If the student remains dissatisfied, the matter may be appealed to the department chair. Upon receiving an appeal, the chair should ask the student to return to the instructor for further consultation. If the instructor and the student are unable to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement, and if the chair believes the student may have a legitimate complaint, the chair forms a committee of three faculty members who are peers of the instructor who assigned the grade. The instructor or the student may challenge and have replaced one of the three members of the committee without giving a reason for the challenge. The committee meets separately with the instructor and with the student to explore the particulars of the case.
Every effort is made to prevent an adversarial relationship from forming.
At this time, the faculty member has an opportunity to take the recommended action, if any. If the matter is not resolved at this point, the chair considers the committee recommendation and forwards a recommendation to the dean of the school or college in which the course was taken. If the dean decides that a change of grade is appropriate and the faculty member refuses to make the change, the dean may order the registrar to do so. Chairs do not accept grade appeals after the last day of classes of the following semester. Appeals of grades in spring courses must be made by the last day of classes in the next fall semester.