Correspondence Directory

Academic RegulationsAnd ProceduresAcademic Grievance PolicyResponsibility for Meeting Requirement1. The student should make an appointment to discuss the grievance with the professorinvolved. The student shall provide appropriate documentaion of the grievance. If thegrievance is not resolved, the student may proceed to step 2.2. The student should now make an appointment with the chairperson of the departmentinvolved. Again, the student should provide appropriate documentation of the grievance.The chairperson should ask the professor to provide rebuttal material, if appropriate. Incases where the chairperson is the instructor involved in the grievance, another full-timefaculty member in the department, the student’s academic advisor, or another facultymember may serve in this mediating capacity. If the grievance is not resolved to thesatisfaction of the student and the faculty member involved, the student may proceed tostep 3.3. The student should make an appointment to discuss the grievance with the Dean ofAcademic Affairs. This step must be initiated by the end of the fifth week of the semesterimmediately following the one in which the grievance arose. The student should provideappropriate written documentation of the grievance, including the results of steps 1and 2. The written documentation should be provided to the Dean at least one dayin advance of the appointment to discuss the grievance. The Dean will investigate thecomplaint by obtaining data and statements from all parties involved and will attempt toresolve the grievance by mutual consent of the student and faculty member.If the case cannot be resolved based on the information available, the Dean shall convene anadvisory committee of two faculty members, preferably with little or no prior knowledge of thegrievance. The student will select one other faculty member. The faculty member may be fromthe department involved or from related disciplines. Each party may exercise one peremptorychallenge. The committee shall decide the outcome of the complaint with the advice of the Deanwho will then notify the student and faculty member. In cases where a change of grade is deemedappropriate, the Dean shall initiate the change of grade at the Registrar’s office and shall notify thestudent, the faculty member, and the chairperson (or other mediator) that he/she has done so. Thegrievance shall normally be resolved by the last day of the semester in which the grievance has beenfiled.The decision of the committee is final, and no further appeal procedure shall exist within theUniversity.Responsibility forMeeting Requirements Students are ultimately responsible for their own academic program and for meeting the degreerequirements. As early as the second semester of the junior year, each student should file forthe degree by checking the academic records in the Office of the Registrar to determine if allrequirements will be met by the planned date of graduation. The record should be checkedfor number of units credited toward graduation, requirements for upper level courses, and thefulfillment of all other requirements. By making this check, students will have more time to makeadjustments in their schedules during the senior year to accommodate missing courses and/orcredits. This check must be completed before the end of the Fall semester prior to graduation.22