Faculty Handbook, Section 3: Conduct of Academic Programs,

Instructional Program Policies

Grade Grievance and Other Related Academic Complaints

(Source: http://www.udel.edu/provost/fachb/III-1-i-grievance.html)

Original text as in above

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The procedure to file a grade grievance and other related academic complaint consists of four stages is as follows:

Stage 1: A student with a complaint should, where appropriate, first try to reach agreement with the faculty member. Upon being notified of a student complaint, the faculty member must meet with the student to discuss the complaint within 10 calendar days.

Stage 2: If the faculty member does not meet with the student within 10 calendar days, or if such a meeting would be inappropriate under the circumstances, or if the issue remains unresolved after a meeting between the student and the faculty member, the student may submit a written appeal to the chair of the faculty member's department, who will attempt to mediate the complaint. If the student does not know the faculty member's department, or cannot ascertain the department chair, the student should contact the Associate Vice President for Campus Life for undergraduate students and the Assistant Provost for Graduate Studies for graduate students. The appeal must be submitted within 5 calendar days of the meeting between the student and the faculty member.

The department chair must issue a written decision on the appeal and a description of the proposed resolution, if any, no later than 15 calendar days after its submission.

Stage 3: A student may appeal a decision by the department chair to the dean of the college in which the department is organized. If requested, the department chair shall provide the name and contact information for the appropriate dean to the student. This appeal request must be submitted no more than 5 calendar days after the student's receipt of the department chair's decision.

The dean will establish a hearing panel within 15 calendar days of his or her receipt of the appeal or, if that is too close to the end of a semester or session, within 15 days after the beginning of the next semester. This hearing panel shall consist of five members, including three faculty members, only one of whom may be from the same department as the faculty member in question. The other two faculty members shall be drawn from other departments within that college or, if the college has too few departments, from other colleges. The hearing panel shall also include two undergraduate student members (for an undergraduate student's appeal), or two graduate students members (for a graduate student's appeal), neither of whom may be enrolled in the faculty member's department.

The hearing panel shall:

$ Make available to the student and faculty member, at least 5 calendar days prior to the hearing, all material that has been furnished to the hearing panel and the names of any witnesses who may give testimony.

$ Provide the student and faculty member with the opportunity to hear all testimony and examine all documents or other materials presented to the hearing panel.

$ Provide the student and faculty member with the opportunity to question each witness.

$ Allow the student and faculty member each to be assisted by an advisor of their choice from among the members of the University community. The advisor may help prepare the presentation before the hearing panel, raise questions during the hearing, and, if appropriate, help prepare an appeal. A department chair who has mediated or attempted mediation is not permitted to serve as advisor to either party.

$ Permit the faculty member and student to make a summary statement at the conclusion of the hearing.

$ Make a tape recording of the hearing that shall be kept in the dean's office for at least one calendar year after the hearing's conclusion.

Within 10 days after the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing panel shall prepare a written decision and proposed resolution, if any. The hearing panel shall inform the Registrar's Office (for undergraduate students) or the Office of Graduate Studies (for graduate students) of the decision.

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Stage 4: A student or faculty member who is not satisfied with the decision by the hearing panel college committee (Stage 3) may make a final appeal to the Academic Appeals Committee of the Faculty Senate. This appeal must be submitted within 30 calendar days after receipt of the hearing panel's college committee’s decision. This Committee, on reviewing the case, may uphold the decision of the college committee without a hearing or decide the appeal should be heard.

The Chair of the Academic Appeals Committee may appoint an ad hoc hearing panel from among the current members of the committee, consisting of 3 faculty members and 2 students, or the entire committee may serve as the hearing panel. The Academic Appeals Committee, on reviewing the case, may uphold the college committee decision (Stage 3) without a hearing. However, if upon review this Committee determines that an appeal is warranted because of

flawed previous process, or a disagreement with the previous decision, or the perceived need for further investigation, then the committee must conduct a hearing prior to rendering a final decision. For purposes of a hearing and depending upon the nature of the appeal, the Academic Appeals Committee Chairperson may either appoint an ad hoc panel (consisting of three faculty members and two students) from among the current Committee members or the Committee, at its discretion, may serve as the entire hearing panel. In conducting the hearing, the Committee should be cognizant of regulations affecting professional practice. If the grievant is a graduate student, the 2 student panel members should be graduate students, and if the grievant is an undergraduate student, the student panel members should be undergraduates. During the hearing, the student and faculty member may be assisted by an advisor they have chosen from the University community. The process set forth for the hearing panel (above) (Stage 3) also shall govern this hearing. The decision of the Academic Appeals Committee or, if applicable, the ad hoc committee, shall be final. The committee shall inform the Registrar's Office (for undergraduate students) or the Office of Graduate Studies (for graduate students) of the decision.

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No grade shall be changed as a result of a grade grievance complaint, except as follows. In the case of a grade grievance, the University Registrar's Office is authorized to change the student's grade in the following situations:

$ When the student and the faculty member agree;

$ If the department chair approves the student's appeal and the faculty member does not appeal that decision;

$ If the dean approves the student's appeal based on the hearing panel's recommendation and the faculty member does not appeal that decision; or

$ If the Academic Appeals Committee approves the student's appeal.