Student Comments, Concerns, and Complaints

The University of Mississippi School of Law welcomes your concerns, suggestions, comments or complaints.  We want to know your thoughts on the law school experience, the academic environment, or other matters important to you.  Most importantly, we also want you to know where to submit your concerns about academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, and other kinds of misconduct.

You should always feel free to voice your concerns face-to-face with any of the administrators.  Even without an appointment, you may drop in and talk with Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Ben Cooper (Room 3088) or Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Brittany Barbee (Room 2066).  You may also schedule an appointment by emailing Dean Susan Duncan (sduncan@olemiss.edu). They all want to hear your concerns.

You will find below several specific options:

  1. Comment, Concern, and Complaint Form
  2. Honor Code Violation Form
  3. Standards of Conduct Violation
  4. ABA Standards
  5. Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Other Forms of Misconduct
  6. Concerns Relating to Disabilities

Comment, Concern, and Complaint Form

If you have a comment, concern, or complaint about any matter at School of Law, you may fill out the Comment/Concern Form.  If you complete this form, your concern will reach the appropriate person for a response and resolution.  Your concern will remain as confidential as possible.

Specifically, once you complete the form, it will go to the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.  The Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will acknowledge receipt of the comment within three (3) University business days.

The Dean, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs will meet to discuss the concern.  If the concern entails a complaint about one of those administrators, that dean will not take part in the deliberation.  The deans will either address the student concern directly, or will forward the concern to the appropriate person for a response.

The deans will proceed expeditiously, they will keep the matter as confidential as possible, and they will periodically update the complainant on the status of the matter.  The Office of the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs will maintain a record for a period of 10 years of all written complaints received through this website or presented through other means, as well as a record of all resolutions to any written complaint.

If the student is dissatisfied with the response to, or resolution of, the complaint, the student may file an appeal by:

Filing a written appeal with the Dean of the Law School. The appeal must be filed no later than three weeks after being advised of the Assistant Dean’s response to the complaint or of the steps being taken to address the complaint.  The Dean’s decision regarding the appeal will be communicated to the student within three weeks of receipt of the appeal. The Dean’s decision shall be final.

Fill out the Comment, Concern, and Complaint Form below. If you wish to remain anonymous, do not fill out the Name, Email or Telephone fields.

    Your Name (First and Last)

    Your Email

    Telephone Number

    Concern / Comment *


    Honor Code Violation Form

    Enrollment in the Law School constitutes your pledge that you will conduct yourself in accordance with the Honor Code. Section 3.6 imposes on each student an affirmative duty to report a violation.

    If you need to report an honor code violation, please download and complete the Honor Code Violation Form, and e-mail it to McRae Young, Honor Council Chair, hmyoung1@go.olemiss.edu.

    Standards of Conduct Violation

    Every law student must maintain high standards of conduct from matriculation to graduation.  In your professional life, you must act in a manner befitting the legal profession. Further, in all matters that touch or affect the School of Law, you must act appropriately toward the University, its guests, and all members of the University community.

    If you need to report another student for a violation of the Student Conduct Code, please fill out the Comment/Concern Form.

    ABA Standards

    The American Bar Association serves as the accrediting body for all law schools.  The University of Mississippi School of Law strives for conscientious compliance with the ABA Accreditation Standards.  If you have a concern regarding the School of Law’s program of legal education or compliance with the ABA Standards, please then fill out the Comment/Concern Form.  In your submission, please mention the specific Standard at issue.

    Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Other Forms of Misconduct

    As a member of the University community, you have the right to a working, living, and learning environment free from discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, and other forms of misconduct.

    Prohibited conduct includes:

    • Use of force or violence.
    • Interference with freedom of movement.
    • Harassment or abuse.
    • Intentional infliction of severe emotional distress or harm.
    • Use of fighting words (words that actually intend to provoke an immediate violent reaction).
    • Obscene, lewd, or lascivious conduct, including communications by electronic or other means, with the intent to abuse, threaten, or harass another person.
    • Defamation (a false statement that harms the reputation of another person).
    • Discrimination based upon race, color, gender or sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or genetic information.
    • Prohibited discrimination includes speech or conduct that denies a person access to resources and opportunities; interferes with a person’s work, learning, or living environment; or deprives a person of some other protected interest.
    • Sexual misconduct, including sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual violence, sexual assault, sexual abuse, and non-consensual sexual conduct (including unwelcome sexual advances).  Note that a person incapacitated by drugs, alcohol, illness, or sleep cannot give consent.
    • Retaliation against a person filing a complaint or assisting in an investigation.

    If you have been sexually assaulted, we encourage you to seek immediate medical attention and to contact the University Police Department at 662-915-4911.

    If you have a complaint concerning discrimination or concerning sexual misconduct, you should contact the Office of Equal Employment and Regulatory Compliance:

    eeo@olemiss.edu

    662-915-7735

    Department of Affirmative Action

    If requested, this office will take reasonable steps to preserve confidentiality.

    If you have a complaint concerning prohibited conduct and that conduct constitutes a crime, you should contact the University Police Department at 662-915-4911 (emergency) or 662-915-7234 (non-emergency).

    If you have a complaint concerning prohibited conduct committed by a law student or other member of the law school community, you should contact Dean Susan Duncan (sduncan@olemiss.edu), Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Ben Cooper (bcooper@olemiss.edu), or Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Brittany Barbee (bebarbee@olemiss.edu).  Or you may fill out the Comment/Concern Form.

    If you have complaint concerning prohibited conduct committed by a non-law student or other member of the University community, you should contact the University’s Dean of Students:

    umdos@olemiss.edu

    662-916-7705

    University of Mississippi Conflict Resolution

    Concerns Relating to Disabilities

    The School of Law is committed to ensuring equal access to a quality education for qualified students with disabilities by providing reasonable academic accommodations that support University standards and academic integrity.  The law school’s Assistant Dean for Student Affairs is the liaison with the University’s Office of Student Disabilities Services, which verifies disability status and supervises the process of providing accommodations.  Please contact Assistant Dean Brittany Barbee (bebarbee@olemiss.edu), if you believe you need an accommodation for a disability or if you have concerns about equal access for students with disabilities.