Hobart and William Smith Colleges

If any student participating in distance learning has a concern about the course and/or its instruction, they are asked to first try to resolve instructional concerns with the faculty member teaching the course. If the student concern is not resolved at this level, students are encouraged to meet with the chair of the department or program or the Associate Provost who oversees our intersession programs. The specific Associate Provost may be reached through email at oafa@hws.edu. 

Depending on the type of complaint, the student may be directed to their academic dean. The deans have procedures and practices in place to work with students to resolve most issues and are able to involve other campus resources as needed. Because we are a small liberal arts college, our practices are specific to each individual and circumstance. 

After all instructional or administrative remedies have been exhausted with the Colleges, the student may submit a SARA Complaint with the Department of Education.

Andrea Richards
Supervisor of Higher Education Programs
518.474.1551
IHEauthorize@nysed.gov

New York State Education Department
89 Washington Ave
Albany, NY 12234

New York State Department of Education (Office of Higher Education)

For out-of-state distance education students, SARA provides important consumer protection mechanisms while establishing clear procedures for handling complaints. If you encounter issues with your distance education program, SARA ensures you have access to a formal complaint process, first through our institution's standard grievance procedures, and then, if necessary, through the SARA State Portal Entity in New York State. It's important to note that SARA policies specifically exclude complaints about grades or student conduct violations – these matters remain under the exclusive jurisdiction of our institution. For complaints that do fall under SARA's scope (such as advertising/recruiting practices, billing problems, or program quality), you have the right to appeal our institution's decision to the SARA State Portal Entity in New York State. This appeal must be filed within two years of the incident that prompted the complaint.

NC–SARA Student Complaints Procedure

Hobart and William Smith Colleges operates under the approval of “NC-SARA”, National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. As required by the NC-SARA student complaint process, a student must first attempt to resolve their complaint at the institutional level.

Students whose complaint is not resolved within the institution may choose to file a written complaint with the New York State Department of Education (Office of Higher Education).

The SARA complaint process is available here.

The New York State Education Department’s complaint procedures are available here.

Non-SARA Member State Student Complaints Procedure

For residents not located in a SARA member state with complaints not resolved at the institutional level, you may contact the appropriate authority in your state of residence.