Grade Appeals (UNXD)
University Wide Cross-Disciplinary Courses (UNXD)
The Designing the Future(s) Initiative develops and proposes new courses under the UNXD designation. UNXD courses include university-wide cross-disciplinary courses or courses with an application to a range of fields. These courses also include those offered in non-traditional formats (e.g. single credit or flexible credit practice or skills courses) and courses offered by non-degree granting campus units (such as the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation). UNXD courses might also involve experiential opportunities that involve faculty from multiple schools. With the exception of grade appeals (described below), registration and integrity issues arising in UNXD courses will follow the student through his/her advising dean and will be handled in accordance with the standards and processes laid out in the student bulletin.
Grade Appeals
When a student thinks that a grade in a UNXD course is not justified, he or she must first discuss the grade on an informal basis with the professor of the course. Within the first twenty-one calendar days of the next semester, the student and professor should discuss the grade. (Faculty may be unavailable between semesters. For spring and summer classes, the next semester is the fall semester.) After having discussed the grade with the faculty member, the student may consider a formal appeal of the grade.
Grounds for appeal
An error in grading procedures or inequity in the application of policies stated in the course syllabus are grounds for an appeal. A disagreement with the professional judgment of the professor should not be the basis of an appeal or any resulting change of grade. The appeal process involves a thorough review, which could result in the decision that the grade was too low, or, if such an error or inequity was found to have benefitted the student, that the grade was too high.
Initiating an appeal
If the student believes that there is reason for an appeal of the professor’s assigned grade, the student may make a formal written appeal to the Vice Provost for Education. In the appeal letter, the student must state the grounds for the appeal and document any claims of grading error or inequities in as much detail as possible. Such an appeal must be filed within the first thirty calendar days of the semester after that in which the grade was assigned. The Vice Provost for Education must then notify the faculty member of the appeal and provide a copy of the formal appeal.
Informal resolution of the appeal
The Vice Provost for Education may try to resolve the appeal informally, but s/he has no authority to change the grade assigned by the faculty member at this point in the process.
Recommendation of faculty committee, and resolution of appeal
If the Vice Provost for Education does not resolve the appeal informally, s/he shall constitute a four-person committee, comprised of three faculty members and an Advising Dean from the student’s school (“appeals committee”), to review the complaint and decide the issue.
After hearing from the faculty member and the student (or determining that they are unavailable), and taking whatever other steps it deems necessary, the appeals committee shall make a recommendation to the Vice Provost for Education regarding whether to sustain the original grade, raise it, or lower it.
The Vice Provost for Education will follow the recommendation of the appeals committee, absent extraordinary circumstances. The decision of the Vice Provost for Education is final. The Vice Provost for Education must report to the student, the faculty member, and the student’s Dean how the appeal has been concluded no later than sixty days after the beginning of the next semester.
If the Vice Provost for Education is the faculty member who assigned the original grade, or if the Vice Provost for Education does not report on the resolution within sixty days after the beginning of the next semester, the decision of the appeals committee will be deemed final.