The student may not base a grade appeal on disagreement with the grading policy as established and published by the course instructor.
Only the final grade submitted by the course instructor at the conclusion of the course can be appealed. Grades on individual course assignments cannot be appealed separately in this process although demonstration of instructor’s error on the grades for individual assignments may serve as the primary evidence for a successful appeal of the final course grade.
The student may base a grade appeal on the instructors’ (a) failure to follow a published grading policy in calculating grades for the course as a whole or in calculating the grade for the complainant and/or (b) erroneous or unfair application of the published grading policy or standards in determining the complainant’s grade in the course.
Informal Efforts at Resolution
In many situations, an academic issue may be resolved through informal efforts and no appeal will be necessary. Thus, parties must first attempt to resolve an academic issue informally.
For Grade Appeals, this means that the Student must try to informally resolve the Grade concern directly with the Instructor before appealing to the Program Coordinator. Informal efforts at resolution include emails, phone calls, office visits, and/or any other digital or in person communications related to a Grade dispute.
Guidance Regarding Documentation
The burden of proof in the grade appeal is always on the student. Therefore, the student must substantiate the grievance. Retention of all documentation from a course, including but not limited to the syllabus, tests, papers, and any other graded evaluations is strongly recommended.
Formal Grade Appeal Procedure
Before you begin your appeal, make sure you have:
Documented proof of meeting with the instructor who gave you the grade you are appealing.
Written appeal request explicating the reason(s) why the academic decision should be reconsidered.
Any supporting or additional documentation may be compiled into a single pdf.
Click on each of the steps below for information about the process.
This is the first step in a formal Grade Appeals Process. Submit this form if your dissatisfaction with a course grade meets the criteria for appealing a grade as indicated above, and only AFTERyou have met with the course instructor.
You must have theinstructor's decision in writing to submit this appeal. This decision must be uploaded in a single pdf with no special characters in the title.
You can find specific information about your program in the Graduate Catalog.
Upon form submission, a confirmation email will automatically be sent to the office of Graduate, Professional & Interdisciplinary Studies (GPIS) who will then notify the instructor, advisor, and Program Coordinator of the submission.
This is the second step in aformalGrade Appeals Process. Submit this form if your dissatisfaction with a course grade meets the criteria for appealing a grade as indicated above, and onlyAFTER you have met with the course instructor ANDProgram Coordinator.
You must have theinstructor's decisionandCoordinator's decisionin writing to submit this appeal. These must be uploaded individually as a single pdf with no special characters in the title.
You can find specific information about your program in theGraduate Catalog.
Upon form submission, a confirmation email will automatically be sent to the office of Graduate, Professional & Interdisciplinary Studies (GPIS) who will then notify the instructor, advisor, Program Coordinator, and Academic Dean of the submission.
This is the third step in aformalGrade Appeals Process. Submit this form if your dissatisfaction with a course grade meets the criteria for appealing a grade as indicated below, and onlyAFTER you have met with the course instructor, Program Coordinator, ANDAcademic Dean.
You must have the instructor's decision, Coordinator's decision,andDean's decisionin writing to submit this appeal. These must be uploaded individually as a single pdf with no special characters in the title.
You can find specific information about your program in the Graduate Catalog.
Upon form submission, a confirmation email will automatically be sent to the office of Graduate, Professional & Interdisciplinary Studies (GPIS) who will then notify the instructor, advisor, Program Coordinator, Academic Dean, and the Graduate Council of the submission.
This is the final step in a formal Grade Appeals Process. Submit this form if your dissatisfaction with a course grade meets the criteria for appealing a grade as indicated below, and only AFTER you have met with the course instructor, Program Coordinator,Academic Dean, ANDthe Graduate Council.
You must have the instructor's decision, Coordinator's decision,Dean's decision,andGradCo's decision in writing to submit this appeal. These must be uploaded individually as a single pdf with no special characters in the title.
You can find specific information about your program in theGraduate Catalog.
Upon form submission, a confirmation email will automatically be sent to the office of Graduate, Professional & Interdisciplinary Studies (GPIS) who will then notify the instructor, advisor, Program Coordinator, Academic Dean, the Presiding Officer of the Graduate Council, and the Provost of the submission.
