Grades & Grading

The colleges take academic action at the end of each semester if a student fails to meet requirements. Students with unsatisfactory grades are expected to seek counseling and help with their studies from available resources, including instructor(s), advisor(s), and department tutors. Student services staff, particularly Counseling and Testing Center personnel, also provide assistance on a confidential basis. Freshmen, especially, should be encouraged to seek help at the earliest sign of academic difficulty. The university assumes that students will communicate regularly with interested parties (e.g. parents) with respect to academic status and progress.

• Undergraduate academic standing and progress policy

• Graduate academic probation and retention standards

Grade Appeal Policy and Procedure Policy

Enrolled students are afforded an opportunity to appeal the assignment of final course grades by instructors. Appeals will only be considered for final course grades and must involve one or more of the following factors:

1. An error was made in grade computation.
2. The grade was based on factors contrary to those stated in the course syllabus or a reasonable interpretation of it.
3. The grade includes a penalty for actions involving the freedom of written or spoken classroom expression.
4. The grade involved a breach of federal or state constitutional protections, laws, Universities of Wisconsin or UW-La Crosse policies.

Preliminary Procedures

• The student must attempt an informal resolution with the instructor no later than the 10th working day of the next regular semester (Fall/Spring). The instructor may require a written request from the student.
• If the informal process with the instructor does not resolve the problem, the student should communicate, using their UWL email, with the Department Chair within five working days. The Chair may either attempt informal resolution of the problem or inform the student in writing of formal grievance policies within five working days. Communications from this point forward should use all parties’ UWL email accounts,

Formal Procedures

1. Chair Procedures
   1. If the Chair decides an informal resolution is inappropriate or unattainable, they should inform the student within five working days the student may request a formal review of the matter by the Department Grade Appeals Committee. This request must be received by the Chair within five working days of the notification of the failure of the attempt at mediation. The student’s petition must be in writing and include the nature of the grievance and its basis from the four factors listed in the "Policy" section above, a brief description of the attempt at informal resolution, the desired outcome the student wishes, and all supporting evidence. The Chair will, within five
      working days, arrange for the engagement of the committee to hear the student's appeal.
   2. At the same time, the Chair will acknowledge the student’s petition and inform the course instructor. If the instructor, upon seeing the petition, wishes to respond, this must be done within five working days.
   3. Upon receipt of the student’s petition and the potential response from the instructor, the Chair will convene the committee within five working days and deliver all written documents concerning the case, including a written account of the Chair’s attempt at mediation, if applicable.
2. Grade Appeals Committee
   • The committee will review the materials presented, including the student petition and other evidence provided by the instructor or Chair. It may ask for clarifying information from either the student or the instructor via written inquiry and may call for an oral presentation from either. Each person will be given an opportunity to respond if further evidence is presented to the committee.
   • Following review and consideration of the evidence, the committee will render a formal recommendation and communicate that recommendation to the Chair and the instructor within ten days of the committee's first meeting. The report will include the committee's findings of fact, its recommendation, and its rationale for the recommendation.
   • Unless they are no longer a UWL instructor, the course instructor retains the right to accept or reject the recommendations of the Department Grade Appeals Committee. If the instructor is no longer a UWL instructor, the Chair (or their designee) will assume the instructor’s role. The instructor’s decision at the end of this process will be considered final with no further appeal possible.
3. Further Action
   1. Grievances related to course grades cannot be appealed except through the instructor and the department procedures described above. The assignment of final course grades involves the professional judgment of qualified instructors in a particular field of study. Administrative officers at the College
      or University level are assumed to not have relevant academic expertise and bear no responsibility for the determination of course grades.
   2. If the student believes the grade appeal process, stated in the by-laws, was not appropriately followed they can pursue a grievance through the Office of Student Life. However, an appeal to the Office of Student Life can not involve the department or instructor’s decision on the grade.

Conditions

• At all review levels, the burden of proof is the student's responsibility.
• The term "working days" refers to days when classes are scheduled.
• Petitions must be individually filed.

Grade appeal process chart.pdf

Appeal of final grade catalog policy