Grade Appeal Policy and Process

I. Grade Appeal Policy

a. The instructor of record assigns a course grade. If the instructor of record is no longer a member of the faculty, the “Faculty Director” responsible for the course will be responsible for assigning a course grade.

b. A course grade is based upon the instructor’s professional assessment of the academic quality of the student’s presented work. Such assessments are not negotiable, and disputes about them do not constitute valid grounds for an appeal.

c. Grade appeals are limited to process-related grounds unrelated to academic merit, e.g., when an instructor fails to provide or implement uniform and consistent standards or bases an assessment on criteria other than academic performance.

II. Grade Appeal Process

a. Unless there are issues of a personal nature, the appeal process for a grade dispute begins with the instructor of record. The student will provide a written appeal, which will include the grounds for which the appeal is being made, the informal steps taken to resolve the dispute, and remedies sought.

1. 1. The student must raise issues of a personal nature related to a grade dispute with the instructor of record in writing to the Assistant Dean for Student Success to request a waiver to having the instructor of record determine the initial appeal.
  2. A waiver request must be sufficiently detailed and provide a basis as to why it would be improper for the instructor of record to begin with the instructor of record.
  3. The Assistant Dean for Student Success will determine whether to grant the waiver request.

b. Appeals must be initiated in writing before the last day of classes of the academic year semester immediately following the semester in which the aggrieved grade was received by the Registrar.

c. If a resolution of the grade appeal is not obtained, the student seeking the next higher level of appeal must contact the Assistant Dean for Student Success within thirty (30) days of the lower authority’s denial in order to have their appeal move to the next level of authority. Appeals not initiated within that time period will be deemed waived. The level of authority in order is:

1. 1. Instructor of record, faculty member responsible for the course
  2. Faculty Director

- - - Undergraduate and Graduate Courses in Social Work: Director of Social Work.
    - Undergraduate Courses in Education and Graduate Courses in Teacher Education: Faculty Director for Teacher Education and Undergraduate Studies.
    - Graduate Courses in other areas of Education: Faculty Director for Graduate Studies.

iii. Dean of the School of Education (or their designee)

iv. School of Education appeals panel.

d. If the student wishes to appeal the decision of the Dean, a sub-committee of the School of Education’s Committee on Policies and Standards will serve as the appeal panel.

e. The School of Education By-Laws, endorsed by the faculty, assigns the Committee on Policies and Standards the responsibility for handling “all appeals by students regarding course evaluations or standing in their programs.”

f. The Committee members chosen by the Chair of the Policy and Standards Committee to serve on the panel must consist of at least three faculty members who did not have any involvement in the appeal process leading up to this level of appeal.

1. 1. The panel will have the right to meet with the student and the instructor involved in the grade appeal either separately or together and will have the right to request a written statement from one or both parties, at their discretion.
  2. The decision to deny the student’s grade appeal or to authorize the Registrar to change the grade will be final. The panel will inform the student and the instructor of record of the decision in writing.
  3. The panel will summarize the appeal case and the decision of the appeal in writing to the Senate Committee on Instruction.

g. If the grade appeal is not resolved by the School of Education appeal panel, the only grounds for further appeal are irregularities in the School’s appeal procedures. If such a case occurs, either party may appeal the final decision of the faculty panel to the Senate Committee on Instruction.

h. The Senate Committee on Instruction may either deny the appeal or maintain that the process begins again at the point the irregularity occurred in the appeal process.

Questions? Please contact the Assistant Dean for Student Success at soeacademicservices@syr.edu.