College of Letters and Science Faculty Document No. 579 November 2, 2000 Recommendation of the Academic Policies and Appeals Committee to Create a Uniform Departmental Grievance/Grade Appeal Procedure Recommendation for Action That the College of Letters and Science Faculty adopt the uniform departmental Grievance/Grade Appeal Procedure presented in this document. Rationale First, a uniform grievance/appeal procedure will bring consistency to College departments, resulting in less confusion for faculty members and students as well as ensuring that students are receiving accurate information. Second, creating a uniform grievance/grade appeal procedure will update existing procedures that were approved in the 1970's. Some of the departments no longer exist, have changed names, or have been combined with other departments. Third, because of personnel changes through the years, some faculty members are not aware of their department's grievance/grade appeal procedure. Approval of a uniform procedure will make accurate information more readily available. Finally, many students go to the Office of Student Life (OSL) for information on filing a grievance/appeal. OSL is charged with maintaining records of all departmental grievance/appeal procedures. Those records do not reflect modifications that some departments have made since the 1970's policies were approved. A uniform policy will assist OSL when working with students who wish to file grievances/appeals in an L&S department. COLLEGE OF LETTERS AND SCIENCE Grievance/Grade Appeal Procedure Informal Resolution of Grievance/Grade Appeal A student who experiences an action on the part of an instructor that causes the student to consider filing a grievance or a grade appeal should make every effort to resolve the situation through discussion with the instructor. Many such situations arise as the result of misunderstanding or incomplete information. The majority of situations in which students consider taking a formal action are resolved informally. If the situation involves a teaching assistant, the student first should discuss the situation with the TA. If the situation is not resolved to the student's satisfaction, the student should discuss the matter with the supervising instructor for the course. These efforts to reach an informal resolution should be initiated immediately following the action that results in the situation. If the difficulty cannot be resolved informally, the student has thirty (30) working days from the date of the action to initiate a formal appeal as indicated below. Formal Grievance/Grade Appeal Procedure Step 1 Within thirty (30) working days from the date of the action prompting the appeal or grievance, the student may file with the chair of the department or his/her designee a letter that includes a statement of all relevant facts surrounding the appeal/grievance. In response to this letter, the chair or designee will meet jointly or individually with all parties in an effort to resolve the problem and will prepare a written "mediation report" of the results of his/her mediation efforts. The appeal and mediation report will be retained in the department's file. Step 2 If the situation is not resolved in the Step 1 process, the student may request, within ten (10) working days of receiving a copy of the written mediation report, that the chair or designee send the appeal/grievance to an existing departmental appeals committee. If none exists, the chair or designee will appoint a committee to hear the appeal/grievance. The committee will gather and consider all information it deems appropriate, afford the student an opportunity to present her/his case, and make a decision. The student is informed of the committee's decision in writing, and a copy of the "committee decision" is retained in the department's files. Step 3 The student may appeal the Step 2 decision to the Office of the Associate Dean for Humanities, Natural Sciences, or Social Sciences, as appropriate, within ten (10) working days of the date of the letter notifying the student of the Step 2 decision. The Associate Dean shall obtain all written documents associated with the formal appeal. Following evaluation at this level, the decision of the Associate Dean is final. Failure on the part of the student to meet any of the prescribed deadlines terminates the appeal procedure.