Responsibilities and Procedures
When a student encounters a problem on campus or feels she/he has been treated unfairly, the student should first try to resolve the issue informally with the faculty/staff member or department directly involved. Many issues can be resolved if a student makes an appointment with a faculty or staff member and calmly and honestly communicates their concerns.
If the student is not satisfied with the response from the department, the student may initiate a formal written complaint (via paper or electronically). Formal written complaints must be signed by the student (including electronic or digital signatures clearly attributable to the student). For example, the student’s name in an email message received from his or her official ISU email account.
Please note that all formal complaints through this website's online form are automatically tagged with the Net-ID used to login to the form. This ensures that the complaint is clearly attributable to the student.
A complaint reported by telephone will not be considered as submitted for review.
Guidance on what to include in a formal written complaint is provided below:
Contact Information:
- Student full legal name (as enrolled)
- Mailing address
- Your preferred email address
- Telephone number
- ISU Net-ID
- Last term of enrollment (if not currently enrolled)
Complaint Information:
- First date on which the events or issues occurred
- Name(s) of the persons/departments involved
- Describe your complaint in detail. Include the names (and titles) of persons, locations, and dates.
- What attempts have you made to resolve this complaint? Include information on who you contacted, dates, and outcome.
- What resolution do you seek (feel would be fair)?
A formal written complaint should be filed with the appropriate administrative office, based on the type of complaint. The list below shows where a formal complaint through this website's online form will be sent:
Academic Complaints
Complaints related to a specific academic college should be filed with the appropriate college Dean:
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences – CALSDean@iastate.edu
- College of Business – spalding@iastate.edu
- College of Design – isucod@iastate.edu
- College of Engineering – engineeringinfo@iastate.edu
- College of Human Sciences – CHSDean@iastate.edu
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences – las-concern@iastate.edu
- College of Veterinary Medicine – lknolan@iastate.edu
- Graduate College – holger@iastate.edu
All other academic complaints or if student is unsure of appropriate college:
- Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost – provost@iastate.edu
Non-Academic Complaints
- Cy-Ride, safety issues, or university facilities – unsrv@iastate.edu
- Residence halls, Dining, or the Memorial Union – studentaffairs@iastate.edu
- Registrar’s office, admissions, or student financial aid – studentaffairs@iastate.edu
- Counseling, Student Health, International Students Office – studentaffairs@iastate.edu
- Information Technology – itformalcomplaint@iastate.edu
- Accounts receivable, billing, payroll – divfinance@iastate.edu
- All other non-academic complaints - dsoweb@iastate.edu
Note: A student's complaint may be forwarded to another office if it can be best addressed by another department.