School of Nursing Appeal Policy

SCHOOL OF NURSING FORMAL GRADE APPEAL PROCESS

Students have the right to challenge a final course grade if they believe it was assigned incorrectly. Before a grade appeal is submitted, the student must meet with the course faculty to review grades and determine if a grade appeal is appropriate.

A formal appeal can be submitted under the following circumstances:

1. Calculation Error
   • The final grade was miscalculated.
   • There was an error in entering or recording the final grade.
2. Inconsistent Grading
   • The grading criteria were not applied consistently across all students in the course for the semester.
   • Students were not evaluated consistently with the same method.
3. Unexpected Changes to Evaluation Methods
   • Changes were made to evaluation methods that were not communicated via email and/or learning management system (LMS) in advance.

FORMAL GRADE APPEAL PROCESS

Step 1 Appeal to Course Faculty of Record

1. The student initiates the formal final grade appeal by accessing the Step 1, Appeal to Course Faculty of Record form located in the Student Handbook.
2. The student completes Step I Part A of the Appeal to the Faculty of Record (Appendix A) and submits the form to the course faculty of record via email writhing 48 hours of the final grade posting.
3. Upon receipt Step 1 form from the student, the course faculty of record informs the appropriate course/level coordinator, Academic program director, and the Associate Dean that a formal grade appeal has been initiated.
4. The course faculty of record reviews the Step 1 Appeal to the Course Faculty of Record Form within 1 business day, and completes Step I Part B.
5. If the course faculty of record approves the appeal for a grade change, the course faculty initiates the grade change, and the appeal is complete.
6. The completed form is saved in the student’s academic file
7. lf the course faculty denies the appeal; the grade remains unchanged.
8. The course faculty of record informs the appropriate level /course coordinator, program director, and Associate Dean of the status of the appeal.
9. The completed Step 1 Appeal to the Course Faculty of Record Form with the decision is signed by the course faculty and returned to the student via email.
10. The student may either accept the grade and the process ends or continue the appeal to the Associate Dean within three business days.

Step 2 Appeal to Associate Dean

1. The student initiates the appeal to the Associate Dean via email within 3 business days.
2. The student appeal to the Associate Dean should include the original signed Step 1 Appeal to the Course Faculty of Record Form and the Step 2 Appeal to the Associate Dean Form, the student completes Part A of the Appeal to the Associate Dean Form (Appendix B). The form is located in the Student Handbook.
3. The Associate Dean responds to the student via email and acknowledges the receipt of the student appeal documentation via email. 
4. The Associate Dean reviews the appeal, completes Step 2 Part B, and notifies the student the appeal is assigned to the Undergraduate/Graduate Programs Committee for review.
5. The Associate Dean notifies the Chair of the Undergraduate/Graduate Programs Committee via email of the need for an appeal committee.

Step 3 Appeal to the Undergraduate/Graduate Programs Committee

1. The Chair of the Undergraduate/Graduate Programs acknowledges via email the request of the Associate Dean of the need to convene an Undergraduate/Graduate Programs Appeal Committee.
2. The Associate Dean provides Step I and Step 2 Forms to the Chair of the Undergraduate/Graduate Programs Committee to share with the assigned Undergraduate/Graduate Programs Appeal Committee members.
3. The Chair of the Under graduate /Graduate Programs Committee will assign three members of the Undergraduate /Graduate Programs Committee, not involved with the course in question, to review the appeal.
4. The Undergraduate/Graduate Appeal Committee meets and may request a meeting or further information from the student, advisor / mentor the course faculty of record, the course/level coordinator, and Academic Program Director.
5. The Undergraduate/Graduate Appeal Committee makes a recommendation using Step 3 School of Nursing Final Grade Appeal Form (Appendix C) and sends the recommendation, along with Step l and Step 2 forms to the Chair of the Undergraduate/Graduate Programs Committee.
6. The Chair of the Undergraduate/Graduate Programs Committee presents the recommendation to the Associate Dean and Dean.
7. The Associate Dean contacts the student to relay the decision of the Undergraduate/Graduate Appeal Committee
8. The documentation from the Final Grade appeal are saved in the student’s academic file.
9. The decision of the Undergraduate/Graduate Program Committee is final. 

Final Grade Appeal Form SON