Preamble: The University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy is committed to a policy of fair treatment of its students in their relationships with the administration, faculty, staff and fellow students. The purpose of this policy is to establish, implement and operate a student complaint procedure. This Policy shall be continuously accessible by students through the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy Website.

1.  Internal Complaints. Information concerning filing of complaints, such as academic dishonesty or academic disputes (grading, progression, program requirements, etc.) is provided in the College of Pharmacy Student Handbook and UNM Pathfinder. The student shall file a written complaint with the Assistant Dean for Professional Education for the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy. The complaint must be in writing, signed and dated by the student filing the complaint and submitted using the attached Complaint Form

All complaints will be handled in accordance with written policies of the University of New Mexico and the College of Pharmacy. The original written complaint and written response to the complaint, and if applicable, the letter of appeal and the written decision of the Provost shall be placed in a file on student complaints to be maintained by the Office of Student Services of the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy. A photocopy of all documents placed in the file on student complaints shall also be placed in the file on the student who submitted the original written complaint.

All aspects of student complaints shall be treated as confidential in accordance with University of New Mexico policies on confidentiality of student records. Notwithstanding this confidentiality requirement, the file on student complaints maintained in the Office of Student Services shall be made available to representatives of the Accreditation Council on Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE) where necessary to ACPE carrying out accreditation of the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy and fulfilling requirements established by the U.S. Department of Education.

2. ACPE Standards Information. The Accreditation Council on Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE), the pharmacy school accreditation agency, is required by the U.S. Secretary of Education to require its pharmacy programs to record and handle student complaints regarding a school's adherence to the
ACPE Standards

ACPE must demonstrate a link between its review of complaints and its evaluation of a program in the accreditation process. Therefore, in order to demonstrate compliance with the U.S. Department of Education Criteria for Recognition, and with the prior review and advice of Department of Education personnel, ACPE requires pharmacy schools to provide an opportunity for pharmacy students to provide comments and/or complaints about the schools adherence to ACPE's Standards. The colleges and schools of pharmacy accredited by ACPE have an obligation to respond to any written complaints by students lodged against the college or school of pharmacy, or the pharmacy program that are related to the standards and the policies and procedures of ACPE. Any student who wishes to file a complaint may visit the
ACPE website and follow the students link
to access the standards and the procedures for filing a complaint.