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The Student Success Office encourages students to be familiar with the current policies and appeal processes of West Coast Baptist College. We understand that knowing all this information can seem overwhelming, which is why we recommend students first contact the Student Success Office with any questions or concerns.

West Coast Baptist College has developed a formal student complaint process to ensure it receives, considers, and attempts to fully resolve all formal student concerns and complaints in a timely manner. When a student has exhausted all normal channels for expressing a concern informally, s/he can file an official complaint by submitting this form. Only content submitted on a Student Complaint Form will be considered an official complaint.

It is important to note that academic grievances cannot be filed through an official complaint but must be submitted through the academic grievances process outlined in the Student Handbook.

Official Policy for Formal Student Complaints

It is the policy of the College that all current and previous West Coast Baptist College students may submit a formal complaint for consideration at any time, that every complaint must be carefully reviewed by the relevant parties in a reasonable time frame, that the Administration will seek in good faith a full resolution of each complaint, and that all records relating to the complaint - including but not necessarily limited to the original complaint and all records documenting the investigation and attempts for resolution - will be passed to, archived, and maintained for at least five years by the Assistant to the President. A clear and thorough explanation of the formal complaint process will be included in the Student Handbook. Any complaint regarding an academic matter will be documented as received and filed, but the complaint will be handled according to the process outlined in the Academic Grievances section of the Student Handbook.

General Complaint Information

The College will take all reasonable steps to ensure the confidentiality of all complaint proceedings and the records produced therefrom. However, should any matter develop during the course of the complaint process become public knowledge, the College reserves the right to issue appropriate statements.

Only complaints submitted in writing through a Student Complaint Form will be considered formal complaints. Complaints submitted through any other forum will not be considered to be formal complaints.

It is the expectation of the College that the below process should bring a satisfactory resolution to the vast majority of formal student complaints within an average of thirty or fewer days.

Procedure for Student Complaints

1. Students are encouraged to seek a resolution to their concern(s) through an informal process of communication with the relevant departments/staff/faculty before submitting a formal student complaint. Student Complaint Forms are available online and in the offices of the Student Success Advocate, Dean of Students, and the Assistant to the President.
2. Student expresses grievance in writing through the Student Complaint Form.
3. The Assistant to the President reviews complaint and any accompanying documentation, logs that it was received, and forwards it to the relevant department leader(s) for review and resolution.
4. Department leader(s) receiving the complaint study the matter and document any meetings, records, or interactions had in this process. All such records are then sent to the Assistant to the President to be filed with the original complaint. The department leader(s) then issue a written resolution/conclusion to the grievant through email and copy the Assistant to the President and the Student Success Advocate. The Assistant to the President will log the date of initial resolution and file the conclusion with the student complaint.
   1. If multiple departments are involved, the relevant leaders will draft a coordinated response/conclusion in writing and will send a co-signed email to the student and copy each other, the Assistant to the President, and the Student Success Advocate.
   2. Resolutions/conclusions for anonymous complaints will simply be sent to the Assistant to the President and the Student Success Advocate to be filed.
5. If the student is not satisfied with the outcome of the initial complaint, he may request the Student Success Advocate to appeal the matter to the Executive Vice President on his behalf. Such appeals will be made in writing.
6. As soon as is practicable, the Executive Vice President reviews the materials being careful to document any related meetings, conversations, consultations, etc. he may instigate to include in the file. The Executive Vice President then emails the grievant a final resolution in writing and copies the related department leader(s), the Assistant to the President, and the Student Success Advocate. This determination is binding on all parties.

Students or members of the public may file inquiries or concerns regarding this institution with the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education by calling 888.370.7589 or through their website (www.bppe.ca.gov). Concerns about compliance regarding accreditation standards may be expressed to the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools by calling 434.525-9539, emailing info@tracs.org, or writing 15935 Forest Road, Forest, VA, 24551.