Please thoroughly review and ensure you understand the policy below. When you submit your acknowledgement of the academic rules for your program, you are also submitting your acknowledgement, and agreement to abide by, the policies set forth by Syracuse University and The College of Law. To submit your acknowledgement of all policies, please access the academic rules page, and perform the acknowledgement that applies to your program.
The Syracuse University College of Law is accredited by the American Bar Association. The ABA Standards for the Approval of Law Schools can be accessed on the American Bar Association’s webpage, located at this link:
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/standards.html.
Any student at the College of Law who wishes to bring a formal complaint of a significant problem that directly implicates the College’s program of legal education and its compliance with the ABA Standards should do the following:
1. The complaint must be submitted in writing to the Vice Dean or the Administrative Hearing Officer. The writing may consist of e-mail (to studentlife@law.syr.edu), U.S. mail (to 950 Irving Ave., Suite 220, Syracuse, NY 13244), or fax (315-443-9719).
2. The complaint should describe in detail the behavior, program, process, or other matter that is the subject of the complaint and should explain how the matter implicates the College of Law’s program of legal education and its compliance with a specific, identified ABA Standard(s). The complaint must be signed by the student and contain the student’s contact information, including name, local and email (SYR) addresses, and phone number.
3. The Vice Dean or the Administrative Hearing Officer, to whom the complaint is submitted, will acknowledge the complaint within three business days of receipt of the written complaint. Acknowledgment may be made by e-mail, U.S. mail, or by personal delivery.
4. Within three weeks of acknowledgment of the complaint the Vice Dean or the Administrative Hearing Officer, shall either meet with the complaining student, or respond to the substance of the complaint in writing. In this meeting or in this writing, the student will either receive a substantive response to the complaint, or information about what steps are being taken by the law school to address the complaint or further investigate the complaint. If further investigation is needed, when the investigation is completed, the student will be provided either a substantive response to the complaint or information about what steps are being taken by the law school to address the complaint within two weeks after completion of the investigation.
5. Within ten days of being advised of any action the College of Law is taking to address the matter, the student may appeal that decision to the Dean of the College of Law. The decision of the Dean shall be final.
6. A copy of the complaint and a summary of the process and resolution of the complaint shall be kept in the Office of the Dean for a period of eight years from the date of final resolution of the complaint.