NC-Sara Student Complaints

If you take UVA Wise courses at a distance and the College has not resolved your concern, you may be able to appeal to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

About NC-SARA

Virginia is a member of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), and UVA Wise participates through Virginia’s state portal entity, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). NC-SARA sets national standards for distance education offered across state lines and places responsibility for quality assurance and student protection with the institution’s home state.

Because Virginia is the College’s home state, SCHEV coordinates the resolution of NC-SARA complaints against UVA Wise from students located in other member states.

What NC-SARA covers. Only concerns arising from distance education courses, activities, and operations provided to students located in another NC-SARA member state fall under NC-SARA. If you are located in Virginia, or your concern is about the College’s in-state operations, it is resolved under Virginia’s normal provisions rather than NC-SARA — start with the Student Appeals and Complaints page.

How To Raise a Complaint

  1. Use the College’s process first

    Every complaint goes through UVA Wise procedures before it can go anywhere else. Find the right process on the Student Appeals and Complaints page, and watch the deadline — most are 30 days or less.

  2. Complete every appeal the College offers

    Each process has an internal appeal route ending with a final institutional authority. SCHEV will only review a complaint after these are exhausted.

  3. Appeal to SCHEV

    If you are still not satisfied, you may file with SCHEV within two years of the incident. SCHEV’s resolution is final.

Grades and student conduct cannot be appealed to SCHEV. Under SARA policy, complaints about grades or student conduct violations are decided entirely under College policy and Virginia law. For those matters, the final College authority is the last word.

Filing With SCHEV

You may file with SCHEV as the portal entity for the College’s home state, or with the portal entity of the state where you are located. Whichever office receives your appeal will notify SCHEV and give you SCHEV’s contact information.

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
ATTENTION
Virginia-SARA
ADDRESS
101 North 14th Street, James Monroe Building, 9th Floor, Richmond, Virginia 23219
EMAIL: Virginia-SARA@schev.edu
TELEPHONE: (804) 225-2600
COMPLAINT FORM: SCHEV student complaint process and form

SCHEV reviews each submission to decide whether it falls within the agency’s authority and may refer you elsewhere if it does not. Anonymous complaints are not reviewed. You may also review NC-SARA’s own student complaint policies and procedures, which include current complaint contacts for every member state.