If students receive a grade for an assignment that they believe does not accurately represent their performance in a given course, students can email the professor of the course, requesting a grade change appeal. Appeals must be submitted by students within one week of receiving the grade and prior to the end of the term that the grade was awarded. 

Students must include in their written appeal the specific reasons they are appealing the original grade they received, as well as the evidence they feel justifies a grade change (e.g., “I disagree with my grade of 70% in the ‘cold call’ row; if you look at 2:35–2:55 in my video, you will see that I asked the question, waited a couple of seconds, and then stated the student’s name, per the criteria for strong cold call that we learned in class.”)

Providing students the opportunity to request a grade change appeal recognizes that:

• Every student has a right to receive a grade assigned upon a fair and unprejudiced evaluation based on a practice that is not arbitrary. Below are the reasons for which students can appeal to change a grade for a course: 

  • The grade awarded by the faculty member is not reflective of key components included in the assignment. 

  • The grade awarded by the faculty member does not accurately represent the student’s performance on an assessment.

  • The grade awarded by the faculty member was made in error.

• Faculty members have the right to assign a grade based on fair professional judgment ensuring all grades are viewable on Canvas and applied equally.

The grade change appeal process is not intended to be a means for students to resubmit coursework to boost their grades in a given course unless it is found that a grade was not given fairly or based on a prejudiced evaluation.

• Faculty members have the agency to approve student appeals. 

  • If faculty members approve an appeal, they will communicate the new assignment score to the student and directly update the score on Canvas. If the grade appeal is for post-end-of-term score changes, after the faculty member communicates the new assignment score to the student, the faculty member will consult with the department chair, communicate the new assignment score to the student, and the department chair will submit a grade change process form to the Registrar’s Office (after notifying the dean) so that students’ transcripts can reflect the updated course grade.  

If faculty members deny the appeal and students would like to appeal that decision, students may appeal to the chair of the department for the course by emailing [email protected] and requesting the decision be reviewed. The senior instructional lead (dean or department chair) will review the case and notify the student of the final determination. Students will receive notice from the senior instructional lead (dean or department chair) of the status of their appeal within one week. If the senior instructional lead (dean or department chair) approves the appeal, the senior instructional lead (dean or department chair) will work with the professor of the course to update the score directly on Canvas for interim grade appeals or proceed with the grade-change process for post-end-of-term score changes.