Forming a Complaints Committee

The following article links into the Student Groups' Disciplinary Procedures and outlines how to deal with more formal complaints on a Student Group level. 

Support 

Dealing with complaints can be difficult for everyone involved and it is important to make sure all sides feel heard and everyone involved knows of the support available. 

The Student Groups team at the SU are available to provide advice and support to all involved in the process; the Advice and Support Centre is there for practical help and support if there are any effects on the studies or housing of students involved and the University's Support and Wellbeing Service is available for general support with students’ mental health and wellbeing. 

Fundamentals

There are some fundamental points that need to be considered when dealing with any level of complaint, in the interest of fairness and to respect the rights of all parties:

• Confidentiality - Confidentiality is essential. The Complaints Committee must not discuss any disciplinary process more widely at any stage, including once it is complete.  
• Transparency - Transparency must be respected at all times. This means that the member who is the subject of a complaint must be presented with all available evidence and given the chance to answer all accusations.  
• Impartiality - This means that any committee member taking part in an investigation or disciplinary action must not be directly involved in the incident or behaviour and must have no conflict of interest (e.g. being a housemate/partner of anyone involved). 

Process

The following stages are the process to follow if a complaint is received by the Student Groups' committee:

1. Form a Complaints Committee

Your first step would be to form the Complaints Committee. The Complaints committee needs to be made up of the following roles:

• President - to chair the meeting.
• Secretary - to clerk and minute the meeting.
• One other committee member - to ensure any decisions and votes are unanimous.

In extreme circumstances, these roles can be swapped out (for example, there may be a Conflict of Interest and a committee members(s) may be involved with the incident) but please refer to your Student Groups Constitution or contact [email protected] for further guidance.

At this - and all – stages, the minimum number of people should be informed in the interest of confidentiality. So unless someone needs to know about the complaint, they should not be told (an example of this would be if Student A had complained about the behaviour of Student B towards them on a social, the Social Sec might need to be informed if there are other imminent socials planned).

2. Consider the Complaint

Secondly, the committee will deliberate the matter and consider if it is appropriate for the Complaints Committee to deal with or if it needs to be escalated to the Students' Union, or deescalated if no formal action is required. Again, if in doubt, please direct any queries to [email protected] and we'll be happy to guide you through the process and offer advice! 

3. Investigate the Complaint

Then the Complaints Committee must investigate the matter. The committee should start by speaking to the member who has submitted the complaint to clarify the details and ask any follow up questions. If the member refers to other members as potential witnesses, the Complaints Committee should also contact them to see if they are prepared to give a statement. In the case of both the member who raises the complaint and any witnesses, the Complaints Committee must obtain permission to share their evidence should the outcome be a disciplinary hearing. (Only in very exceptional circumstances can the evidence be submitted anonymously). 

It is important for the complaint to be substantiated, so please ensure you are able to correlate the evidence provided, to particular governing documents for the Student Group, for instance, the Constitution, Code of Conduct or any other rules, or codes of Practice set by the Student Group or Students' Union. 

At this stage, the Committee may choose to resolve the issue informally, and close the matter or take further action.

4. Contact the member who is the subject of the complaint

The committee must then contact the member in question for the complaint, explain that a complaint has been received and investigated, and invite them in to a meeting to discuss. Full details of the investigation report including particular points of any governing documents the member may have violated, should be included and the member should be given a deadline to respond. If no response is received, the hearing will go ahead in the members absence.

5. Complaints Committee hearing

At the hearing, which will be chaired by the President, the Complaints Committee should summarise the allegations and evidence and allow the member in question to respond. The Complaints Committee may ask questions of the member in question.

6. Deliberating their decision

The member in question will then leave the hearing, and the Complaints Committee will deliberate and reach a decision. This decision should then be communicated to the member with a deadline to appeal.

7. Appealing the decision

If no appeal is received by the deadline, that is the end of the process. Confidentiality must still be maintained at all times.

If they wish to appeal, the member should contact the relevant Union Officer (Societies & Services or Sports Officer) and [email protected] who will arrange for the appeal to be considered by the Union's Student Groups Disciplinary Procedures. 

Dealing with Complaints on a Student Group level can seem like a difficult and daunting task, so at any point please seek advice from the Student Groups team in the Students' Union. We'd be happy to guide you through the process, to ensure that all steps are taken correctly!