Students Criticise University’s “Atrocious” Complaints Process

One in five investigations missed the University’s own target time last year.

(Image: Iwan Stone)

Students have criticised the University of York’s “unfair” and “atrocious” complaints process, saying they were given false hope by the University, only to be given no information or have their complaints dismissed. 

Third year student Clara said her experience with the University misconduct team has left her “disappointed and disenfranchised”, after reporting an incident in which she was grabbed, pushed and choked by a fellow student.

Initially, Clara reported the incident to North Yorkshire Police who dropped the case saying there was “insufficient evidence”.

Clara said she hoped that, unlike the police, the University would be able to help.

Wary this time of having to again give upsetting statements, Clara says she confirmed with University staff that the case was unlikely to be dropped.

After another month of waiting, the University’s conduct and respect advisor informed Clara there was inadequate evidence to prove that misconduct had occurred to “the standard required” despite her submission of pictures of her injuries.

Clara felt the experience of reporting misconduct was “filled with unfairness”. In an email exchange, she was told that the disciplinary manager had delayed reviewing her case due to “other work commitments”.

The University claims to not be able to give more detail of the account given by the person Clara complained about as they have a “duty of care to both students”.

Clara feels this has meant her attacker is “being treated like the victim”, rather than the other way around. 

This was only made worse when she was given an agreement to sign telling her she is not allowed to contact this student and should avoid them around campus.

Final year student Lauren also felt disappointed after being encouraged to make a complaint to the University after being targeted online. 

“The University made a kind of off-the-cuff promise to me that, if people were found to be involved in the sort of behaviour that I had evidence of, they would face the highest sanctions.

“At the end of the complaints procedure, it was then revealed that should never have been promised to me and the University apologised.”

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the University told York Vision that

it keeps no routine record of how many complaints are resolved in its own target time of 60 days.

After a review of cases last academic year, the University found around one in five investigations were not completed within this time, which they said was partly the result of COVID-19 related investigations and increased complaints when the report and support tool was introduced.

Students told Vision that delays to investigations made the process more challenging.

Lauren said: “I was told it was going to be three to four weeks roughly. In the end, I reached out after I heard nothing for over a month, because I had absolutely nothing and was promised quite regular updates, so I felt in the dark.

“Over a month after that, I was told that the complaint had gone to the disciplinary manager for a decision. Then it was quite a lot later, another three months afterwards, that I actually had any other information.

“It wasn’t just the length of time, it was the fact that there was no explanation for the length of time. Had I understood what was going on, just them saying ‘this has taken us longer than we were expecting’, I would have felt a bit more in the loop.”

In the six months it took for a decision to be made on Lauren’s case, one of the people she made a complaint against had graduated from the University, avoiding significant sanctions when misconduct was found.

Former student Ben made a complaint after being harassed both physically and online. 

He told Vision he chose to pursue a University complaint instead of a police investigation as “I felt I should be able to trust their complaints procedure, for them to deal with it in the right way, and because I felt it was a University matter”.

By the time a decision was made on his case, after over four months, he had already started a postgraduate course away from York.

He said: “I had to be the one asking them and chasing them for information. It wasn’t structured at all, I was having to go to them again and again.

“There were times after it happened that I was scared to walk on campus. Certainly I didn’t walk there at night for a while.

“The huge amount of time was incredibly stressful when I was going onto campus. I saw the person I complained about several times.” 

It wasn’t just the length of investigations that left students frustrated. 

Lauren said: “After the investigation came out in a way that I didn’t feel it had been investigated properly, I ended up having to request more information, which it turned out they could have given me in the first place, they just chose not to.

“When I spoke to people in YUSU, they were quite confused by how limited the information I was given was. Later, I was allowed to find out that certain charges led to people being held to account, but it was still very limited, even after I pushed.

“Sanctions were discussed at the beginning, and made out as if I’d have some sort of level of conclusion about that, but I was never allowed to know the sanctions.”

Ben told Vision he had to give information that he was surprised the complaints team didn’t know. “I had to tell them where security cameras were, and how they could prove what had happened to me, things that they had access to but I didn’t. It felt ridiculous at the time that I was having to tell them that.”

Like Clara, Lauren was also given a No Contact Agreement, and said she “felt like it almost protected the person who had been reported more than the actual person making a report.

She said the agreement didn’t do enough to make her feel safe. “We had the No Contact Agreement, but they weren’t allowed to tell me if I was going to be in a lecture or seminar with someone I’d made a complaint about.

“I was also told by the complaints team that I could have a personal safety alarm, but I was never given one.”

Despite having already graduated, Ben was given an agreement that the University said was “in the hope that we can sustain a supportive environment for you to safely continue with your studies”.

He said of the process: “It was extremely stressful, and, in the end, absolutely nothing came out of it. 

Lauren told Vision that she had found the complaints process to have been a damaging experience personally.

“My wellbeing was only checked at the beginning, and at the end, nowhere in the middle. I think the University is lucky the complaints process hasn’t had more people come out worse for wear. 

“I think the fact that how bad it is isn’t public is a benefit for them. It’s atrocious, and honestly, the process was worse than the actual thing that I was complaining about.”

YUSU Community and Wellbeing Officer Kelly Balmer said: “It is extremely frustrating that students are still having issues with reporting forms of misconduct to the University. I have made it clear to the University that the wait times between reporting and hearing back are too long, and that support needs to be offered along the way.

“When reporting misconduct, students shouldn’t feel lost in the process, or that their reports are being put on the back burner. The Conduct and Respect team are trying to improve, but these improvements are taking too much time due to the impossible balancing act of being overstretched and under-resourced. 

“At the end of the day, the processes in place are clearly worsening students’ experiences of reporting misconduct, and it isn’t acceptable.”

A University spokesperson said: “We are concerned to hear these students’ experiences, and while we cannot comment on individual cases, we want to assure students that we listen to their feedback.

“We increased staffing and resources in response to the large number of Report and Support submissions in 2020/1 and all reports have been resolved within the 60 day target in the current academic year.

“We regularly signpost relevant support during investigations and share what information we are able, while still working within the legal requirements.”

“We have taken student feedback on board and have reviewed the wording of our No Contact Agreements to ensure they are clear in their intention to promote a safe and respectful environment for our community.”