Feedback and complaint management
Feedback and complaint management
In everyday university life, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, situations may arise in which you feel you have been treated unfairly or disagree with a lecturer’s behaviour. Furthermore, views may differ on what constitutes a reasonable workload or a sound teaching approach for a course. In such cases, it is important to be able to provide prompt and appropriate feedback.
Confidentiality
The contact persons named here will treat your re-registering student confidentially on request, which means that your name will not be passed on. If you have the impression that you have been disadvantaged by a complaint, please contact the Office of the Dean of Studies directly to clarify the matter.
Recommended procedure:
1. Seek a discussion
Many problems can be resolved through discussion, so you should first establish contact with the lecturer. It may be helpful to involve other people in this; these could be fellow students on the course or members of the student union (student bodies).
2. If the discussion does not help
If the discussion with the person concerned does not lead anywhere or, in your view, is not constructive, you should first contact the module coordinator , as they are responsible for the content and delivery of the courses. (The module coordinators are listed in the respective module descriptions).
If the problem is not of a content-related nature but rather concerns a lecturer’s behaviour, please contact the relevant department head (uol.de/fk1) first and involve the student representatives responsible for your degree programme (student bodies) involved.
3. The Dean’s Office as a complaints body
You are also welcome to contact the Dean’s Office directly at any time as a complaints body. We will then endeavour to assist you with your matter and organise a resolution with the parties involved.
Please use the following contact address:
If you feel sexually harassed or discriminated against because of your sexual orientation, gender or in any other way in connection with your studies
Please contact us directly:
conTakt Counselling Centre on Sexualised Discrimination at the University of Oldenburgorthe
What to do with outstanding assessments?
Procedure for module examinations:
The examination regulations of the C.v.O. University of Oldenburg stipulate that module examinations must be assessed within five weeks of completion. Since the submission deadlines are usually agreed individually with the examiners, there is no systematic tracking of the correction periods or automatic reminder after the deadline has been exceeded. As a rule, the examiners assess the examinations within a reasonable time frame and send the grades to the Examinations Office.
Should the correction period nevertheless be disproportionately exceeded, the Dean of Studies Office recommends the following procedure:
1. before the complaint management / Dean of Studies Office is involved:
1.1. first contact the student with the lecturer with a friendly reminder of the outstanding assessment.
1.2 After 14 days: Second reminder of the outstanding assessment, combined with a reminder to contact the complaint management/dean of studies office after a further week.
2 Escalation within the framework of complaint management:
2.1 Immediately after receipt of the complaint: Reminder of the outstanding assessment by the Coordination of Studies and Teaching; notification to the Office of the Dean of Studies.
2.2 One week after the first reminder by the Coordination of Studies and Teaching: Second reminder by the Dean of Studies' Office with reference to possible recourse obligations, sent to the module coordinator.
2.3 Two weeks after the reminder from the Coordination of Studies and Teaching: Third reminder from the Office of the Dean of Studies with reference to the possible involvement of the Vice President for Studies and Teaching; notification to the Head of Department and the Dean.
2.4 Four weeks after receipt of the complaint: Fourth reminder from the Dean of the School, sent to the Vice President for Studies and Teaching with a request for further action.
Procedure for final theses:
The examination regulations of the C.v.O. University of Oldenburg stipulate that final theses must be assessed within six weeks (for B.A. and M.Ed. theses) or eight weeks (for M.A. theses) of submission. The submission date and deadline are documented by the Examinations Office. As a rule, the final theses are assessed by the assessors within a reasonable time frame and the grades are sent to the Examinations Office.
However, if the correction period is disproportionately exceeded, the Dean of Studies Office recommends the following procedure:
1. before involving the Complaints Management / Dean of Studies Office:
1.1. two reminders by the Examinations Office (1st reminder at the scheduled time of the assessment; 2nd reminder after 14 days).
2. escalation within the framework of complaint management:
2.1. immediately after the matter has been forwarded by the Examinations Office: reminder of the outstanding assessment by the Coordination of Studies and Teaching; notification to the Dean of Studies Office
2.2. two weeks after the first reminder by the Coordination of Studies and Teaching: second reminder by the Dean of Studies Office with reference to possible recourse obligations; notification to the Institute Director and Dean.
2.3 Four weeks after the first reminder by the Coordination of Studies and Teaching: Third reminder by the Dean's Office; in a message to the Vice President for Studies and Teaching with a request for further action.
You are welcome to use the contact form
Give us your feedback!
Even without a specific reason, we welcome constructive criticism - or even well-intentioned praise - about studying and teaching in the degree programmes of School I - School of Educational and Social Sciences. We are always keen to incorporate your re-registering students into the discussions on improving our degree programmes (e.g. in the degree programme conferences).