“I’m just at a loss,” said Caitlyn McNally, a junior at the university. “I just don’t know what I can do.”

McNally is unhappy with a professor this semester. She says she has spent more than one semester in a similar state, hopelessly doing work, trying to appease her educators.

Instead of motivating students to showcase their best work in class every day, bad professors give students more of an excuse to give poor effort or not even show up to class. Bad professors show up late. They may be mean. They make you not want to go to class. Schooling seems hopeless when faced with educators and administrators who treat students as lesser than themselves. While teacher evaluations are not public information, many students turn to places such as RateMyProfessors.com to have their voices heard by their peers.

But what if you’re fed up with this treatment from professors? What are you supposed to do?

According to Paul Falcone, university director of studio and media production, dealing in an official capacity with an ineffective teacher is a long process that involves many discussions with many people.

“You’re supposed to discuss with faculty members directly,” Falcone said. “If you’re unsatisfied with that communication, then go to the director, then the dean, then the provost. If you’re still not satisfied, then include that in a request with a chairman of that department to facilitate some resolution.”

The process may lead nowhere and even sending emails to figure out to whom you should talk is difficult. Even researching the topic can feel like a wild goose chase.

The Center for Teaching Excellence declined to make suggestions. The chair of the Faculty Senate never answered. Who are students meant to communicate with when nothing about the process is clear?

You can refer to the Student Handbook, which says there is hope: “…the University of New Haven has established grievance procedures for students who have a concern or complaint regarding administrative issues.”

Grievance is only described once in the Student Handbook as “a complaint alleging any policy, procedure or practice which would be prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act.” However, this definition – which addresses accessibility discrimination — does not apply to all scenarios.

But at the very least, in this confusing grievance process, the first step is confronting the professor. A study by the District Administration, a digital media service for K-12 school districts, says just 32% of students “feel comfortable enough to talk to a teacher about a personal issue. 66% of students say they can talk to their teacher about an academic issue.” Confronting a professor — or anyone about their wrongdoings — is not easy.
Students fear they will face backlash that will affect not only themselves but also their classmates. Olivia Vasalani, a junior at the university, understands this sentiment.

“If I’m not comfortable with something a professor or administrator is doing, I would not feel comfortable enough to talk to them to tell them,” Vasalani said.
According to the Governance Documents of the University of New Haven, “unless the grievance is of such a nature as to demand immediate attention, the grievant(s) must wait at least 30 days from the date on which he or she knew the acts or omission forming the basis for the grievance to allow for a cooling-off period and to encourage an informal resolution.”
The process, as stated in the official handbook, should not last longer than a year. Yet the explanation is riddled with convoluted language. An example: “…the grievant may then file a formal grievance with the chair of the Grievance Committee of the Faculty Senate. The grievant shall file the formal grievance within 10 days after the 30-day waiting period, unless the grievant can establish that a delay in filing is the result of extenuating circumstances.”

In a situation where students are feuding with professors over academics and mistreatment, the last thing they need is to be confused by the complaint process.

According to the University of New Haven Fast Facts, “37.5 percent [of students] hail from foreign countries.” Not all students use English as their primary language and having unclear language in the handbooks makes it difficult for these students to resolve any difficulties they may have.

João Gonçalves, a sophomore at the university, is from Portugal. He has lived in the U.S. for three years and speaks fluent English. Even for him, trying to decipher the code within the Governance Documents was difficult.

“As someone whose first language is Portuguese, reading some of the stuff in the book is confusing,” Gonçalves said. “I don’t even know what a grievance is. Seeing complex language is disheartening.”

If the language that defines the grievance process is confusing and disheartening, that could have a quelling effect on complaints. The complaint process is long and hard, which makes getting a response from anyone in a position of power difficult. Administrators and educators alike have a lot of power over students and so long as this continues, students like McNally will continue to endure unruly professors for the sake of keeping the peace. Others who feel brave can face the Grievance Committee in an attempt to make their voice heard.