Online Degree Programs

Issues in your online course?

Finger Lakes Community College is a member of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) and follows the complaint resolution policies and procedures outlined in the SARA Policy Manual. A summary of the SARA student complaint process is available online. Consumer protection complaints resulting from distance education courses, activities, and operations may be submitted to Finger Lakes Community College as outlined below for investigation and resolution.

Please follow the steps below

Step 1

Reach out to your instructor. Your instructor is the first step in helping you receive the assistance you need. Your instructor is the only person who can grant extensions, extra credit, change your grades, or allow access to previous assignments. Any allowances made by the instructor are made on a case-by-case basis.

Step 2

If you feel your instructor is not providing you with the assistance you need, please reach out to the FLCC Coordinator of Online Student Retention.

If appropriate, the Coordinator of Online Student Retention will forward your concerns to the Associate Vice President of Academic Technology and High Impact Practices.

Step 3

You are welcome to contact the Department Chair of the course you are completing if you would like to escalate the issue further.

Step 4

If after speaking with the instructor, the Department of Online Learning, and the Department Chair, you still feel your issue is unresolved, you can contact the Director of Community Standards and Counseling.

A grievance is the most likely outcome of this action. Please see the Academic Grievance Policy.

Step 5

In the event campus grievance procedures have been followed and all avenues of appeals exhausted and documented, and the issue remains unresolved, a complaint may be submitted to System Administration of the State University of New York. Please note, this does not include complaints related to grades or student conduct violations, both of which are to be fully addressed via campus processes. See the section on Out-of-State Distance Education Complaints for complaints related to distance education programs when a student resides outside of New York State.

Step 6

If you completed the steps listed above, and none of them offer you the outcome you are looking for, you can contact the New York State Department of Education. The Office of College and University Evaluation handles only those complaints that concern educational programs or practices of degree-granting institutions that are subject to the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, with the exceptions noted below.

• The Office does not handle anonymous complaints.
• The Office does not intervene in matters concerning an individual's grades or examination results, as these are the prerogative of the college's faculty.
• The Office does not handle complaints concerning actions that occurred more than five years ago.
• The Office does not intervene in matters that are or have been in litigation.

NY State Department of Education website: www.highered.nysed.gov/ocue/spr/COMPLAINTFORMINFO.html