The responsibility for academic evaluation rests with the faculty. If a student believes he or she has been wrongfully and unfairly evaluated by an instructor, and if the student is not able to resolve the matter in conference with the instructor or the department chair, an appeal may be made to the appeals board of the college offering the course. Each college has an academic appeals board consisting of an equal number of students and faculty. Faculty members of the board are chosen by the faculty of the college for a term determined by the faculty. Student members of the board are appointed for a term of one year by the Dean of the college upon recommendations from the student body president. It is the primary function of a board to mediate or adjudicate disputes that have not been satisfactorily resolved at the department level. All thesis and dissertation appeals are heard by the Graduate College Appeals Board.
A board will hear a case only after an attempt has been made by the student and the instructor to resolve their differences, if necessary, in consultation with the department chair. If in the judgment of the board the case already has been satisfactorily resolved in the department, it may refuse the student a further hearing. Each board is given the responsibility of establishing its own rules of procedure. Such rules must be consistent with the full protection of the rights of all parties involved. Meetings of a board may be closed to the public.
If a board fails to achieve a settlement mutually satisfactory to the parties involved, it will recommend a means of settling the dispute to the executive committee (or comparable body) of the college, where final disposition will be made.
Further information regarding the University Academic Appeals Policy may be found in the Student Handbook, Section 2.1 and the Faculty Handbook, Appendix C.
