Any undergraduate student may appeal for variations in the general education requirements and other university-wide academic regulations by submitting a typed petition to the Committee on Undergraduate Petitions. Find out more information on the university-wide undergraduate petition process.
Petitions must be accompanied by supporting statements or other documentary evidence that the student judges pertinent to the process. Petitions should be addressed to the Committee on Undergraduate Petitions, in care of the Registrar, and should include the student's name, student number, address, major, class, telephone number, and name of adviser. A petition form is available in the Office of Records and Registration.
To be considered at a regular monthly meeting, petitions must be received by the Registrar at least one week prior to the published meeting date of the Petitions Committee. The Registrar forwards the petitions, along with any supporting documents, to the Undergraduate Petitions Committee and relays to the student the decisions reached by the committee. (Refer to "Recourse For Academically Ineligible Students" for specific instructions pertaining to petitions concerning academic ineligibility.)
Students may appeal the decision of the Committee through the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The request to see the vice president or his her designee should be in writing. The student and the Office of Records and Registration will be notified of the final appeal decision.
If an academically ineligible student feels there are extenuating circumstances in his or her situation, special consideration may be asked of the Committee on Undergraduate Petitions. Find out more information on the university-wide undergraduate petition process
Any graduate student may appeal for variations in university-wide graduate policies and regulations by submitting a petition, written by the student, to the Graduate Petitions Committee through Graduate Studies. Instructions for a petition may be found on the Graduate Studies Web site (pdf - 746 KB). Petitions must be typed in the recommended format and signed by the student.
Signatures from the student's advisor, department chair, and dean or graduate director are required. Petitioners are encouraged to attach a letter of recommendation from their advisor; however, letters of recommendation are optional. The Assistant to the Dean of the School of Graduate, Continuing, and Online Education will forward the petition and all accompanying documentation to the Graduate Petitions Committee. The student, advisor, and the college dean will be notified of the decision once it is made.
Meeting dates of the Petitions Committee are available in Graduate Studies. The chair may call special meetings of the Petitions Committee. Appeals of the decision of the Graduate Petitions Committee may be made to the Dean of the School of Graduate, Continuing, and Online Education. If the student is unsatisfied with the decision, final appeals may be made to the Vice President for Academic Affairs in writing.
Students and faculty members should try to resolve grade problems informally. If no satisfactory solution is reached, the student has 30 days from the issuance of a grade report in which to initiate a formal written grade appeal to the appropriate department chair. After that time, it is assumed the grade report is correct; and it becomes a part of the student's permanent record. The department chair will address the case in writing. The student may appeal the chair's decision to the dean in writing. The dean will provide a decision in writing to the student within 30 days of receiving the appeal.
If the student feels that resolution of the appeal was not successful, the dean will then refer the case to the Academic Conduct Committee for a hearing within 10 working days. The Academic Conduct Committee has jurisdiction in two kinds of cases:
The committee will be limited to recommending that a given grade remain unchanged, be changed to a different grade or be changed to a zero (for a particular assignment). The recommendation will be based on a majority decision of the five voting members. Copies of the recommendation will be forwarded to the student(s), department chair and academic dean. Protecting the anonymity of the parties involved, the committee will submit reports to Academic Council or to the Graduate Council; these reports will be forwarded upon request to Faculty Conference and to the Council of Student Leaders. Records of all committee hearings and actions will be kept for no more than one year.
Membership of the Committee on Academic Conduct consists of a non-voting chair to be appointed by the chief academic officer of the University and five voting members - two faculty members elected by the faculty, two upper class and / or graduate students appointed by the Council of Student Leaders, and one faculty member appointed by the chair or dean of the department or college in which an academic conduct case originates. The committee chair will serve for one year. One faculty member will be elected for a two-year term; the other faculty member will be elected for a one-year term. The students will be appointed to one-year terms. Each subsequent year one new faculty member will be elected to a two-year term. The faculty member appointed by the chair or dean of the department or college will serve only for the designated case. The chief academic officer will have such powers to appoint representatives as necessary for the summer interim.
Complaints dealing with department-level decisions are ideally handled through discussion with the faculty member directly involved. In a situation where the informal resolution process does not occur, the student may submit a formal written complaint to the chair of the appropriate department. The complaint must be in writing and be accompanied by pertinent documentation concerning
The chair will provide a decision in writing to the student, normally 10 business
days following the receipt of the complaint.
The student has 10 business days to appeal the chair's decision in writing to the dean of the appropriate college. The dean may call together an advisory committee to review the appeal and examine the complaint. The dean will issue a statement in writing to the student normally within 10 business days of the receipt of the appeal.
The student may appeal the dean's decision in writing to the Office of the Vice President Academic Affairs who will inform the student and the dean in writing of the final decision. All decisions of the vice president are final.
This policy does not apply to complaints concerning decisions of the Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or the BioSafety Committee.
All administrators involved will strive to resolve the issues in a timely fashion; however, every situation is different and holidays and other issues may prevent meeting deadlines. Every effort will be made by the parties involved to move the issue through the appropriate process.
