Advice to students:
An academic grade appeal form must be submitted to the Enrollment Services office (203) within the
first three weeks of the start of the following full term (Spring of Fall).
A grade can be appealed if a student feels the grade is unwarranted, that is, that a higher grade was
deserved than was given. Grounds for appealing a grade include the following:
- An arithmetic error in combining grades assigned to components of an examination, assignment, or
other form of evaluation.
o In such an instance students should, when writing their appeal, provide detail on the nature of the
arithmetic error and reference the course syllabus if appropriate.
- An error in assigning the proper credit to work submitted by a student.
o In such an instance students should, when writing their appeal, provide detail and supporting
evidence as to the reasons why a higher grade is warranted and why a re-examination of the
graded work should be performed.
o One way of providing supporting evidence is the following:
1. A description of what was being graded, such as the examination question or the assignment
to the completed. For example, “The examination question asked me to give five
consequences of low job satisfaction.”
2. A summary of the grade or marks you received and what you received them for. For example
“In my answer I said that low job satisfaction can lead to higher employee turnover, lower
work productivity, higher absenteeism, and lower employee sick time and higher profits and
provided an explanation for each. I received 6 out of 10 for this. The feedback I received
was that my explanations were incomplete and that lower sick time and higher profits were
the same thing.”
3. A rationale for why the answer provided or the material submitted is deserving of more
marks or a higher grade than the one received. For example, “On page twenty of the text
book eight effects of low job satisfaction are given. This list includes ____ and ____, which
are the answers I provided. I explained these by saying that _______, which is what was said
in class.”
4. Completeness and specificity in providing the rationale is advised.
The following are not, in the absence of the preceding, justifications for a change of grade:
- The need for a higher grade to maintain academic standing or avoid a failing grade.
- Promises to achieve higher performance on subsequent evaluations.
- Financial reasons or consequences of a particular grade.
- The structure of the course or style of the instructor.
- Other non-academic reasons.
