A “grade appeal” is a complaint about a final course grade, which involves one or more of the following conditions, the existence of which the student is required to prove:

1. The instructor violated a specific University rule or policy.
2. The instructor refused to correct a clerical or administrative error made in the process of transmitting a grade to the Office of Admissions and Records.
3. The instructor failed to report any grade at all for the individual student.
4. The grade is based on an allegation of cheating or other academic dishonesty and, pursuant to the student disciplinary process, it has been determined that (a) there was insufficient evidence to proceed with formal disciplinary action or (b) the student was found innocent of the charges.
5. The grade reflects threatening, abusive, exploitative, or similar personal, improper conduct towards the individual student.
6. The instructor assigned the grade in error, with prejudice or capriciously.

Instructors at Cal Poly Humboldt have the sole right and responsibility to provide clear grading criteria, careful evaluation, and timely assignment of course grades. It is assumed that the grades assigned by instructors are free from error, prejudice, or capriciousness. In the absence of compelling reasons to believe that one of these criteria is missing, the grade assigned by the instructor of record is to be considered final and correct. It is the responsibility of anyone appealing a grade to demonstrate otherwise.

I.       Students Right to Appeal a Final Course Grade

Students shall have the right to appeal the final course grade issued by an instructor(s) if the student has reason to believe that the grade is based on any of the grounds set out in section IV. Grounds for Appeal of this policy. Grades assigned due to a finding of student academic misconduct are not eligible for appeal, consistent with the grounds and procedures set out in the Cal Poly Humboldt Academic Integrity and Honesty Policy (VPAA 21-02), the CSU Code of Student Conduct, and Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.

Prior to filing a grade appeal, the student shall make every attempt to resolve the grade dispute with the instructor through the Departmental review process described in section V. b. Guidelines.

IV.     Grounds for Appeal

The course grade assigned by the instructor of record is to be considered final. If a student believes that the final grade issued is based on instructor or clerical error, prejudice, capriciousness, arbitrariness or is not in alignment with established grading criteria in the course syllabus, the student may file an appeal, but only after the process described in V. b. Guidelines has been exhausted.

Allegation of discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation affecting grade assignments shall be referred to the campus Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation Administrator for investigation and be processed in accordance with CSU Executive Order 1095, 1096, 1097 (Interim CSU Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, Sexual Exploitation, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Stalking, and Retaliation), which states:

… the grade appeal procedure should be paused until such time as the campus investigation and any appeal process under these procedures have concluded. The determination whether a violation occurred under the Policy will be provided to the campus grade appeal committee, and the committee will be bound by the determination when the grade appeal process resumes under Executive Order 1037.

V. Appeal Process

Students who appeal grades assigned during spring or summer sessions shall do so in the subsequent fall semester; students who appeal grades assigned during fall sessions shall do so in the subsequent spring semester.

Current and former students seeking to appeal an assigned grade shall initiate the process as described below.

a.     Departmental Review

The student shall contact the instructor no later than 30 calendar days after the start of the beginning of the subsequent semester and attempt to bring resolution to the grade dispute. The student may seek assistance from the Department Chair in their attempt to resolve the dispute. If the student is unable to reach resolution of the grade dispute at the departmental level, the student may submit an appeal of the grade to the University Grade Appeal Committee as described in section V.c. University Review.

b.    \Guidelines

The following steps are meant to provide guidance to students endeavoring to resolve grade disputes at the department level. Each time a student wants to make a request to make an appointment they will do so in writing to the appropriate person as supporting documentation for their appeal.

i. The student will make an appointment with the instructor of record for the explicit purpose of appealing the grade. At that time, the student should be prepared to submit evidence in support of their claim.

ii. If the student is unable to resolve the grade dispute with the faculty member, the student will make an appointment with the Chair of the Department to discuss the disputed grade. The Chair will assist the student in his/her/their efforts to resolve the grade dispute.

iii. If the instructor(s) is no longer on campus, the student shall attempt to resolve the grade dispute with the Department Chair. In this instance, the Department Chair shall have the authority to approve a change of grade.

iv. In cases where the instructor of record is also the Department Chair, or in cases where the Department Chair is unsuccessful in assisting the student to reach a resolution, the student will make an appointment with the College Dean, who will assist the student in his/her/their efforts to resolve the grade dispute.

c.    \University Review

i. Initiating the University Review

A student shall initiate a University review as soon as the Departmental resolution to the dispute has failed and no later than 45 calendar days after the start of the beginning of the subsequent semester.

ii. Grade Appeal Form

The University Review shall commence when the student presents a written appeal to the Associate Vice President for Academic Programs and Dean of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies (hereafter, AVP/Dean). A form on which the appeal may be written is available from the Office of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies and on the Cal Poly Humboldt policy web site.

d.      Review of the Appeal

i. Grade Appeal Form

The Grade Appeal Committee (hereafter, the committee), a subcommittee of the Student Grievance Committee, is convened by the AVP/Dean (or their designee), once in the fall and once in the spring semesters as needed. The AVP/Dean (or their designee) is an ex-officio, non- voting member of the committee.

ii. Committee Composition

The committee will be compoased of annually appointed members:

a. Associate Vice President for Academic Programs (or designee) (ex-office, non-voting)

b. three faculty members, identified by the University Senate

c. two undergraduate students, identified by Associated Students, and

d. one graduate student, identified by Associated Students

Pursuant to Executive Order 1037, the grade appeal process will proceed in a timely way and the authority of the committee shall be limited to actions that are consistent with other campus and system policies.

iii. Preliminary Review of Grade Appeal

iv. Hearing the Grade Appeal

The student and the instructor will present evidence to the committee regarding the grade dispute. Evidence may include graded student work and witnesses, including relevant content experts and/or the Department Chair. If the student does not appear for the hearing, the committee may put the appeal aside, in which case the original grade will stand as final. If the instructor does not appear for the hearing, the committee may decide to proceed with the appeal hearing.

v. Grade Appeal Committee Vote

The committee shall determine findings and take a vote regarding the resolution of the grade appeal. The vote may authorize the entry of a change, where appropriate, to the final course grade in the student's academic record. The vote of the committee is final. In the case of a tie vote, the AVP/Dean is allowed to act as a tiebreaker. A report of the hearing, the evidence, the findings, and the vote of the committee will be submitted to the AVP/Dean within one week.

The AVP/Dean shall report to the President of Cal Poly Humboldt, and the University Senate each fall the number of appeals heard in the previous academic year.