Academic Affairs

Office of the Provost

Complaint Procedures

VCU’s Student Code of Conduct Policy stipulates that the term “student” includes all persons taking courses through VCU, either full-time or part-time, online or in-person, single or dual-enrolled, pursuing undergraduate, graduate or professional studies.

Students who have a complaint related to an online course or program should take the following steps:

  1. Based on the nature of the complaint, follow the student complaint resolution process for the applicable policy in the VCU Policy Library.
  2. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) retains oversight to coordinate the resolution of complaints from students enrolled under the auspices of the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). For complaints against the university or its officials that remain unresolved after following all applicable university processes, students may follow the SCHEV complaint process and contact them at (804) 225-2600. Please note that complaints about grades or conduct may not be appealed to SCHEV.

Note: Students living outside of Virginia in a SARA member state should follow the complaint resolution process outlined in Steps 1 and 2 above. Additionally, students can file a complaint using the out-of-state complaint information. They may also review and follow SARA's complaint resolution policies and procedures by visiting the official SARA Student Complaints website.

NON-SARA STATE COMPLAINTS

After exhausting internal avenues, students residing outside of Virginia in non-SARA member states or territories may file a formal complaint with their home state authorizing agency by using the information below:

California:

The California complaint procedures are available on the Department of Consumer Affairs website. Students may contact them at (833) 942-1120 or dca@dca.ca.gov.

Territories:

The following U.S. territories are not participating in NC-SARA: American Samoa, Guam, Marshall Islands, Federal States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau. If you are located in one of these U.S. territories, you may use the out-of-state complaint information to file a complaint.