Notice of Non-Discrimination and Affirmative Action: Complaint, Grievance and Appeal Procedures

CCCOnline, and its partner colleges, are equal-opportunity educational institutions and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex or sexual orientation for programs, activities, or employment, in accordance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Educational Amendments, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. 

Complaint and Appeal Procedures 

If you have taken, or are currently taking, a CCCOnline course and have a complaint about your experience, want to appeal a grade, or experienced misconduct by a student or instructor you may file an online complaint form.  

 The complaint process 

  • Students will first be asked to resolve the issue with their instructor.  
  • If the student is unsuccessful at reaching a resolution with their instructor, the student should then file an online complaint form.  
  • The complaint form will be reviewed by the appropriate CCCOnline Program Chair, Associate Dean, and Academic Dean accordingly and in this order. 
  • If the student issue is not resolved at the Associate Dean level, then the CCCOnline Academic Dean will have the final decision.  
  • Due to FERPA guidelines (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), communication regarding your complaint can only be sent to your college issued email address. Check that account for a response regarding the resolution and/or next steps needed to resolve your complaint. 

For grade appeals 

  • Appeals for final course grades MUST be submitted through the CCCOnline Complaint form within 30 days of the last day of the course.  
  • Final course grades may only be appealed if the student can substantiate that the grade was arbitrary and capricious on the part of the instructor and/or if the instructor did not follow the course syllabus.  Specific information about the criteria for appeals may be found on the Course Grade Appeal Policy page.

For student misconduct issues 

  • At the jurisdiction of the CCCOnline Student Services Director and/or for repeated student misconduct offenses, the CCCOnline Student Services Director will contact the student’s home college to notify the appropriate person(s) of the student’s misconduct. 

 Grievances 

What is a Grievance? 

A grievance is any alleged action that violates written college policies, state laws, or federal laws, is arbitrary or capricious, or is discriminatory in regards to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. Matters that cannot be grieved include those matters in which the college is without authority to act, academic decisions (unless there is an allegation the decision was influenced by discrimination), and disciplinary actions.  

 How to file a Grievance 

Out of State Grievances 

If you are residing outside of Colorado while taking a CCCOnline course, you may be able to file a grievance in your state. Visit wcetsan.wiche.edu for a list of agencies where complaints may be filed in each U.S. state. 

Note that most external grievance processes require the student to exhaust all avenues of complaint internal to the institution before a grievance will be considered. 

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