S t u d e n t H a n d b o o k: C o m p l a i n t s , G r i e v a n c e s , G r a d e A p p e a l s & C o d e o f C o n d u c t
Grade Disputes, Appeals & Challenges
Understanding What Qualifies for a Grade Appeal Filing
The purpose of the Grade Appeal Process is to provide students with a safeguard against receiving an unfair final grade (based on a calculation error; a misrepresentation of the grading scale (as outlined in the syllabus); incorrect application of the grading scale; or other human errors which academically injured the student), while respecting the academic responsibility of the instructor. Thus, this procedure recognizes that, • Every student has a right to receive a grade assigned upon a fair and unprejudiced evaluation based on a method that is neither arbitrary nor capricious; and, • Instructors have the right to assign a grade based on any method that is professionally acceptable to all students and applied equally. • Disagreement with the establish standards applied in the course to evaluate or calculate final grades or projects is not criteria to appeal a grade unless such standards are professionally unacceptable and are not applied equally within a specific class or if a calculation error can be demonstrated. • Lawson State Community College holds that the instructor of record has the professional obligation and expertise to administer grades. Thus, grade appeals are not designed to go back through the entire class and challenge individual test questions and individual test answers or individual grades on various assignments, projects, etc… in the course unless the student can demonstrate that a calculation error has occurred. Instructors have the SPECIAL NOTE: Lawson State Community College holds that the instructor of record has the professional obligation and expertise to administer final grades. Thus, the grade appeal process should not be treated or turned into an exploration on the part of the student to find points in order to pass. The grade appeal process does not involve going back and looking at every assignment (and every question within every assignment) and examining every exam question in hopes of finding points. Rather, grade disputes must center on a specific claim of unfairness (directed and applied on the single student) or should center a specific error or arbitrariness (i.e., calculation error, weighting of grades error, gradebook errors) that the student feels the faculty member made in the calculation of the final grade. The re-vetting of assignments and old exams is not permissible under the grade appeal process . Students who wish to question an exam, assignment, or project results must do so during the administration or review of that exam (while the class is up and running) and work with the instructor of record for clarification of individual assignment grades at the time they are administered, not beyond. If unresolved, the student must use the informal complaint process to resolve individual grade disputes. Grade Appeals, then, deal with final grades, not specific test questions or assignment questions. Hence, grade appeals are not designed to dissect a course and should not be treated as such.
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