Records of student grievances regarding a decision of a University authority, or the action of a faculty member or staff member.
This records class is a Personal Information Bank.
Responsible Unit | Information Steward | Information Confidentiality Classification | Retention | Disposition | Authority | Retention Rationale | Other Units with Copies | Version Information
Content & Scope
"The fundamental criterion for initiating a grievance is that a student believes that a decision of a University authority or the action of a faculty member or staff member of the University affecting some aspect of his/her University life has been unfair or unreasonable" (Policy 70). Grievances include issues regarding perceived unfair assessment of academic work, including graduate theses, methods of evaluation, or course content, or issues regarding perceived unfair decisions in non-academic settings.
The records include informal statements and responses; copies of examinations and other academic work; notices of challenge (Form 70B), notices of reassessment challenge (Form 70C), and reports of grievance decision (Form 70D); supporting documents and related correspondence.
An anonymized summary of cases is prepared by the Secretariat and posted on the University's website.
Responsible Unit
- Associate Deans.
- Secretariat.
- Academic support units.
Information Steward
- University Secretary, for anonymized summaries of cases.
- Dean of the relevant faculty, or the relevant information steward for the functional area of administration (consult the directory of information stewards for more information), for all other records.
Information Confidentiality Classification
- Public: anonymized summaries of cases.
- Restricted: all other records.
Retention
- Decisions: retained by Associate Deans for 20 years after the decision is rendered.
- Case file materials: retained by the decision maker for 3 years after the decision is rendered.
- Anonymized summaries of grievance decisions: retained permanently by the Secretariat.
Disposition
Secure Destruction.
Note
Responsible Units should document the disposal/destruction of official records using the University records destruction form or equivalent documentation, to verify that we are following our records retention rules.
Authority
- University of Waterloo Act, 1972.
- Policy 70 – Student Petitions and Grievances.
Retention Rationale
The retention period is based on operational use.
Other Units with Copies
- Registrar's Office.
- Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs.
- Co-operative and Experiential Education.
- Other units involved in the case.
Retention of Copies
Up to 1 year after any necessary action on the case has been taken.
Disposition of Copies
Secure Destruction.
Approval Date
26 July 2010