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Submitting an Academic Appeal
Faculty members have the authority to grade student work and to assign grades. These are academic judgments. A faculty member’s syllabus enumerates student academic performance expectations and consequences. Faculty members render academic judgments when a student’s academic performance violates established standards or fails to meet stated expectations. Academic judgments, made by faculty, are based on academic content, course requirements, and student performance.
Students may not appeal grades based on allegations concerning the competence of a faculty member, the fairness of examinations, the difficulty of a course, or other matters of a purely academic nature. Grades for individual assignments and exams may not be appealed. While it is recognized that faculty hold the right and responsibility to grant a grade, a student who receives a course grade that he or she believes to be unwarranted for reasons other than those listed above may appeal that grade using these stated procedures.
Step 1. Within the first four weeks of the start of the following term or semester in which the grade is received, the student shall have informally appealed the grade to the instructor. If that instructor is not teaching at Troy University during the term or semester following issuance of the grade, the student will make contact with the instructor through the department chair to informally appeal the grade. In the case of a course taught through the TROY Service Centers or TROY Online, students should contact their home campus to determine the person designated by the appropriate college dean to assist the students with their appeals.
Step 2. If the issue is not resolved at this informal level and the student wishes to pursue the appeal, the student shall request in writing a meeting with the respective department chair. This request shall be addressed to the department chair and shall be received no later than the end of the fifth week of instruction for the term or semester following issuance of the grade. The request must summarize the student’s complaint and the student’s informal appeal to the instructor. In the case of a course taught through the TROY Service Centers or TROY Online, students should contact their home campus to determine the person designated by the appropriate college dean to assist the students with their appeals.
Step 3. Within two weeks of receipt of the request, the department chair shall discuss the appeal with the student and with the instructor, separately or at the same time. If the department chair upholds the decision, the matter is closed. The decision is final.
Step 4. If the department chair does not support the decision of the instructor, the matter shall be appealed within two weeks of the department chair’s decision to the designated associate dean or dean of the college. The department chair will forward the appeal package to the designated associate dean or dean. The designated associate dean or dean will empanel three full-time faculty colleagues from the department and/or discipline to review the matter. The decision of this panel shall be final and binding on all parties.
More information about grade appeals can be found in the Academic Regulations section of the Undergraduate Academic Catalog or in the General Regulations section of the Graduate Academic Catalog.
To view all undergraduate and graduate academic catalogs that are available, please visit the Academic Catalogs web page.
Note: Students may not use this procedure to appeal grades resulting from violations of academic honesty. Students should refer to the Standards of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures section in the Oracle, Troy University’s official student handbook, for those appeals.