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Asian Languages and Cultures Department

Updated and Approved October 2010

The Department of Asian Languages and Cultures reviews grade grievances in order to insure that grades given in departmental courses are fairly assigned.  Our procedures require students to put grievances in writing and ask instructors to provide a written response.  While these procedures are directed toward producing a recommendation on whether or not a grade should be revised, they respect the College of LSA’s Faculty Code B 5.01 policy that a grade given by a faculty member may only be changed by that faculty member (or by the course supervisor in the case of a multi-section course).  The department believes that instructors are in the best position to determine the quality of student work; merely disagreeing with a grade cannot constitute grounds for a grievance.  Only a course grade can be grieved, not the grading on an individual assignment. 

1. Before a formal grievance can be filed, a student must discuss the conflict with the instructor of the course (or with the course supervisor in the case of a multi-section course).  Both parties must engage in an open discussion of grading policies and endeavor to reach an equitable solution.
2. If a satisfactory resolution is not reached, the student may file a grievance with the Chair of the department.  This must be done within the first six weeks of the Fall or Winter Term following the semester in which the course generating the grievance was taught, or within six weeks after the submission of a grade replacing an Incomplete.  The grievance takes the form of a statement, accompanied by relevant graded materials.  The statement should detail the disagreements that remain after the discussion between the student and the instructor required above. 
3. The Chair will convey the grievance to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) who, determining that the grievance has merit, will organize an ad hoc committee of at least two other members who may have expertise or knowledge in the subject matter of the course for which the grade is being grieved. In the event that the DUS is the instructor of the course in question, the Chair may appoint another faculty member to chair the review.  The DUS will provide the instructor with the student’s statement and request a written response.  After reviewing the documents, the DUS and the assembled committee, if necessary, may speak with the student and the instructor to determine if further documentation needs to be elicited to aid in the decision-making process.  The DUS will then issue a recommendation agreed upon by all committee members that is communicated in writing to the student and the instructor, and copied to the department’s Chair. No further appeals are possible at the department level.
4. In the event that the instructor is no longer at the University of Michigan, a student may present a grievance to the department Chair without first discussing the conflict with the instructor.  The DUS and the committee will make every effort to contact the instructor to elicit a response before arriving at a recommendation.