Universities should embrace complaints as ¡°free feedback¡± and treat suspensions and expulsions as indicators of institutional failure, according to Australia¡¯s new student welfare arbiter.

Sarah Bendall said grievances over university processes to deal with student misconduct or academic performance issues were the most ¡°heartbreaking¡± disputes referred to the student ombudsman¡¯s office.

¡°Pretty much every complaint we receive involves a student with challenging life circumstances,¡± Bendall told the at UNSW Sydney. ¡°They are about students who feel humiliated, ashamed, disappointed, lost, scared, angry and let down by their institutions.

¡°If the university was to¡­examine these student experiences from a university systems perspective, there would be significant learnings. I would encourage all universities to review the student cases that go through the academic suspension and exclusion processes and consider them as a failure, not of the student, but of the institution.¡±

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Bendall heads the , which was established on 1 February within the Commonwealth Ombudsman¡¯s office. She said the agency had opened on a Saturday and received its first complaint inside 15 minutes.

It was created on the recommendation of the Australian Universities Accord, largely to improve student safety and tackle gender-based violence. But with about 1,500 complaints now logged, most have concerned issues of course administration, teaching quality, placements, assessment processes and academic performance.

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Bendall said 33 per cent of the complaints were about ¡°seemingly small¡± customer service issues. Eighteen per cent were about teaching and learning and 12 per cent were about fees and refunds. But at heart, almost all were about ¡°well-being and belonging¡±.

¡°What students are saying is that the university isn¡¯t listening to them; doesn¡¯t understand their needs, doesn¡¯t care about them. [It] is too focused on money; is out of date or out of touch; does not understand the challenges students face. The university¡¯s bureaucracy is costing them money and prolonging their courses. The university and its systems are unfair.¡±

In one episode reported to the ombudsman, a mature-aged student had run up a A$16,000 (?7,700) debt because her university had not clarified that she needed to reapply each year for the government loan scheme covering her upfront tuition costs. She only realised her predicament when she was barred from the third year of her degree until she had cleared the liability.

¡°While she was constantly engaging with the uni in person or on the phone about all sorts of matters through second year, at no time did anyone at the university actually mention the debt,¡± Bendall said. ¡°This university has still failed to engage meaningfully to support this student with a payment plan and a way back to her studies.¡±

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In another episode, a student was suspended from a course after a coordinator failed to reschedule an exam the student had missed for legitimate medical reasons. In a third, a student was required to undertake two work placements simultaneously after the previous semester¡¯s post had been cancelled.

In yet another episode, an international student at risk of becoming homeless suddenly lost access to all of the university¡¯s support services when the student¡¯s email account was suspended over academic performance issues. ¡°I find the complaints from international students the hardest to read,¡± Bendall said.

¡°Sometimes you don¡¯t need a systems change. You just need to be more attuned to students.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com