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Department of Sociology

(January, 1983)
(Reaffirmed: May 1992)

Preamble

The Department upholds the principle that the instructor in a course is always in the best position to determine the quality of students' work. The Department of Sociology also has confidence in the qualifications and good judgment of its faculty. Nonetheless, where it can be proven that a clerical error, a procedural fault, or a capricious or biased appraisal has resulted in the awarding of an unfair grade, the Department will do everything in its power to correct the error. It must be understood, however, that only the instructor of a course can determine the substantive value of a student's performance in that course and only the instructor can change the grade.

Furthermore, while the Department wishes to see demonstrably unfair grades rectified, it will not automatically invoke the full procedure described below for every grievance. For example, a grievance based on the argument that one instructor's grading standards are stricter than those of others will normally not be pursued. Nor will minor imprecision in grading, such as between a B- and B, normally be considered an appropriate grievance.

Grievance Procedure

  1. A student who feels that he or she has been unfairly graded should first consult with the instructor of the course, within three weeks of notice of the grade, in an effort to resolve the disagreement.
  2. If the student is not satisfied by the explanation(s) offered by the instructor of the course, he or she should submit to the Chair of the Department a written appeal, citing the factors which bear explicitly upon the specific grievance. He or she should also submit all papers and examinations written for the course to which he or she has access. These materials and the appeal should be submitted no later than four weeks after the student has been notified of the grade. Exceptions to this rule will be allowed only in extraordinary circumstances.
  3. Upon receipt of these materials, the Chair of the Department will appoint an ad hoc committee to review the appeal and will name its Chair. This committee will consist of one undergraduate or graduate advisor (depending upon the status of the student), two additional faculty members and two students chosen from the suitable peer group (undergraduate majors or graduate students).
  4. The Chair of the Department will ask the instructor involved to respond to the appeal in writing no later than three weeks after the filing of the appeal with the Chair. This response, together with the appeal and all relevant materials will be put into the hands of the committee.
  5. The committee will meet no later than one week after receiving all the aforementioned materials. Both the student and the instructor will be informed of the time and place of the meeting and will be allowed to make an oral presentation to the committee in each other's presence.
  6. If after due deliberation, it is the consensus of the committee that the grade awarded was unfair, the committee will inform the instructor of this opinion and suggest that the grade be changed. It will be possible to suggest a lower grade as well as a higher one. If no consensus is reached, or if the consensus is that the grade should not be changed, the appeal procedure will terminate at this point.
  7. If the instructor involved is asked by the committee to change the grade and refuses to do so, the grade will stand. However, in this case the Chair of the Department or a representative will place a letter recording the decision of the grievance committee and the refusal of the faculty member to change the grade in the student's permanent academic record, unless the student requests this not be done. If such a letter is filed, the instructor involved will also have the right to place a statement about the grievance in the student's academic record.
  8. If the Department declines to appoint a hearing committee, or if a hearing committee's decision goes against the student, any further appeal the student may wish to make should be directed to the Department Executive Committee. If there has been a hearing, any review by the Executive Committee will be limited to insuring the student received a fair hearing - the Executive Committee will not hear a grievance de novo.

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