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Request for Review of a Final Course Grade
Guidelines for Students
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Office of Academic Affairs
(Policy approved by the Faculty Council, April 16, 1998)
Students at UNC Charlotte have the right to appeal a final course grade
under certain conditions. A final course grade will be deemed to have been
assigned impermissibly or arbitrarily if a student can establish, with
a preponderance of evidence, that:
1. the course grade was based upon the student's race, color, religion,
national origin, age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, or for some
other arbitrary or personal reason unrelated to the instructor's exercise
of his or her professional academic judgment in the evaluation of the academic
performance of the student; or
2. the course grade was assigned in a manner not consistent with the
standards and procedures for evaluation established by the instructor,
usually at the beginning of the course in the course syllabus but supplemented
on occasion during the semester in other written or oral communications
directed to the class as a whole; or
3. the course grade assigned by the instructor was the result
of a clear and material mistake in calculating or recording grades.
Individual elements (e.g., assignments, tests, activities, projects) which
contribute to a course grade are generally NOT subject to appeal or subsequent
review during a grade appeals procedure. However, individual elements
may be appealed under these procedures providing all of the following conditions
are met:
a. The student presents compelling evidence that one or more individual
elements were graded on arbitrary or impermissible grounds (defined in
1-3 above in this section);
b. Grounds can be established for determining a professionally sound
grade for the appealed element(s); and
c. The ensuing grade for each appealed element would have resulted in
a different course grade than that assigned by the faculty member.
Allegations that sexual harassment was the reason a final course
grade was impermissibly or arbitrarily assigned by the instructor must
be addressed according to procedures set forth in University Policy
Statement # 61 rather than from the following procedures.
Procedures
As soon as possible after the student receives the formal grade report
of a final grade that the student believes is incorrect, the student shall
first discuss it with the instructor who assigned the grade. If the
student is unable to resolve the grievance over a final course grade through
consultation with the instructor, a written request for review of the course
grade shall be submitted to the Chair of the Department or the Director
of the interdisciplinary degree program in which the course was taught.
Written requests for review of a final course grade by a department
chair or program director must be submitted within the first four weeks
of the next regular academic semester. Requests for review submitted
after the deadline will be heard only in exceptional cases as determined
by the Dean of the college in which the appealed course grade occurred.
Students requesting a grade review assume the burden of proof.
Therefore, the "Request for Review" must include:
a. A statement of the reasons the student believes the grade
was impermissibly or arbitrarily assigned;
b. The steps taken to resolve the disagreement over the assigned
course grade; and
c. The resolution sought.
The "Request for Review" shall be accompanied by any evidence the student
believes supports the conclusion that the grade was impermissibly or arbitrarily
assigned. Evidence might include papers, tests, syllabi, or written documentation
from witnesses. The student must demonstrate that the instructor
applied irrelevant or impermissible criteria in evaluating the student's
academic performance, that the instructor failed to follow his or her course
evaluation standards, or that the course grade was assigned as the result
of a clear and material mistake in calculating or recording grades.
That the student simply disagrees with the assigned grade does not constitute
a basis for a review. Students can obtain advice and assistance
from the Dean of Students on how
to request a grade review.
A student alleging that the course grade assigned was impermissible
or arbitrary due to sexual harassment by the instructor should follow
the procedures set forth in University Policy
Statement # 61 rather than those set forth here.
CAUTION: Falsification or fabrication of information by the student
in support of a final course grade appeal can cause the student to be subject
to disciplinary action under the Code
of Student Academic Integrity.
Policy
and Procedures for Student Appeals of Final Course Grades
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