02.03.33 Grade Appeals

01. PURPOSE

01.01     Establish a procedure through which a student in the College of Health Professions may appeal a final course grade earned in a course offered by a school, department, or program in the College of Health Professions.

01.02     Define the composition of the Grade Appeal Committee of the College of Health Professions. For the purpose of this policy, the following definitions will be used:

                a.            “Texas State” refers to Texas State University.

                b.            “College: refers to the College of Health Professions.

                c.             “Unit” refers to a program, department or school.

d.            “Chair” refers to the Unit Leader of a school, department or program within the college and through which the course was offered.

e.            “Committee” refers to the Grade Appeals Committee appointed by the college’s dean.

f.             “Sub-committee” refers to a sub-committee of the Grade Appeals Committee appointed by the Grade Appeals Committee chair.

g.            “Committee chair” refers to the chair of the Grade Appeals Committee.

h.            “Instructor” refers to the chair of the Grade Appeals Committee. 

i.              “Appeal” refers to the appeal of the grade the student has earned in a course.

02. POLICY

02.01             A Texas State student has the right to appeal the grade earned in a course completed at Texas State.  The Texas State policy is included in the appropriate Texas State catalog.

02.02             The University policy for “Change of Grades” for CHP students states, “Students who wish to protest a grade earned in a course should first discuss the grade with the instructor. If no resolution is reached, the student may appeal the grade to the department chair/school director. If no satisfactory conclusion can be reached at this level, the student may appeal to the college dean whose decision is final. In accordance with Texas State’s records retention policies, a student appeal for a change of grade must be filed no later than two years after the grade is issued.”

02.03             The college will follow the university policy for grade appeals. The Grade Appeal Committee is an advisory body to the dean. The procedures for completing a grade appeal will be reviewed on an as needed basis, but no less than every three years. The grade appeal policy will be made available to students by inclusion in a department or program student handbook, or by any other mechanism deemed appropriate by that department or program.

03. COLLEGE GRADE APPEALS COMMITTEE

03.01     The dean will appoint a Grade Appeals Committee. Members of the committee:

                                a.            Consist of a representative from each academic unit;

                                b.            Are appointed on a rotating basis;

c.             Serve for a 3-year term, with the possibility of an additional term, and when a member is unable to complete a term, a replacement will be appointed to fill the remaining portion of the term;

d.            Receive a copy of the current policy at the time of the appointment.

                03.02     A committee chair will be appointed by the dean. The committee chair:

03.02             A committee chair will be appointed by the dean. The committee chair:

a.         Will serve a one-year term, with the possibility of reappointment.

b.        Must have served as a member for at least one year prior to appointment as committee chair;

c.         Has authority to request additional information from the student or the instructor prior to the committee review of the appeal;

d.        Has discretionary authority to appoint the sub-committee for review of a grade appeal;

e.         Has the authority to direct the review by the full committee or by a subcommittee.

03.03             A committee member who was the instructor of the course for which the grade has been appealed may not be present during the deliberative process.

03.04             A committee member who represents the department or program from which the appeal has been made will serve as an ex-officio member of the committee and may be present during the committee's discussion of the appeal but may not be present during the committee's deliberative process.

03.05             A sub-committee will be appointed by the committee chair and will:

a.         Be made up of at least three members of the committee,

b.        Have a sub-committee chair appointed by the committee chair to be responsible for completing the appropriate paperwork to document the sub-committee recommendations,

c.         Not include a member who was the course instructor or represents the department or program from which the appeal has been made.

04. PROCEDURE

04.01             Student Responsibility: Once the final course grade has been assigned, a student who does not believe the final course grade was appropriately assigned:

a.         Must first attempt to negotiate a resolution with the instructor by submitting a written request (i.e., letter or email) for reconsideration within two years following the date grades were submitted to the Registrar's Office. This request should identify the course number, date, and grade.

b.        Must appeal to the chair/director if the instructor is unavailable during that period or is no longer employed by Texas State.

c.         If the student is unable to negotiate a satisfactory resolution with the instructor of record, the student must submit the appeal to the chair/director using the College of Health Professions grade appeal form (Attachment A). The initial written request to the instructor must be included with the appeal. The student has ten days after receiving an answer from the instructor to sign Attachment A and have it forwarded to the Chair/Director.

d.        It is the student's responsibility to provide all documentation requested on the grade appeal form in an objective and thorough manner. Failure to provide all such information will result in the committee's rejection of the appeal upon receipt.

e.         If at any time during the appeal process the student wishes to substantially alter the basis of the appeal, the student must re-initiate the process beginning with an attempt to negotiate a resolution with the course instructor.

            04.02             Instructor Responsibility:

a.         Attempt to negotiate a resolution with the student appealing a final course grade.

b.        Provide appropriate objective documentation of the response to the student's appeal on the grade appeal form within 10 working days of receipt of the written appeal. Submit this form with any documentation to the chair/director.

c.         Provide additional information to the committee when requested to do so by the committee.

04.03             Chair/Director Responsibility: Upon receipt of an appeal the chair/director will:

a.         Notify the instructor of the continuing appeal and allow the instructor to clarify the process through which the grade being appealed was earned by the student.

b.        Review all materials submitted regarding the appeal by the student and the course instructor.

c.         Within 10 working days of receipt of the written appeal, provide a written decision on the grade appeal form to the student.

d.        Provide the instructor with a copy of the written decision.

            04.04             To Complete the Appeal:

a.         If the student is satisfied with the decision of the chair/director, the student will, within ten days, respond on the appropriate section of the grade appeal form, Attachment A.

b.        If the student is not satisfied with the decision of the chair/director the student will, within ten days, respond on the appropriate section of the grade appeal form (Attachment A) to request the chair/director to forward the appeal to the dean's office.

04.05             Dean’s Responsibility: Once received in the dean's office, the dean will, within five days:

a.         Notify the committee chair of the appeal.

b.        Provide the appeal packet to the committee chair for initial review.

04.06             Grade Appeals Committee Responsibility: Upon completing the initial review of the appeal, the committee chair will:

a.         Notify the committee of the appeal or appoint a sub-committee to review the appeal.

b.        Determine if additional information will be needed for clarification, then:

1)        contact the student to request additional documentation to support or clarify the appeal,

2)        contact the instructor to request additional documentation to support or clarify the instructor's response to the appeal,

3)        contact the department/program/school chair/director to request additional documentation to support or clarify the issues of the appeal.

04.07             Committee or Sub-Committee Responsibility:

a.         Review all materials submitted for the appeal.

b.        Base its decision on all materials and information provided for the appeal.

c.         Discuss individual conclusions and come to consensus during a physical or electronic meeting of the committee or sub-committee.

d.        Submit a written recommendation on the grade appeal form to the dean within 10 working days of notification of the appeal.

e.         Note: If the grade appeal occurs during a semester break, the time limit will extend into the next long semester, and the ten-day limit will begin at the start of that semester. If the grade appeal occurs a the end of the semester, the time limit of ten days will begin with the start of the next long semester.

            04.08             Dean's Notification to the Student:

a.         The dean will review the committee's written recommendation and documentation in support of the appeal.

b.        The dean will provide written notification of the final decision within 5 working days of receipt of the committee’s written decision to:

1)        the student,

2)        the committee chair, with explanation of the decision substantially from the committee recommendation,

3)        the chair/director,

4)        the instructor.

05. MAJOR RESONSIBILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CHP/PPS

05.01             Major responsibilities for routine assignments associated with this PPS include the following: the dean of the College of Health Professions shall review this PPS E3Y.

06. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

06.01     This CHP/PPS has been approved by the following individuals in his/her official capacity and represents college policy and procedures from the date of this document until superseded.