If you are a current student, you can submit your complaint at any point during your studies. If you have recently graduated, you have up to 2 months after your graduation date to submit a complaint. For complainants who are non-students, you have up to 2 months from the date of the alleged incident to submit your complaint.
The Union also has the right to dismiss complaints if they are deemed illegitimate or invalid. This decision will be made by the relevant staff member. The complainant has the right to appeal this decision. To do so, please read the ‘Appeals’ section below.
Please note that if your complaint is regarding criminal activity (such as physical assault, sexual assault or drug dealing) that has occurred in our licensed premises (RISE or the GSU Bar), your complaint may require escalation to the police.
GSU can only investigate issues that concern anything to do with Union activities or staff. If it is about a different issue regarding Goldsmiths and not to do with the Union (such as an Academic or Staffing issue at the University), the student is advised to complain directly to Goldsmiths University. Students can complain to GSU about one or more of the following:
-
A historical or ongoing issue with another current Goldsmiths student who is involved with the Union (such as through being an officer, rep, or student leader)
-
An issue with a current GSU staff member(s)
-
An issue with a GSU process
-
An incident that occurred on SU premises and/or occurred during an SU event
-
A concern about any other aspect of GSU
Submitting a complaint
-
All complaints must be submitted and/or confirmed in writing by either submitting a written complaint to a GSU staff member or sent to complaints@goldsmithssu.org. If a staff member receives communication in writing that they deem to merit consideration through our complaints process, they will contact the sender to confirm whether they would like the matter to be considered as such.
-
You can reach out to a GSU staff member before submitting your complaint if you want assistance. Either a Sabbatical Officer or a HR member of staff can offer you a meeting and assistance in note-taking if you wish to make your complaint verbally. If you do need to make your complaint verbally, the minutes of your meeting will be sent to you and you must confirm in writing that you wish to submit that as your complaint.
-
Within a week of submitting the complaint, complainants will receive written confirmation of their complaint as well as an estimated time-frame in which GSU will aim to handle everything. Please note, in busier periods (such as Welcome Week and Elections), you may experience delays in responses and extended deadlines.
-
Students should also be aware that all complaints and any subsequent investigations will be recorded in a confidential database and only shared with relevant parties.