Skip to main content

Academic

Academic Grievance Policy

Students may feel that they have legitimate complaints regarding academic matters. It is important that students and faculty have a common understanding of how such complaints may be expressed and resolved. Grievances covered by this policy include problems related to academic issues, such as:

  • Deviations from stated grading and examination policies as they appear on syllabi, on assignments, or in departmental guidelines for graduate study
  • Failure to disclose in writing reasons behind termination or dismissal, either from the program or from employment or other support
  • Unfair treatment on issues related to graduate student appointments
  • Unfairness in the application of graduate requirements or regulations

Grievances not covered under this policy include:

  • Students who believe they have been discriminated against on the basis of race, religion, color, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or status as a disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran, as this would fall under HR Policy 106 or Title IX.
  • Student disciplinary proceedings for misconduct, including plagiarism and cheating, fall under the provisions of the Standards of Student Conduct and Academic Honesty.
  • If the matter involves another student, this falls under the Student Conduct Policy.
  • If the matter is not academic in nature, this falls under the AS&E Graduate Student Non-Academic Grievance Policy.
  • Similarly, and as a general proposition, dissatisfaction with a departmental, school, or University policy or practice of broad or general application is not grounds for a grievance under this procedure.

Process:

  1. Students with complaints of an academic nature should initially discuss the matter, orally or in writing, with the individual(s) most directly responsible. Students may also seek counsel from an AS&E Ombudsperson while seeking remedy within their department. If a student is uncomfortable with the prospect of having such conversation, they can proceed to step two.
  2. If the result of step one proves unsatisfactory, then the student should consult with the individual at the next administrative level, for example, the chair or director of the relevant department or program. At this stage, the department chair or program director, if any, may inform the AS&E dean of graduate education and postdoctoral affairs that the consultation is taking place and may solicit their advice on how to ensure that adequate steps are taken to achieve a fair result. The student should set forth in writing a statement of the decision that constitutes the subject matter of the dispute, the grounds on which it is being challenged, and the reasons why the grievant believes that the decision was improperly taken. The statement should also include a description of the remedy sought and the informal efforts taken to date to resolve the matter. A grievance must be filed in a timely fashion, that is, no later than 30 days after the end of the academic semester in which the adverse decision occurred or should reasonably have been discovered. Except in extraordinary circumstances, delay in filing a grievance will constitute grounds for rejection of the grievance.
  3. The department chair’s decision will be final on all complaints that cannot be properly judged by a person external to the department or program (e.g., dismissal from a graduate program based on failure to maintain required grade levels, dismissal from a graduate program based on two failed attempts at comprehensive examinations). Throughout this process, the original complaint, communications, and processes as well as the final decision should be in writing to provide documentation for all involved.
  4. Complaints that remain unresolved and are able to be judged by those external to the department may be addressed to the AS&E dean of graduate education and postdoctoral affairs. The dean may attempt to resolve the matter informally or make whatever disposition of the grievance that they deem appropriate. The dean may, in appropriate cases, remand the grievance to a lower administrative level (including to the level at which the grievance arose) for further consideration. In undertaking the review, the dean may request a response to the issues raised in the grievance from any individuals believed to have information considered relevant, including faculty, staff, and students. Should attempts to resolve the matter informally not be successful, the dean will decide the grievance and will notify the grievant (and the party against whose decision the grievance has been filed) in writing of the disposition made of the grievance and the grounds for the disposition at the earliest practicable date after their receipt of the grievance.