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Report a concern

A page within Access, Belonging & Student Engagement

Types of concerns

Discrimination

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or other protected status. Employees are encouraged to use established grievance procedures when problems or complaints arise in work-related situations.

Faculty and Academic Staff who believe they have been discriminated against, on the basis of the factors mentioned above, by the University or members of the University community are encouraged to set up a private meeting with Emily Roraff, Interim Director of Human Resources, at 785-8504.  You may file a formal complaint or pursue informal dispute resolution options. University policy prohibits retaliation against individuals who exercise their rights under these policies.

Discrimination Policies and Forms

Sexual Harassment or Assault

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse prohibits sexual harassment, sexual assault, and other forms of sexual misconduct. These forms of discriminatory conduct are also prohibited by Title IX. For more information, see the UWL Sexual Misconduct web page. 

  • Sexual assault is any sexual contact without consent. That includes incidents involving the use of force, the threat of force, coercion, and/or intoxication. The University encourages victims to seek immediate help and to report the incident  through one of the several mechanisms outlined below. Your confidentiality can be maintained and the information might prevent other individuals from being victimized. Relevant policies and resources regarding sexual assault are provided by Violence Prevention and Civil Rights & Compliance. 
  • Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other physical conduct and expressive behavior of a sexual nature, either as a condition of employment or education, as a basis for academic or employment decisions, or as the cause of a hostile work environment. Relevant policies and resources regarding sexual harassment are provided by Civil Rights & Compliance.

Unfair or unequal treatment; employee misconduct

"A grievance is a personnel problem involving a faculty member's expressed feeling of unfair treatment or dissatisfaction with aspects of his/her working conditions within the university which are outside his/her control and which are not covered by other personnel rules. A grievance relates to such matters as academic freedom, salaries, promotions, assignment of teaching duties, assignment of space or other facilities, and unethical or improper action by administrators. In a grievance a faculty member claims substantial personal harm and seeks redress for himself or herself."

"A grievance is a personnel problem involving an appointee's expressed feeling of unfair treatment or dissatisfaction with aspects of his/her working conditions within the University which are outside his/her control. A grievance relates to such matters as salaries, promotions, assignments of duties, working conditions, and propriety of conduct claimed to harm the petitioner substantially whether the claim alleges unethical or improper action by colleagues or by administrator. A grievance is a matter other than one involving dismissal proceedings and other than a complaint proceeding involving (other) severe sanctions."

Biased / Hate language or conduct

"UWL views hate/bias incidents and all manifestations of prejudice and intolerance as contradictory to our mission as a university and a community, and as a threat to each individual's right to a safe living, learning and working environment. Because of this, the Bias Support & Education Team was formed to provide an outlet to share and appropriately address all such incidents, and ultimately better understand our campus climate."

Civility and bullying

At its most basic level, civility refers to showing others kindness, courtesy, and respect. Digging a little deeper, civility is about constantly being open to listen, to learn, to teach and to change.  It seeks common ground as a beginning point for dialogue when differences occur, while at the same time recognizing that differences enrich our campus.

Institutional Records for Student Complaints

Complaint Requirements

Only complaints sent through the linked form above will be accepted as Official Complaints. In the complaint, it will be necessary for the student to demonstrate that they have already attempted and not achieved resolution through other University procedures as documented in the Student Handbook.

Tracking Complaints

Official Complaints will be tracked by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs/Student Life Office which will note the nature of the complaint and the date it was first formally submitted, and then assign the complaint to the appropriate University authority for resolution. Once the outcome of the complaint has been determined, the assigned authority will submit a written summary to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and the Dean of Students including the following:

The steps taken to resolve the complaint:

  1. The University's final decision regarding the complaint, including referrals to outside agencies
  2. A list of any external entities contacted by the student to investigate the complaint, if known by the University (e.g. the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, attorneys, etc.)
Complaint Tracking System

The Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and the Dean of Students or an assigned designee in the Student Life Office will maintain and compile an Annual Report of Institutional Records for Student Complaints. The Annual Report will contain the following information:

  1. The total number of complaints received per administrative division (e.g. Academic Affairs, Administration and Finance, etc.)
  2. The types of complaints received by generic category (e.g. grade dispute, allegation of sexual harassment, etc.)
  3. The total number of complaints referred to external agencies for final resolution
  4. A summary record of each complaint received, the actions taken by the University, and any information concerning a referral to an external agency for final resolution

The Annual Report will be used to track only current and recent student complaints, not complaints made by parents, employees, etc., even if the complaint relates to a student.

Individual student identities and names will not be included in the Annual Report and will not be shared with any external entities (e.g. Higher Learning Commission).

Institutional Use of Complaint Tracking System
  1. The Annual Report will identify and summarize any trends/issues in student complaints and what the University learned from them.
  2. The Annual Report will be submitted to Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning for use in making data informed decisions.
  3. Upon request to the University's HLC Accreditation Liaison Officer, the Annual Reports will be made available to the Higher Learning Commission reviewers.

Incident reporting