Chapter VI Contents: [ VI.1 L&S Student Academic Affairs ] [ VI.2 L&S SAA Staff ] [ VI.3 Academic Advancement Program ] [ VI.4 L&S Advising Service ] [ VI.5 Bradley Learning Community ] [ VI.6 Cross-College Advising Service ] [ VI.7 Letters and Science Career Services ] [ VI.8 S.O.A.R. ] [ VI.9 Student Records ] [ VI.10 Degree Audit Reporting System ] [ VI.11 Academic Misconduct ] [ VI.12 Accommodation of Religious Belief ] [ VI.13 Policy & Guidelines on Nondiscrimination ] [ VI.14 Summary Blocks/Final Exams ] [ VI.15 Multi-Section Courses ] [ VI.16 Chadbourne Residential College ] [ VI.17 Deleted Section] [ VI.18 First-Year Interest Groups ] [ VI.19 Pathways to Excellence Programs and Services ] [ VI.20 African American Student Academic Services ] [ VI.21 American Indian Student Academic Services ] [ VI.22 Chicano/a Student Academic Services ] [ VI.23 Southeast Asian American Student Academic Services] [ VI.24 Summer Collegiate Experience ] [ VI.25 Undergraduate Research Scholars ] [ VI.26 Grading Policies ] [ VI.27 The Grading System ] [ VI.28 Grade Change Procedure ] [ VI.29 Student Appeals of Grading ] [ VI.30 Grade Disputes ] [ VI.31 Distinction: in the Major, in the Thesis ] [ VI.32 Scholarships ] [ VI.33 Major Declaration Form ]

VI.29 STUDENT APPEALS OF GRADING

• Students should be informed of the procedure (e.g., posting a notice of the procedure on the departmental bulletin board or providing notice in written materials).
• A student with concerns about a grade should always be referred first to the instructor who assigned the grade.
• A process should be available at the departmental level for a student who is not satisfied with the results of an appeal to the instructor.
• While an appeal may be either written or oral, it is often helpful to have a student focus the complaint and the issues by putting the appeal in writing.
• Different types of departmental structures are possible. An appeal may be reviewed, for example, by:
  • The department chair, alone.
  • A small group of members of the executive committee, with or without the chair as a member. Group membership might vary for appeals of different courses or contents.
  • A standing committee of the department, e.g., a curriculum committee or an appeals committee.
  • The entire executive committee.
• The hearing body should request relevant information from the instructor in response to the complaint, including grading criteria.
• A procedure should exist for accommodating the recommendations of the review committee, and it should be clear whether the recommendations are advisory (and to whom) or determining.

It may be prudent for departments to have some discussion, before being faced with an actual appeal, about the obligation of an instructor in response to an appeal body's recommendation that a grade be changed. Departments should communicate with all members of the instructional staff who have grading responsibility (including visitors and lecturers) about procedures and expectations in this complex area. In the rare case when the dispute cannot be settled in the department, the Associate Dean for that Division (e.g., humanities, social sciences, or natural sciences) determines the final outcome.

It is everyone's hope that grade appeals will be infrequent, and that they can be handled by explanation and communication at the departmental level. A chair who is confronted with a potentially difficult situation may want to consult with the appropriate academic Associate Dean or General Deans' Staff members from Student Academic Affairs (for undergraduate student issues). In any event, since Student Academic Affairs approves changes only in the case of clerical or computational error, a special notification will be required in the case of a grade change resulting from an appeal.

Last reviewed: August 2006