{"id":33,"date":"2014-03-14T05:28:20","date_gmt":"2014-03-14T05:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/studentadvocateofficemockup.wordpress.com\/?p=33"},"modified":"2014-03-14T05:28:20","modified_gmt":"2014-03-14T05:28:20","slug":"how-to-submit-a-formal-grade-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advocate.wp.ocfhosted.com\/?p=33","title":{"rendered":"How To: Complete a Grade Appeal"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Formal Grade Appeal Process<\/h1>\n<p>We are here to help! Contact us at academic@berkeleysao.org and we&#8217;ll assign you a\u00a0caseworker who will guide you through the process, start to finish!<\/p>\n<h2>How it Works<\/h2>\n<p>The full process (on which this section is based) is listed here:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/guide.berkeley.edu\/academic-policies\/\">http:\/\/guide.berkeley.edu\/academic-policies\/<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Part 1: Unit (Department) Level<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Each department or other instructional unit shall establish a standing grievance committee chair who is not the chair of the department.<\/li>\n<li>For each case, this chair will appoint an ad hoc grievance committee, consisting of:\n<ol>\n<li>Three faculty members<\/li>\n<li>One faculty member from the same department\/unit<\/li>\n<li>One faculty member from a different department\/unit<\/li>\n<li>Two students in good standing appointed by the student association of the department.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>The ad hoc grievance committee will review all the required materials (from the student and instructor) and make a recommendation regarding a resolution.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Part 2: COCI<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>This recommendation is then sent to COCI (Committee on Course Instruction), including minority views, in writing.<\/li>\n<li>COCI has the power to change the grade, drop a course retroactively, or retain the course but eliminate the grade from the GPA.\n<ol>\n<li>Note that changing the grade to a letter grade and not just a P requires that four out of the five ad hoc committee members need to recommend it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Timing<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>The process must be started one calendar year from the last day of the semester in which the final grade for the course was posted.<\/li>\n<li>The formal procedure, once initiated, is to be completed at the unit level within 20-working days and at the Senate level within 40-working days if both parties are in residence and the University is in regular session.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h1>Student Instructions<\/h1>\n<p>The full process (on which this section is based) is listed here: <a href=\"http:\/\/academic-senate.berkeley.edu\/committees\/coci\/procedures-grade-appeals-based-alleged-use-non-academic-criteria\">http:\/\/academic-senate.berkeley.edu\/committees\/coci\/procedures-grade-appeals-based-alleged-use-non-academic-criteria<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(look especially at III.B for student instructions)<\/p>\n<h2>Step 0: Informal Attempts<\/h2>\n<p>If you have a grievance about a grade, you should first try to speak with your instructor and\/or the student <a href=\"http:\/\/sa.berkeley.edu\/ombuds\">ombuds<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 1: Assess the Strength of Your Case<\/h2>\n<p>The following are grounds for appeal:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>the application of non-academic criteria, such as:\n<ol>\n<li>the consideration of race, politics, religion, sex, or other criteria not directly reflective of performance related to course requirements;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>sexual harassment;<\/li>\n<li>or improper academic procedures that unfairly affect your grade.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Step 2: Initiate the Formal Process<\/h2>\n<p>Requirements are listed here: <a href=\"http:\/\/academic-senate.berkeley.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/committees\/coci\/gradegrievancechecklist_2011_v2.pdf\">http:\/\/academic-senate.berkeley.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/committees\/coci\/gradegrievancechecklist_2011_v2.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Submit the case in writing to the department chair. Emailing is perfectly fine. This email should include your entire case:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Specify clearly the grounds on which you are disputing the case, as listed here:\n<ol>\n<li>Discrimination<\/li>\n<li>Sexual harassment<\/li>\n<li>Improper academic procedures that unfairly affect your grade<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>There should be a \u201cdescription of the basis for grievance\u201d, and, if it exists, the original work in question.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>From here, the entire departmental process, including the ad hoc committee, must be completed within 20 days of the date of the email and sent to COCI.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 3: Wait for, then respond to, the instructor\u2019s rebuttal.<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>The instructor will write and send a rebuttal through the ad hoc committee.<\/li>\n<li>Write a rebuttal to that rebuttal.<\/li>\n<li>The instructor will have one last chance to write another rebuttal before the case is judged and sent to COCI.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Step 4: Option to submit additional written materials to the ad hoc committee<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>The ad hoc grievance committee will meet to discuss all these materials. The student and instructor may present additional information in writing to the ad hoc grievance committee:\n<ol>\n<li>prior to the meeting or,<\/li>\n<li>At the option of the ad hoc grievance committee chair, in person to the ad hoc grievance committee.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Neither party may be present while the other is appearing before the committee or while the committee is deliberating.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Step 5: Wait<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>The department chair will forward all relevant documents and notify COCI in writing of the recommendation within two weeks of receiving the report from the ad hoc grievance committee.<\/li>\n<li>From here, all you can do is wait for the COCI judgement. This is required to take a maximum of 40 working days.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Formal Grade Appeal Process We are here to help! Contact us at academic@berkeleysao.org and we&#8217;ll assign you a\u00a0caseworker who will guide you through the process, start to finish! How it Works The full process (on which this section is based) is listed here:\u00a0http:\/\/guide.berkeley.edu\/academic-policies\/ Part 1: Unit (Department) Level Each department or other instructional unit shall [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advocate.wp.ocfhosted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advocate.wp.ocfhosted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advocate.wp.ocfhosted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advocate.wp.ocfhosted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advocate.wp.ocfhosted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/advocate.wp.ocfhosted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advocate.wp.ocfhosted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advocate.wp.ocfhosted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advocate.wp.ocfhosted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}