UWM-L&S: Faculty Document No. 579 (revised)

College of Letters and Science Faculty Document No. 579 (revised)
February 8, 2001

Recommendation of the Academic Policies and Appeals Committee to Create a Uniform Department Greivance/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

According to UWM Policies and Procedures 1.02(1), "the University Faculty has charge of all educational matters which concern more than one college, school or division, or which are otherwise of general interest." UWM Policies and Procedures 2.03(1) states that the College faculty has the duty and power "to control matters involving scholarship, including the advancement of students, and dismissal for defective scholarship." For each course, the Faculty (in S-28 of "Selected Academic and Administrative Policies") has invested in the individual instructor of record for a course the responsibility for evaluating student work in the class and assigning grades. Faculty members, graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), or other instructional staff also may interact with students in the classroom or in the advising process. On certain occasions, students may experience actions on the part of a faculty member, GTA, or other instructional staff member assigned to the course that cause the student to consider filing a grievance or grade appeal. 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. If the difficulty cannot be resolved informally, the student has thirty (30) working days from the date of the instructor's action to initiate a formal appeal as indicated below. Therefore, efforts to reach an informal resolution should be initiated as soon as possible.

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 written statement of appeal. The statement should describe relevant facts surrounding the appeal/grievance and identify actions that will resolve the problem to the student's satisfaction. In response to this statement, 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 report will be given to both the student and the faculty member, and both the statement of appeal and the mediation report will be retained in the department's files. If a proposed resolution is agreeable, the student will be asked to indicate formally that the matter is resolved. If the proposed resolution is not acceptable to either the student or the faculty member, or if no resolution has been proposed, then the process continues to Step 2.
Step 2	If the situation is not resolved in the Step 1 process, the student or the faculty member 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 and the faculty member an opportunity to present their cases, and recommend a course of action in its own report. The report will be given to both the student and the faculty member, and a copy will be retained in the department's files. If a proposed resolution is agreeable, the student and faculty member will be asked to indicate formally that the matter is resolved. If the proposed resolution is not acceptable to either the student or the faculty member, or if no resolution has been proposed, then the process continues to Step 3. Both the student and the faculty member will be informed that the decision arising from Step 3 is final.
Step 3	If the situation is not resolved in the Step 2 process, the student or the faculty member may request, within ten (10) working days of receiving a copy of the written report from the departmental committee, that the appeal/grievance be referred to the Office of the Associate Dean for humanities, natural sciences, or social sciences, as appropriate. The Associate Dean will review all documents, independently consider all information s/he deems appropriate, afford the student and the faculty member an opportunity to present their cases, and decide on a course of action. Following evaluation at this level, the decision of the Associate Dean is final.

While due consideration will be given to summer or other recess periods, failure by the student or the faculty member to meet any of the prescribed deadlines terminates the appeal procedure.