Any complaints by students about their grades should be handled
within the structure of the graduate program. The purpose of the
following protocol is to ensure due process for all parties. It allows
the student to determine if an error has been made in assigning the
grade, and, alternatively, it provides the instructor with an
opportunity to explain why the grade was given.
Complaints concerning the grading practices of individual instructors are handled in the following manner:
1. The student should confer with the instructor who recorded the grade
in question. Such a conference must take place within 10 school days of
grade notification.
2. If resolution does not occur, a written
complaint must be filed by the student with the graduate program
director or a designee within 10 days for review and mediation.
3. The graduate program director or designee, within 10 school days
after notification of the dispute, shall consult with all parties and
propose a resolution.
4. If a resolution does not occur at the
level of the graduate program director, the matter shall be referred by
the student to the Student Life Committee.
5.The student must
forward the previously written complaint and previously submitted
scholastic materials to the chairperson of the Student Life Committee.
6.A subcommittee of members of the Student Life Committee who hold
graduate faculty status will be formed to review the submitted
materials.
7.This committee shall render a decision within 15
school days. In arriving at a decision, the committee may consult with
whomever it chooses and may, in extraordinary cases, ask third parties
from among the faculty to review the grade in question.
8. The
program faculty`s decision may be appealed to the dean of the Graduate
School-Newark. Such an appeal must be in writing, must state the
grounds for the appeal, and must be filed within 10 school days of
receipt of the program faculty`s decision.
9. The dean of the
Graduate School-Newark shall render a decision within 10 school days of
the receipt of the appeal. This decision is final.
