Undergraduate students wishing to file a complaint about a course grade, or a grade received for a particular piece of work in a course, must attempt to resolve the matter with the instructor of the course no later than two weeks after notification of the grade.
If the issue cannot be satisfactorily resolved between the student and the instructor, the student may request a Grade Appeal Review by the Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Education. Only in the rarest circumstance will a grade assigned by the instructor of record be reviewed or amended. A student's subjective belief that their work is of higher quality than the instructor's assessment of that work is not a valid basis for appeal.
Examples of appropriate bases on which a Grade Appeal Review may move forward include:
- A computational or clerical error in calculating a course grade, or a grade received for a particular piece of work in a course, which, after written request, the course instructor refuses to acknowledge and/or correct; or
- That the course grade, or a grade received for a particular piece of work in a course, was arbitrary, which, in this context, means "existing or coming about seemingly at random or by chance." The terms of the course syllabus determine the conditions against which a claim of arbitrariness shall be reviewed.
- Capricious grading, which constitutes either or both of the following:
- the assignment of a grade to a particular student on some basis other than his or her performance in the course; and/or
- the assignment of a grade to a particular student by resort to more exacting or demanding standards than were applied to other students in that course.
- Extenuating circumstances and/or new relevant information, for e.g., documented, severe medical problems, or a family crisis.
Note: Student assertions or complaints that a grade or other academic decision was the result of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, are not reviewed as part of a school's grade appeal process, even if asserted at a later stage during a pending grade appeal. The Office of Employment Equity (OEE) is responsible for enforcing the University's policies prohibiting discrimination, harassment, and retaliation (including Policies 60.1.12 and 60.1.28), which extend to adverse academic decisions, such as the issuance of a negative grade in an assignment or course. If the assertion is made before the grade appeal process has begun, the grade appeal review will be stayed, and all action on the grade appeal will be suspended until the OEE completes its investigation concerning the discrimination allegation; if the assertion is after the grade appeal process has begun, action on the grade appeal will be immediately suspended until the OEE completes its investigation concerning the discrimination allegation.
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy 
