The following process should be used when a student has a grievance concerning grades or other academic issues related to graduate education. Students who believe they have a grievance related to grades or other academic issues must initiate the grievance procedure before the end of the next academic session.
Informal Process
The student will first approach the individual faculty member to attempt to resolve the grievance with him or her.
If the student finds the faculty member’s decision unsatisfactory, he or she may take the complaint to the Program Director, who will speak to both parties to try to resolve the grievance. In this process, the student has the responsibility to submit a clearly written statement of the grievance to the Program Director. Upon completion of the informal process, the Program Director will communicate his or her decision to the student.
If the faculty member involved in the grievance is the Program Director, the full-time faculty in the program will select another member of the program to assume the role of the Program Director described above.
Formal Process
If the student is dissatisfied with the outcome of the informal process, he or she may request that the grievance be resolved by the formal grievance process, as described below. If the grievance involves a disagreement about a grade for work submitted in a graduate course or an instance of plagiarism, the student may request that the Program Director forward all relevant materials to an Academic Grievance Committee for a hearing.
A valid grievance about a grade for work submitted in a graduate course exists when:
- There is evidence that the faculty member has not informed the student of program or course requirements relative to the perceived grievance or;
- A faculty member renders a decision that is not in accord with the standard practices or principles of the Program or the University. Standard practices and principles are defined as those guidelines, both written and unwritten, which have governed grading decisions in the past and which are accepted by the Program as governing grading decisions in the present.
The Academic Grievance Committee will consist of three faculty who are knowledgeable in the area related to the dispute. Members of the Academic Grievance Committee will be appointed by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the Program Director.
The Academic Grievance Committee will then:
- Review the pertinent documents
- Invite the student to present his or her position in person and respond to questions about the grievance
- Invite the faculty member to present his or her position in person and respond to questions about the grievance
- Summarize in writing the Committee’s understanding of each side of the grievance and the primary factors guiding the Committee’s thinking and allow for further input from both sides prior to any decision
- After consultation with the Program Director, render a decision as to how to resolve the grievance (assuming one exists). This decision will be final
- Report the decision to the Program Director, faculty member, student, and the Dean.
Decisions regarding suspension, probation, or dismissal of a student from a Graduate Program for lack of clinical competence or failure to act in accordance with ethical or professional standards are made by the full-time faculty in that Program. If the grievance is concerned with a decision related to suspension, probation, or dismissal, the student will submit a clearly written statement of the grievance to the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies.
The Dean will then:
- Review the pertinent documents;
- Invite the student to present his or her position and respond to questions about the grievance;
- Invite the Program Director to present his or her position and respond to questions about the grievance;
- Summarize in writing the Dean’s understanding of each side of the grievance and the primary factors guiding the Dean’s thinking and allow for further input from both sides prior to any decision;
- Render a decision as to how to resolve the grievance (assuming one exists). This decision will be final.
- Report the decision to the Program Director and student.