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GRADE APPEAL
(MnSCU Policy 3.8)
(RCTC Policy 3.8.1)

A Rochester Community and Technical College student has the right to seek a remedy for a dispute or disagreement on a final class grade.

Part 1. Definitions:
Students have the right of appeal if and when they believe that a final class grade was assigned for one of the following reasons:

Arbitrariness: the final class grade awarded represents such a substantial departure from accepted academic norms as to demonstrate that the instructor did not perhaps exercise proper professional judgment.

Prejudice: the final class grade awarded was motivated by ill will directed at an individual student.

Error: the final class grade awarded reflected some mistake in fact (calculation error, omission, etc.), or the instructor failed to give the student in the course adequate notice of grading policies and procedures.

No other reasons are an acceptable basis for a final class grade appeal.

Part 2. Procedure: Teaching and Learning shall establish and maintain procedures to receive grade concerns on an informal and a formal basis, with appropriate opportunities for students to appeal concerns to higher authorities. The Vice President of Teaching and Learning/Chief Academic Officer will be responsible for decision; however, his/her recommendation to change a grade will be forwarded to the Academic Standards Committee for confirmation or reconsideration.

Part 3. Limitations: Students may use the Grade Appeal policy and procedures only for final course grades. Concerns and complaints about individual tests, quizzes, papers, and project grades cannot be appealed; however, efforts to resolve these concerns and complaints may become part of the evidence used in a Formal Grade Appeal. Students who have a grade complaint that jeopardizes their standing in a program should use the current RCTC Student Grievance policy/procedures.

Date of Implementation: Immediate
Date of Adoption: 2/13/2008