1) Introduction:

Students focus is one of the core values of KL COE. The COE has a holistic approach towards setting up service standards and continuously improvising students’ experience based on academic practice as well as students’ feedback across multiple channels.

The COE ensures to provide multiple channels to students to provide feedback on the services of the COE as well as lodge their grievances. The COE aims to ensure quick and effective handling of students grievance, as well as prompt corrective & preventive action (including correction of the process, wherever required) in order to avoid recurrence.

In order to meet the above objective, the COE has outlined a framework for redressal of students’ grievances and documented it in the form of a policy for the reference of students’ touch-points.

The COE shall ensure that the Students Grievance Redressal Policy is also available in public domain (on its website and at branches).

2) Scope and Objectives:

The objective of the policy is to spell out the framework for Grievance Redressal in the COE to ensure that:

a) All students are treated fairly and in an unbiased manner at all times

b) All issues raised by students are dealt with courtesy and resolved on time

c) Students are made completely aware of avenues to escalate their grievance within the COE and their rights to alternate remedies if they are not fully satisfied with the response or resolution to their grievance

d) The counsellors shall work in good faith and without prejudice towards the interest of the students. Through this policy, the COE shall ensure that a suitable mechanism exists for receiving and addressing grievances from its students and their constituents with specific emphasis on resolving such cases fairly and expeditiously regardless of source of the case.

3) Tenets of grievance redressal:

COE shall be guided by the following tenets in its approach to grievance redressal:

a) Student Awareness: The COE shall endeavor to make continuous efforts to educate its students to enable them to make informed choices regarding channels to approach for grievance redressal.

b) Fairness & transparency: The student’s grievance shall be examined in all fairness and the COE shall take a balanced approach to resolve the same. COE shall ensure student grievances are resolved in a timely and efficient manner.

c) Escalation: All responses to student grievances will provide an escalation matrix mentioning the details of the next level of grievance redressal for the student.

d) Review: The COE shall have a regular process of internal review of student grievances at multiple hierarchies to enhance Quality and effectiveness of student service

4) Definition of Query and Complaint:

The COE has clearly defined Complaints and Queries so that student issues are logged accurately. It is to be noted that examples mentioned below are illustrative.

4.1 Query:

A Query is:

a) Any doubt/ enquiry

b) Student seeking/ cross-checking for clarification / more information

c) Student enquiring/ cross checking before the expiry of specified turnaround time (TAT) for service/ deliverables

d) Student checking status/ progress

e) Student making a request (e.g. deliverables, services, waivers)

4.2 Complaint:

A Complaint is:

a) A grievance/ protest/ grumble

b) Student disputing non–conformance of services/ products/ processes

c) An error committed by the COE

5) Process of handling general grievances of the COE

a) Touch points to report student grievances: Students will be informed about the channels available for referring/seeking redressal of grievances. These are:

i. counsellors

ii. Phone

iii. Website

b) Logging and tracking of student grievances: Any grievance received - either verbally, by email or in writing, if not resolved and responded within 48 hours, shall be taken to grievance redressal cell by web based record system.

The system has the capability to record and categorize grievances into different types and maintain turnaround times (TAT) ranging from one week to three weeks for specific category / sub-category. It also has an auto escalation mechanism for cases not resolved within defined TAT.

With this the COE shall not only ensure that all the issues are recorded and resolved, but shall also ensure effective monitoring /escalation mechanism to the senior functionary responsible in case of the grievance not being resolved within defined timelines.

c) Turnaround time: Depending on the nature of the grievance, specific timelines have been set for different categories. Grievances shall be resolved in a proper and time bound manner with detailed advice to the student. The student is kept informed in case of any delay envisaged by the COE in resolution of the grievance beyond the stated timelines.

d) Sources of grievances: Apart from direct grievances from student, grievances received through various bodies such as centralised system, deans or registrar’s office shall be handled centrally under the Grievance redressal cell. The cell generally meets once in a month during the academic semester unless it is specially called for.

e) Mode of response: COE shall ensure that the mode of response is as per the mode of student intimation received e.g. cases received through e-mail shall be responded though e-mail.

f) Escalation of grievances: The COE has a three-tier escalation mechanism for student grievances, as given below:

i. 1stLevel: counsellors / faculty / COE office

ii. 2ndLevel: Grievance Redressal Cell (GRC)

iii. 3rd Level: Principal Nodal Officer (PNO)/Director

Review & Oversight of monitoring grievances:

The COE through the cell will monitor the student grievances logged in the COE on a regular basis. This cell, as part of its monitoring, shall perform the following activities:

a) Analyse/conduct a root-cause analysis of the complaints logged on a quarterly basis. The analysis shall be carried out on the basis of the nature and type of complaint with a view to identify areas of complaints which are endemic in nature and require process review / procedural change.

b) The analysis shall also include review of closure of case (adequacy of closure as well as timeliness). Key aspects of the analysis shall be highlighted to the senior management.

Summary of the complaints received and closed shall be reported as part of calendar of reviews.

c) Pro-active monitoring shall be carried out at a monthly frequency on sample basis for frequent areas of complaints to raise issues to the concerned units including for cases not resolved or inadequately resolved or incorrectly logged.

d) Student feedback by way of complaints and through structured Student Service Committee meetings shall be analysed and acted upon. Quality Initiatives Group of the COE shall be responsible to drive process improvement in co-ordination with other functions of the COE.

COE strives to provide encouragement, empowerment to students through quick resolution of complaints and problems.