Academic Appeals

The academic appeals process is available to students requesting exception to academic requirements, procedures and policy.

Students should carefully review the policy on academic appeals (posted below and in most recent academic catalog) before filing an academic appeal. Questions regarding the appropriateness of an appeal should be directed to a University advisor.

If an appeal is necessary, the student should complete an Academic Appeals Form (PDF) and request instructions from the University Academic Advising Office.

POLICY ON ACADEMIC APPEALS

The following policy applies to student appeals for exception to University academic policy, waiver of academic requirements or dispute over student grades.

1. All student appeals that deal with academic issues, up to and including academic dismissal, must be filed in the University Academic Advising Office, whereupon each case will be processed by the Academic Appeals Committee. It is the student’s responsibility to provide all necessary documentation to the committee for review. The committee will take into account information from the instructor, as well as information from any other source the committee deems appropriate. The committee will render a decision in the case.
   
   
2. If the issue is grade-related, a continuing student must first contact the instructor whose grade or decision he or she is appealing and request consideration. The student may also contact his or her academic advisor. If the matter remains unresolved, the student must notify, in writing, the chair of the department in which the instructor is a member. Written notification must be received no later than the completion of the seventh week of the term following the semester in which the grade was awarded. If the contested grade was awarded in the fall semester, this appeal procedure must be initiated no later than the end of the seventh week of the following spring semester. If the contested grade was awarded for the spring semester, inter-session, or summer session, this appeal procedure must be initiated not later than the end of the seventh week of the following fall semester. No course grades will be subject to change after final graduation certification. See Graduate Programs for policy on academic appeals for graduate students.
   
   
3. If the student remains dissatisfied, he or she should contact the associate dean of the college in which the instructor is a member for information or advice on possible resolution of the dispute. The above described channels of resolution must be exhausted before the student may submit his or her grade-related dispute to the Academic Appeals Committee.
   
   The student may request that the case be reconsidered by the Academic Appeals Committee only in the event that new information is available after the committee has rendered its decision.
   
   
4. The decision of the Academic Appeals Committee is considered final. If the student believes that due process was not followed, he or she may file an appeal with the Faculty Committee, which will render a decision as to whether the Academic Appeals Committee afforded due process to the student in its consideration of his or her appeal.