School of Social Welfare Grade Appeal Procedures

University Senate Rules and Regulations outlines the circumstance under which grade appeals may be made and outlines the procedures for such appeals. These details may be found in the following locations within USRR:

• Article II: Academic Work and its Evaluation, especially, Section 3: Change of Grade, specifically 2.3.5
• Article V: Organization for Conflict Resolution
• Article VI, Procedures for Conflict Resolution, especially, Section 4: Jurisdiction, specifically 6.4.4: Disputes involving allegedly improper application of grading procedure

The School of Social Welfare’s procedures for appeal of a final course grade as required by USRR 2.3.5.1 are as follows:

University Senate Rules and Regulations limit the grounds for appeal of a final course grade to “improper application of the grading procedure announced for the course by the instructor.” (USRR 2.3.5) A student may appeal the final grade for the semester, but not the grade on a particular examination, quiz, essay, research paper, or other assignment. Appeals of a final grade must be submitted before Stop Day in the following semester (e.g., before Stop Day in the Spring term for classes in the previous Fall term).

Procedure for appealing a grade:

1) Before initiating a grade appeal, the student must communicate with the instructor of record to make sure there has been no error in calculating or recording the grade, and to request clarification about the reason for assigning the grade.

2) If, after communicating with the instructor, the student still believes an improper application of the grading procedure announced for the course (see above) has occurred, the student may initiate a grade appeal by completing the following steps:

A.Complete the Grade Appeal Form located at the end of this document

B.Submit a written request for Grade Appeal to the Dean or Chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, including:

     a. the completed Grade Appeal Form

     b. a copy of the course syllabus and any other written explanations of grading procedure

     c. copies of all available graded work for the course and/or a list of grades received on assignments

3) At the point this Grade Appeal is submitted to the Dean or Chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, the procedures for the School’s general Grievance Procedures come into effect. Carefully review the School’s Grievance Procedures, including Summary of Steps for Complainant to Follow, Initial Process, Mediation, and Grievance Hearing. The School’s Grievance Procedures can be found at https://policy.ku.edu/social-welfare/grievance-procedure.

4) The Chair of the committee hearing the grade appeal will make written documentation that these procedures were followed, including the results of the hearing. This documentation will include a copy of the completed Grade Appeal Form and any of its attached documents. This documentation will be provided to the student and the instructor by mail and it will also be placed in the student’s academic file.

5) The Dean’s Office will retain an electronic file of all materials relevant to the Grade Appeal for a period of five years, after which it will be destroyed.