Complaints for Distance Education Students
UM-Dearborn is fully committed to serving all students, whether participating in person or online
The University encourages students and prospective students to address complaints relating to the institution’s policies and consumer protection issues first with personnel in the office, department, school, or college that led to the complaint alleged. If needed, senior University administrators may also become involved to help resolve complaints.
- Complaints relating to online course technology or digital education support should be directed to the University Director of Digital Education. If the complaint is unresolved, the matter may be escalated to the relevant Associate Provost overseeing digital education.
- Complaints relating to harassment or discrimination, should be directed to the Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX Office.
- Complaints relating to the institution’s policies and consumer protection issues should be directed to leadership personnel in the office, department, or college where the complaint originated.
If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction after exhausting UM-Dearborn’s processes, your complaint may be eligible for external review by one or more agencies. These processes are detailed below. Please note that student complaints relating to student grades or student misconduct will not be heard by any of the following agencies. Such complaints may be reviewed through the established UM-Dearborn procedures. Allegations of fraud or other criminal misconduct against UM-Dearborn can always be heard by the attorney general or other designated entities in a student’s home state.
- Both Michigan residents and students located in a state or territory that has joined the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA), as indicated in the state list provided below (marked with an asterisk*), may submit a complaint to Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, which operates as Michigan’s SARA portal entity. Additional information regarding complaint eligibility can be found in the CSCL complaint form linked above and in the Consumer Protection section of the SARA Manual.
- Students not residing in Michigan or in another SARA state, or in-state students with complaints that do not fall within the scope of SARA, may instead contact the relevant agency in your home state for additional support. This contact information is provided for you below.
- Active military service members, veterans, and family members of military service members or veterans may be eligible to submit a complaint for review to the Department of Defense (DoD) by utilizing the Military OneSource Postsecondary Education Complaint System.
- UM-Dearborn is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Complaints concerning broad institutional academic practices, such as those that raise issues regarding ability to meet accreditation standards, may be filed with the Higher Learning Commission through their complaints page.