Student Formal Grade Appeal Process

St. Clair County Community College Policy and Procedure

Name: Formal Grade Appeal Process
Original Date: 8/29/2016
Revised Date: 8/1/2026
Initiator/Author: Associate Dean, Chief Academic Officer

Downloadable PDF

Students who have completed the student complaint procedure (Instructor, Department Chair and Chief Academic Officer) regarding a grade received in class, or a final grade received may be eligible to enact the Formal Grade Appeal process, as described below:

Eligibility:
The student first must complete the Student Complaint Procedure –Grades, to exhaust all options and attempts for resolving their grade concerns. If the student remains dissatisfied after completing the process in its entirety (Meeting and/or speaking with all designated representatives, completing all reasonable actions requested by the designated representatives, working cooperatively in seeking resolution with all designated representatives, and allowing each representative an appropriate time to attempt resolution regarding the grade concern), the student may request the Formal Grade Appeal Process with the Associate Dean on the following bases:

• The grade is allegedly based on an error in calculation.
• The grade assigned allegedly did not follow the grading criteria in the course syllabus.

*It shall be the responsibility of the student to prove that the grade is incorrect or unjustified based on this criterion.

The Associate Dean will confirm that all designated representatives have met with the student and were unable to attempt resolution regarding the grade concerns, as per the conditions listed above.

Any appeal for a change of grade on an individual course assignment, quiz or test must be initiated in the semester during which the student is enrolled in the course, starting via the Student Complaint Policy and Procedure – Grades process. Appeals of a final grade for the semester must be initiated before the last day of classes of the subsequent semester with the option of excluding summer semester, via starting the Student Complaint Policy and Procedure – Grades. The college will not conduct Formal Grade Appeal Processes during final exam week, or during college breaks, as per the SC4
academic calendar.

Process:

After completing the Student Complaint Policy and Procedure – Grades process,(Instructor, Department Chair, and Chief Academic Officer) the student may request a Formal Grade Appeal by emailing the Associate Dean, and completing the Formal Grade Appeal Form.

Note: The same information provided in the formal grade appeal request, if eligible, will be the exact same information provided to the Grade Appeal Committee. Thus, students should submit their formal grade appeal request, as if providing their appeal directly to the Grade Appeal Committee, with clear and concise explanations to support their appeal. In the from, students are to submit sufficient evidence that supports and proves the student’s claim (Copies of graded homework, quizzes, tests, projects, course syllabus, emails, posted grades in the grading book/Canvas, etc.) It shall be the responsibility of the student to prove that the grade is incorrect or unjustified based on this criterion, including the acquirement/procurement of sufficient evidence. Claims without adequate supporting evidence will not be considered.

The Associate Dean will then review the formal grade appeal request form and determine if the student is eligible. The Associate Dean will enact and confirm the following:

• The student provided all needed documentation.
• The appeal is based on an eligible reason.
• The evidence provided by the student adequately and sufficiently show clear and direct support for the grade appeal reason.
• The appeal falls within the stated timeline.

If one or more of these criteria are not met, the appeal will be denied and the Associate Dean will notify the student of the reason, providing an explanation of what criteria the student failed to meet. The student may appeal again only if corrections are made to meet these criteria.

The Associate Dean will email all designees from the Student Complaint Policy and Procedure – Grades process (Instructor, Department Chair, and Chief Academic Officer), and confirm the following:

• The student met with the designee regarding a grade appeal. This includes the date of the meeting and the method of communication (virtual, in person, etc..)
• The student completed all reasonable actions requested by the designee to attempt grade resolution.
• The student worked cooperatively with the designee in seeking resolution, and allowed the appropriate amount of time for the designee to respond to the grade concern.

If any designee states the student did not meet any of the above criteria, the formal grade appeal request will be discarded, and the student will be required to return to the designee and complete all adequate steps of the Student Complaint Policy and Procedure – Grades process, before resuming eligibility for a Formal Grade Appeal process. If discarded for this reason, the college will not consider this as the student’s first attempt at a Grade Appeal request.

The Associate Dean will decide if the student is eligible for the Formal Grade Appeal Process. If determined the student is not eligible based on their submitted request, the Associate Dean will notify the student via email, with reasoning why the student is not eligible. The student may take the feedback and complete actions needed, to become eligible, and resubmit a Formal Grade Appeal request with any newly acquired documentation. A student may submit a Formal Grade Appeal request for a specific grade up to three (3) times total, and within sixty (60) calendar days of the first appeal
submitted. (With the exception of appeals denied for not first completing all steps in the Student Complaint Policy and Procedure – Grades process.) Fourth Formal Grade Appeals or additional Formal Grade appeals submitted sixty-one (61) calendar days after the submission of the first, for the same grade appeal, will not be considered.

If determined the student is eligible based on their submitted request, the Associate Dean will take the following actions:

The Associate Dean will share the Formal Grade Appeal Request, and all supporting evidence provided by the student, to the instructor via email.

The instructor will be provided a chance to formulate a response and
documentation to the Formal Grade Appeal request and send back to the Associate Dean, to also be submitted to the Grade Appeal Committee.

• The instructor may choose not to submit a response.
• If the instructor does not submit a response, after notification of the request, within an appropriate timeline, the Grade Appeal Committee meeting may continue to take place without the instructor’s response.
• A copy of the instructor’s response will be provided to the student over email, prior to the meeting occurring.
• No further documentation will be considered by the Grade Appeal Committee.
• If the instructor is no longer employed by the college, and is non-responsive, the Department Chair of the former instructor’s department may fill in for this process.

The Associate Dean will assemble a Grade Appeal Committee to review the Formal Grade Appeal request and Instructor’s response. The Grade Appeal Committee will consist of three voting members, selected by the Associate Dean.

• One Department Chair (Not from the same department as the instructor).
• One Staff member from the college, which does not have a direct personal or working relationship with the student.
• One additional member of SC4 leadership.

The Associate Dean, Grade Appeal Committee, and witness will meet privately to conduct the Grade Appeal Meeting.

Conducting the Grade Appeal Meeting
The Associate Dean will start with the following:

• Conduct introductions of the committee members, witness, and self.
• Explain the following procedures to the Committee.
• Facilitate the voting process.
• Explain no input, context, or guidance will be provided by the Associate Dean or the appointed witness regarding voting, or the grade appeal itself.
• Explain this grade appeal is a confidential matter and should not be discussed outside of the meeting.
• The Grade Appeal Committee will be provided with copies of all
  documentation for review, as exactly provided by the student and instructor.
• The Associate Dean will present the Formal Grade Appeal request and
  documentation exactly as it was submitted by the student.
• The Associate Dean will present the instructor’s response and documentation exactly as it was submitted.
• The Grade Appeal Committee can then review and discuss the Formal Grade
  Appeal based on the documentation provided, and only the documentation
  provided.

Coming to a Decision

The individual Grade Appeal Committee members will then vote via secret ballot, collected by the Associate Dean. The committee will first vote either to decline the Formal Grade Appeal request or agree to change the grade. The vote must be unanimous to approve a grade change. If any votes were submitted to deny the Formal Grade Appeal request, the
grade will remain as is, and the meeting will conclude.

If the grade Appeal Committee unanimously approves a change in grade, they will then vote to either provide the student with the grade change they requested or determine a modified grade to assign the student. The committee must come to a unanimous decision on the newly assigned grade.

The Grade Appeal Committee will continue to discuss and determine an appropriate final grade change for the grade specifically appealed. (If a student is appealing a grade change for a test, the Grade Appeal committee can only change the grade of the test, and the final grade will be adjusted accordingly. If the student is appealing the final letter grade of a
class, the grade appeal committee can only change the final grade of the class).

The decision must be unanimous. Once confirmed, the committee will inform the Associate Dean, and the witness. The meeting will then conclude.

Resolution

The Grade Appeal Committee’s decision shall be rendered within five (5) college working days of the conclusion of the meeting and shall be in writing. Both the student and instructor will be notified by email. The Grade Appeal Hearing Committee’s decision is final. There shall be no further appeals regarding the challenged Grade Appeal grade.

All materials/documentation from the Grade Appeal Committee meeting are to be returned to the Associate Dean after deliberations are completed. The Associate Dean shall be responsible for storage of these confidential records.

Notification of Hearing Outcome

The Associate Dean shall provide an email relaying the Grade Appeal Hearing Committee’s decision to all parties concerned (Student and Instructor) within five (5) college working days of the conclusion of the hearing.

Decision Implementation

If there is a decision to change a grade, this change shall then be implemented by the Associate Dean, or Chief Academic Officer and the Registrar within five (5) college days of the conclusion of the hearing with entry into the data system as soon as possible.