Academic Grievances – Undergraduate and Graduate Students
The Subcommittee on Undergraduate Student Academic Grievances was founded to ensure fair, orderly and expeditious consideration for any students who feel they may have an individual grievance relating to such matters as grading practices, application of curriculum restrictions, nature or method of instruction or course content. A student’s dissatisfaction with an instructor’s grading judgment does not constitute a grievance.
The Subcommittee shall consist of two undergraduate students and two alternates (chosen in the same way as students on other College committees), two faculty members and two alternates elected by the faculty, and one administrator appointed by the Provost. The administrative appointee and the faculty members shall serve three-year terms, except that in the initial election, one faculty member will be elected for a two-year term. Students shall serve one-year terms.
The Subcommittee shall adjudicate each case according to common and accepted academic practices. It shall sustain grievances where instructors have not employed such practices and reject grievances where instructors have employed such practices.
Procedure
Students having academic grievances should adhere to the following procedure:
| Step 1. |
Confer with the instructor involved in an attempt to solve the problem.
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| Step 2. |
If still unsatisfied, confer with the Student Academic Grievance Committee of the department involved in a second effort to achieve a resolution. A department should first determine if the matter brought to it is grievable under existing policies. If the matter is grievable, the departmental grievance committee should attempt to arbitrate differences. (If the department grievance committee does not exist, or cannot be convened, then the department chair should attempt to arbitrate the grievance.) After its attempt to arbitrate the grievance, the departmental committee should inform the student whether or not it has secured a solution agreeable to both parties.
Prior to filing a formal grievance with an academic department, you must discuss your concern(s) with the appropriate faculty member, as described in Step 1. Should the matter not be resolved or if you disagree with the decision, then use The Student Grievance Form to express your concern to the relevant department chair. The Student Grievance Form must be submitted no later than 30 days after the completion of the course. The grievance will be reviewed, and a decision rendered by the department. Should you disagree with this decision, submit this form along with the written decision of the academic department to the Provost by email: provost@oneonta.edu.
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| Step 3. |
If the arbitration fails, the student may carry the grievance to the Subcommittee on Student Academic Grievances, where it will be adjudicated. The departmental committee does not have the power to adjudicate. The Student Grievance form must be used.
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Operating Guidelines for the Subcommittee on Undergraduate Student Academic Grievances
The Subcommittee will use its own judgment of common and accepted academic practices in reviewing the acceptability of particular academic practices and their applications to the grievances in question.
The Subcommittee will consult with the student(s) involved and other relevant parties in its effort to reach a decision. (The chairs of Elementary and Adolescence Education will be consulted in appeals involving student teaching for their respective areas.)
After considering a grievance, the Subcommittee shall designate a specific course of action or disposition. The Subcommittee shall give in writing to all direct parties of a grievance a statement of its disposition and a justification of its decision, using the Summary Form. The Subcommittee’s decision shall be the final recommendation to the Provost.
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