Who can I contact if I have a complaint?
Whilst the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the Sandberg Institute make every effort to ensure affairs run smoothly within the organisations, mistakes may be made or situations may arise in which a student or employee feels they have been treated inappropriately.
Should such a situation arise, it is advisable for the student or employee to discuss this with the person(s) directly involved. The student counsellor or HR manager may be able to play an advisory or mediating role.
If it is not possible – or, in certain situations, desirable – to reach an informal agreement, then a more official approach may be chosen.
Committees and procedures
The academy has committees and procedures for a variety of matters. These are the following:
- Complaints procedure regarding undesirable behaviour
- Examination Appeals Board (only in Dutch)
- Student objection procedure and dispute advisory committee regulations
- Examination Board
- Educational Committee
Intimidation and sexual harassment
Every student has a right to study in safety. Every employee has a right to work in safety. Confidential advisors have been appointed for those situations in which this does not occur. The confidential advisor can provide advice and support.
The complaints procedure is set out in the procedure on Undesirable behaviour, sexual and verbal harassment, aggression and violence. You can find this procedure here.
Complaints concerning organisational matters
You can submit an objection with respect to enrolment, finances, certificates, and other decisions. The Disputes Advisory Committee receives the objection and advises the Executive Board on how to handle it. The chair of the Dispute Advisory Committee is an independent lawyer. Should you not be satisfied with the committee's advice and the subsequent decision of the Executive Board, you can appeal to the Administrative Law Division of the Council of State (in Dutch: Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State). You can find the regulations of the objection procedure and the Disputes Advisory Committee here.
Complaints concerning assessments and examinations
It may be that you do not agree with your assessment or perhaps you are not eligible to sit an exam and you feel this is not justified. Situations sometimes occur where a student disagrees with a judgement or feels that the lecturers or coordinator have not observed the rules. If you are unable to reach an agreement and wish to state your point, you may apply to the Examination Appeals Board (CBE, former COBEX). The Board consists of two academy lecturers and an independent legal counsel. You can find the CBE regulation here (only in Dutch).
Would you like to request an exemption from previous education requirements? Or would you like to request exemption from tests or exams? You can address your complaint to the Examination Board. You can reach them through examencommissie@rietveldacademie.nl
Educational Committee
The Educational Committee is not a complaints committee but may be addressed on any misunderstandings with regard to the education. It has the task of advising the Executive Board, upon request or otherwise, on matters relating to education. It also influences the content of the Education and Examination Regulations. The Educational Committee does not handle individual complaints.
All other matters
If you disagree with the course of events at the Academy and would like certain things to change, you can contact the Participation Council. In Dutch ‘Medezeggenschapsraad’, MR. The Participation Council consists of at least seven students and seven employees, who have been elected by students or staff. You can apply for membership yourself, but you can also approach someone who is already a member of the Participation Council. Students and staff can read more about the MR on the intranet. Contact: mr@rietveldacademie.nl