Grade Challenge
The following procedure is provided to students who believe they have been treated unfairly by a faculty member in the final grade given for the course:
The student may initiate consideration of the challenged grade with the faculty member who gave the grade. The grade challenge must occur within four weeks after grades were posted on the student’s academic record.
If the issue isn’t resolved during informal discussions with the faculty member, the student must start the Application for Formal Inquiry. The Application for Formal Inquiry is available in the Office of the Registrar or on the Registrar's website.
Step One: The student and the faculty member will provide a brief summary of their discussion(s) regarding the student’s request for a change of grade. The faculty member will sign the Application for Formal Inquiry before the student continues the process by meeting with the faculty member's department chair/program director. Note, the faculty member must sign the Application for Formal Inquiry within four weeks of when grades were posted to the student's academic record. If a faculty member is unavailable at the time of the appeal a student may move to Step Two without obtaining the faculty member’s signature. The student must provide written documentation (e.g., e-mail) showing that he/she attempted to contact the faculty member.
Step Two: If the student’s request is not resolved with the faculty member’s department chair/program director, the student and the faculty member’s department chair/program director will provide a brief summary of their discussion(s) regarding the student's request for a change of grade. The faculty member’s department chair/program director will sign the Application for Formal Inquiry before the student continues the process by meeting with the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Step Three: If the student’s request is not resolved with the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, the student and the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs will provide a brief summary of their discussion(s) regarding the student’s request for a change of grade. The Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs will sign the Application for Formal Inquiry before the student submits the Application for Formal Inquiry to the Office of the Registrar for review by the appropriate Student Academic Standards Committee. The appropriate college dean will be notified when the Application for Formal Inquiry reaches Step Three.
Step Four: The Application for Formal Inquiry will be reviewed by the Graduate/Undergraduate Student Academic Standards Committee. An Application for Formal Inquiry submitted by a professional level student will be reviewed by the Undergraduate Student Academic Standards Committee unless the appeal is for a course that is offered by a graduate program (e.g., MBA or MSHI) or for a student in the last two years of the professional program. In such instances, the appeal will be reviewed by the Graduate Student Academic Standards Committee. The final grade will be determined by the Committee which will then report the grade to the student, the faculty member, the student’s adviser, and the Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs.
If at any time during steps 1-3 all parties are satisfied with the outcome, a change of grade form can be filed along with the Application for Formal Inquiry in the Office of the Registrar. The Office of the Registrar will process the change of grade form and will then report the grade to the student, the faculty member, the student’s adviser and the Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs.
If the University representative is associated with multiple roles within these steps, the lower of the two steps will be considered complete. Faculty response is expected unless the faculty member has left the institution.