Purpose Statement

The Instructional Services Division at Texas State Technical College Harlingen seeks to provide its students, its faculty and staff, and the citizens of the Rio Grande Valley and the State of Texas with high quality credit and noncredit educational experiences designed to prepare them to meet the demands and challenges of an ever-changing workforce, along with all of the academic support services needed to be successful in their educational endeavors.

Customer Service Principles

• To offer educational programs in technologies in current demand and investigate programs in anticipated emerging technologies.
• To provide employers in the State of Texas with highly skilled technicians.
• To provide classrooms and laboratories with equipment as close to state of the art as possible.
• To employ a faculty with credentials that meet or exceed accreditation standards.
• To provide faculty and staff with professional growth opportunities in teaching methodologies and in technological areas of expertise.
• To provide a wide range of learning resources accessible both on campus and electronically.
• To offer high quality academic support services that facilitate student learning and teaching effectiveness.
• To respond to student concerns in a fair and timely manner according to written procedure.

Customer Service Goals

• To look aggressively for alternate sources of funding to be able to equip labs with state of the art equipment, provide high quality support services, and ensure faculty remain up to date in their technical fields .
• To maintain a highly qualified faculty dedicated to excellence in teaching and customer service.
• To assess instructional effectiveness and delivery of support services to achieve continuous improvement.
• To actively participate in informing potential students about career opportunities in technical education.
• To provide effective placement services for all graduates in their chosen fields.
• To establish and monitor procedures dealing with student concerns to ensure prompt and efficient response time and resolution.

Student Complaint Procedure

The student complaint procedure is outlined in the Student Information Handbook 2002-03. To resolve complaints outside of sexual harassment or disabilities categories, students should follow the steps as outlined:

Discuss the problem with the TSTC faculty member or instructional division employee with whom there is a problem or complaint. If the issue is not resolved within two working days, proceed to next step.

Discuss the problem with the faculty members supervisor (department chair, then division director) or the employees supervisor. If the issue is not resolved within two working days, proceed to next step.

Discuss the problem with the Vice President for Student Learning. If the issue is not resolved within five working days, then proceed to next step.

File a written complaint with the TSTC Customer Service Representative by filling out the Effective Customer Relations form found on the TSTC website at www.harlingen.tstc.edu/compact.htm or by mailing the concern to her at:

Catherine Maples, Vice President for Student Services
1902 North Loop 499
Harlingen, TX 78550
or faxing the concern to her at (956) 364-5116
or emailing her at cathy.maples@harlingen.tstc.edu      

Within five working days of receiving the complaint, the Customer Service Representative will acknowledge your complaint in writing to let you know the matter is receiving attention. This notice will also tell you the length of time it will take to resolve the issue.

The Customer Service Representative will investigate the complaint.

A solution that is consistent with TSTC policies, as well as applicable local, state and federal laws, will be proposed to you in writing in the time frame specified in step four (five working days).

If the solution is not acceptable, within 10 working days the student may request that the complaint be considered by a Dispute Resolution Committee appointed by the college president. The committee will make a recommendation to the President whose decision in the matter will be final.