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Instructional
Program Policies Grade
Grievance and Other Related Academic Complaints The procedure
to file a grade grievance and other related academic complaint is as
follows: A student
with a complaint should, where appropriate, first try to reach agreement
with the faculty member. Upon being notified of a student complaint, the
faculty member must meet with the student to discuss the complaint within
10 working days (working days do not include holidays or other days that
University offices are closed). If
the faculty member does not meet with the student within 10 calendar days,
or if such a meeting would be inappropriate under the circumstances, or if
the issue remains unresolved after a meeting between the student and the
faculty member, the student may submit a written appeal to the chair of
the faculty member’s department, who will attempt to mediate the
complaint. If the student does not know the faculty member’s department,
or cannot ascertain the department chair, the student should contact the
Dean of Students for undergraduate students and the Assistant Provost for
Graduate Studies for graduate students. The appeal must be submitted
within 5 working days of the meeting between the student and the faculty
member. The
department chair must issue a written decision on the appeal and a
description of the proposed resolution, if any, no later than 15 working
days after its submission. A student may
appeal a decision by the department chair to the dean of the college in
which the department is organized. If requested, the department chair
shall provide the name and contact information for the appropriate dean to
the student. This appeal request must be submitted no more than 5 working
days after the student’s receipt of the department chair’s decision.
The dean will
establish a hearing panel within 15 working days of his or her receipt of
the appeal or, if that is too close to the end of a semester or session,
within 15 working days after the beginning of the next semester. This
hearing panel shall consist of 5 members, including 3 faculty members,
only 1 of whom may be from the same department as
the faculty member in question. The other 2 faculty members shall be drawn
from other departments within that college or, if the college has too few
departments, from other colleges. The hearing panel shall also include 2
undergraduate student members (for an undergraduate student’s appeal), or
2 graduate students members (for a graduate student’s appeal), neither of
whom may be enrolled in the faculty member’s department.
The hearing
panel shall:
Within 10
working days after the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing panel shall
provide a written decision and proposed resolution, if any, to the student
and the faculty member. The hearing panel shall also inform the
Registrar’s Office (for undergraduate students) or the Office of Graduate
Studies (for graduate students) of the decision. A student or
faculty member who is not satisfied with the decision by the hearing panel
may appeal to the Academic
Appeals Committee of the Faculty Senate. This appeal must be must be
submitted within 30 calendar days after receipt of the hearing panel’s
decision. This Committee, on reviewing the case, may uphold the decision
of the college committee without a hearing or decide the appeal should be
heard. A student or
faculty member who is not satisfied with the decision by the college
committee (Stage 3) may make a final appeal to the Academic Appeals
Committee of the Faculty Senate. This appeal must be submitted within
The Academic
Appeals Committee, on reviewing the case, may uphold the college committee
decision (Stage 3) without a hearing. However, if upon review this
Committee determines that an appeal is warranted because of flawed
previous process, a disagreement with the previous decision, or the
perceived need for further investigation, then the committee must conduct
a hearing prior to rendering a final decision. For purposes of a hearing
and depending upon the nature of the appeal, the Academic Appeals
Committee Chairperson may either appoint an ad hoc panel (consisting of
three faculty members and two students) from among the current Committee
members or the Committee, at its discretion, may serve as the entire
hearing panel. In conducting the hearing, the Committee should be
cognizant of regulations affecting professional practice. If the grievant
is a graduate student, the 2 student panel members should be graduate
students, and if the grievant is an undergraduate student, the student
panel members should be undergraduates. During the hearing, the student
and faculty member may be assisted by an advisor they have chosen from the
University community. The process set forth for the hearing panel (Stage
3) also shall govern this hearing. The decision of the Academic Appeals
Committee or, if applicable, the ad hoc committee, shall be final. The
committee shall inform the Registrar's Office (for undergraduate students)
or the Office of Graduate Studies (for graduate students) of the
decision. The decision
of the Academic Appeals Committee or, if applicable, the ad hoc committee,
shall be final. The committee shall inform the Registrar’s Office (for
undergraduate students) or the Office of Graduate Studies (for graduate
students) of the decision. No grade
shall be changed as a result of a grade grievance complaint, except that
the University Registrar’s Office is authorized to change the student’s
grade in the following situations:
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