4.7.07 Grade Changes by the Instructor
After an instructor has submitted final grades to the Registrar, the
instructor cannot change any grades except on the basis of mathematical
or computational error. If such an error is discovered, the instructor
should fill out a "change of grade" form, which is available
from the Registrar. The form includes space for the instructor to recite
the precise reason for the grade change. The Dean must approve the change
before it becomes effective.
4.7.08 Administrative and Faculty Review of Unreasonable Grades
A. Procedure:
1. When a student believes that he or she has received a grade that
no reasonable faculty member could justify under any reasonable standard,
that student may, within 30 days of receipt of the grade, file a petition
to have the allegedly unreasonable grade reviewed. Students who are
academically dismissed must file the petition within ten days after
the date of mailing of his or her formal notice of dismissal. If,
through no fault of the student, the student is prevented from meeting
the deadline, the deadline shall be extended for a period of ten days
after the reason for the inability to meet the deadline no longer
exists.
2. The petition should be submitted to the Associate Dean. If the
petition concerns a grade given by the Dean or the Associate Dean,
the petition should be submitted to the chair of the Faculty Grade
Review Committee. The person to whom the petition is properly submitted
will determine, after investigation, whether the petition states sufficient
grounds to believe that a grade change may be warranted and to convene
the Faculty Grade Review Committee. A decision by the appropriate
person that the petition does not set forth sufficient grounds to
review the allegedly unreasonable grade is final and may not be appealed
in any fashion. If the person to whom the petition is properly submitted
determines that there are sufficient grounds to convene the Faculty
Grade Review Committee, that committee will review the grade.
3. The Faculty Grade Review Committee shall be composed of three
tenured full professors who shall serve on a rotating and staggered
basis for three grade reviews, with one member being replaced after
each review. The member hearing his or her third review shall chair
the committee for that review.
B. Standards: There are two principal grounds for review of a grade:
1. Mathematical or computational error. This is a rare basis since
the faculty member already has the authority to change a grade based
on mathematical or computational error. Mathematic or computational
error does not include an allegation of an error in evaluation; see
(c) below.
2. Arbitrary grade. If in the reviewer's judgment there has been
a grade assignment that a reasonable faculty member could not justify
under any reasonable standard, the grade is deemed to be arbitrary.
There is an extremely strong presumption of validity of the assigned
grade, and a grade is not arbitrary merely because different persons
might evaluate the work differently. "Arbitrary" does include
allegations that the grade bears no demonstrable relation to the quality
of the work, that the grade was computed in a manner substantially
different from that announced in the syllabus, or that the grade was
maliciously motivated by impermissible or illegal factors such as
racism or sexism. In the case of a finding of departure from the manner
of computation described in the syllabus, the normal disposition is
to return the matter to the professor for grading in accordance with
the standard promulgated.
3. Review of grades does not mean re-grading. Grades will not be
reviewed merely because a student believes that his or her work should
have been given a higher grade than it in fact was given. No two professors
ever grade exactly alike, and differences in grading styles and results
are not per se arbitrary.
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