Grade Appeal Procedures
The stages of the appeal process for all courses are as follows:
- Appeal to the Associate Dean
If the concerns are not resolved to the student’s satisfaction, and if the student continues to believe the grade does not reflect his/her performance in the course as outlined by the instructor in the course syllabus, the student may submit a written statement to the Associate Dean who supervises the discipline of the course no later than the end of the fifth week of classes of the first semester following the semester the grade was issued . The written statement must outline the student’s concerns with the issued grade. The chair or Associate Dean will research the situation and issue a written response to the student within ten working days of receiving the written statement of appeal.
- Appeal to the Dean
If the concerns are not resolved to the student’s satisfaction, and if the student continues to believe the grade does not reflect his/her performance in the course as outlined by the instructor in the course syllabus, the student may submit a written statement to the Dean who supervises the discipline of the course no later than the end of the ninth week of classes of the first semester following the semester the grade was issued . The written statement must outline the student’s concerns with the issued grade. The dean will convene an Ad Hoc Appeal Committee consisting of a minimum of three persons, one of whom will be a student approved by a Student Government Association officer. The remaining two committee members must be personnel from an academic program other than that of the class being appealed. The personnel may be an academic dean, Associate Dean and/or faculty member. A date will be scheduled for the student and the instructor to meet with the Ad Hoc Committee. The committee will begin with the presumption that the grade is correct as assigned. The function of the committee is to evaluate the grading procedures as well as, if necessary, re-evaluate the student’s assignments for the course in terms of criteria established by the instructor of the course. The committee’s decision may be to keep the assigned grade, raise the grade, or lower the grade. The dean will report in writing to the student the committee’s decision within ten working days of the committee meeting. If the decision is to change the grade, and the instructor refuses to change it, the Dean will process the grade change using the college’s established grade change process. The decision of the committee is final unto all parties of the grievance.
NOTE: Students in “lock step” programs may continue the next course in the sequence at their own risk. If a failing grade is not changed, the student must withdraw from the next sequenced class at the time of receiving the committee’s ruling. No tuition or fee refunds will be given.