Provide the name, official School of Law email address, and street address of the complaining student for further communication about the complaint.

When the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs receives a student complaint, the following procedures will be followed:

  1. The Associate Dean will acknowledge receipt of the complaint in writing within 10 business days.  Acknowledgement may be made by email, U.S. mail, or personal delivery.
  2. Within two weeks of acknowledgement of the complaint, the Associate Dean, or his or her designee, will provide a written response to the substance of the complaint or informing the student that additional investigation is needed.  If further investigation is needed, the student will be provided with information about what steps are being taken to investigate the complaint and an estimated date for the completion of the investigation by the School of Law.  The written response to the complaint will specify what steps are being taken to address the complaint.
  3. After the student receives the written response to the complaint, a dissatisfied student may appeal the resolution of the complaint to the Dean of the School of Law.  Any decision made on appeal by the Dean shall be final. 
  4. A copy of the complaint and a summary of the process and resolution of the complaint shall be kept in the office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for a period of eight years from the date of final resolution of the complaint.