Maxwell School Graduate Student Grade Appeals Process

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Jessica Smith (Deactivated)
Last updated: Oct 28, 2022
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Grade Appeals Guidelines

The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Guidelines to Selection of Review Panel for Grade Appeals
Submitted to: University Senate Committee on Instruction

The steps in the process for grade appeals, as outlined by the University Senate document, are: the instructor of record, faculty member in charge of the course, the department chair of the faculty member, the relevant dean of the department chair and either the Arts and Sciences panel (for undergraduates) or the Maxwell School panel (for graduate students).

Grade Appeals by Undergraduate Students

Grade appeals from undergraduate students in Maxwell courses will follow the above process to the department chair level. If the matter is not settled at the department chair level, the appeal will be referred to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and to the appeal panel in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Grade Appeals by Graduate Students in Maxwell Courses

  1. If attempts to resolve the grade dispute through the instructor and departmental administrative levels have failed, the student may bring the case to the School’s Faculty Panel.
  2. The tenured faculty members among the School’s graduate directors will be eligible to serve on the three-person Panel for Grade Appeals of graduate students in Maxwell Departments and Programs. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will constitute panels as needed.
  3. In the event that one or more members of the tenured faculty on the panel recuse themselves from a particular case, due to personal involvement with the student or due to membership of the same department as the student, the associate dean will appoint substitutes from among the graduate directors eligible to hear the case.
  4. The grade appeal process applies only to course grades. The body will not hear appeals related to comprehensive examinations or qualifying examinations and to master’s theses or doctoral dissertation proposals and exams.
  5. The decision of the three members will be final (pending appeal on procedural grounds to the Senate Committee on Instruction). The three hearing panel members will report their decision to the full panel of graduate directors, the student and the instructor of record. The hearing panel will file a summary report with the Senate Committee on Instruction.