Submitting or Responding to a Grievance

The Department of Educational Psychology is committed to being a welcoming and affirming place where all students, faculty, and staff feel supported and can thrive. We want to ensure that members of our community have access to a clear, transparent, and timely process for reporting incidents of racism, or other forms of discrimination/bias/retaliation, including a mechanism for confidential reporting with clear action steps, resources, and follow-up communication. 

VOICE and the Ed Psych Process for Grievances were developed to take action on student input to make Ed Psych more welcoming, affirming, and inclusive. Read more about these actions here.

Giving VOICE

Giving VOICE is designed to help members of our community respond to individuals who report an experience with racism, discrimination, or bias (either first or second hand), understanding that timely action is needed to mitigate the significant harm that a range of covert and overt acts of racism, discrimination, and bias can cause.

Giving VOICE is a process that any department member can use to respond to an individual who shares with them an experience with racism or other form discrimination or bias. The person receiving the information will:

• VALIDATE the individual’s experience and their effort to bring it forward

• OFFER SUPPORT to help them navigate the situation

• INFORM them of our department process and University resources 

• CLARIFY NEXT STEPS by making a clear plan to address the issue

• ENSURE FOLLOW-UP to help facilitate a timely resolution

Voice Demonstration Video

Professor Miller demonstrates the VOICE process during an advising meeting with a student where a student discloses that she feels uncomfortable in one of her classes due to comments her professor has made.

Scenario Video