Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women

Autonomous, Chennai - 600018

STUDENT GRIEVANCE POLICY

Students’ Grievance Redressal mechanism has been devised in the Institution, in order to redress the grievances related to academics, administration, financial matters and other students related issues on an individual basis as well as collective grievances of the students.
(Any grievance/ complaint relating to sexual harassment will not be covered under these rule as there is a separate mechanism for addressing such matters (Ref: Sexual Harassment Committee.)
(Although the Anti-Ragging Committee is in place, the student may, if she so wish to bring the notice of the Committee any incident of ragging. These Committees shall ensure speedy action and protection of the student.)

Objective:

This policy pertains to the grievances/ issues regarding:

• -   The functioning of the College.
• -   Infrastructure.
• -   Learning facilities.
• -   Support systems.
• -   Grievances inside the classroom/ college or with individuals associated with the institutions which will be addressed with suitable redressal methods.

Process:

Grievance Redressal Process provides a friendly environment with available resources for students, develop cohesiveness among stakeholders, ensures safety within the campus to the students and other stakeholders and enhances the trust in the system of functioning in the organisation.

Constitution of the Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC):

The Grievance Redressal Committee comprises of three senior faculty members along with Student Counsellor. The Committee members should abide by the assigned role and responsibilities undersigned by the Superseding Authority. The tenure of Chairperson and Members of the Committee will be for three years or as per the discretion of the Superseding Authority it may remain for a minimum of one year to a maximum of five years.
The Committee shall deal with grievances received in writing on the following:

• -   Academic matters – Issues related to Internal Assessment marks, Grade Cards and other Internal
• -   Examination related matters, Transfer Certificate, etc.
• -   Individual matters – student-student, student-faculty issues.
• -   Financial matters – relating to dues and payments.
• -   Administration matters – infrastructure related, food, sanitation, etc.

Periodicity and Attendance of the meeting:

The Committee members will met as and when required. At least three members of the Grievance Redressal Committee should be present to address the grievance to avoid biased decisions. The discussion with the Chairperson is essential in case of urgent and risk involved grievances. If the registered grievances are very meagre or nil then it will be recorded in a meeting with the Chairperson.

Grievance/ Processing Procedure:

An aggrieved student shall first submit her complaint in writing to her mentor who shall resolve the grievance within two days.
The written grievance received by the mentor shall be resolved within two days. She would forward to the Head of the Department or to GRC if the mentor is not able to resolve the matter.

If the grievance is relatively minor/ less risk involved, the Grievance Redressal Cell members should have a discussion with the complainant to see if it can be resolved informally.

If the grievance is related to organisational functioning, then it should be resolved/ discussed in the meeting along with the Principal to get appropriate suggestions to redress the issue.
After analysing the case represented, GRC will take a decision regarding the plan of action and resolved the issue.

Appeal:

If the decision of the GRC Committee is not satisfactory, then the matter/ case may be put up to the Appeal Committee for reconsidering and reviewing the same within 15 working days.

Procedure for filing the formal complaint/ grievance:

1. Any student of Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women may file grievances.
2. Grievances should to be brought to notice of the Grievance Redressal Committee.
3. Grievance/ Complaint may be oral, by email or dropped in the grievance box in writing. If the grievance/ complaint is oral, it will be converted into a written form by the GRC member who received the complaint and authenticated by the complainant with her signature as soon as possible.
4. Upon the receipt of complaint by any member of GRC, she should forward it to the Redressal Procedure for filing a complaint/ grievance without revealing identity; if the complainant does not like to reveal her name for any grievance, then the individual can drop the grievance(s) in the drop box placed outside the Library.