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Appeals Process

Occasionally, situations arise in which a graduate student in the College wishes to appeal a decision rendered by the Graduate Studies Office or a standing policy that directly affects him/her in some fashion. This could arise in a number of contexts including:

• Request for transfer credits
• Request for a time extension to remove an Incomplete (“N”) grade
• Request for a waiver of the “Application to Graduate” deadline
• Request for extension of the 6-yr time-to-graduate requirement
• Request for waiver of Comprehensive Exam deadline
• Request to enroll in for a course overload (> 9hrs/semester)
• Request for extension of deadline to “DROP/ADD” courses or to withdraw (WX”) courses
• Dismissal from a graduate program for academic or performance considerations
   

Unless the College or University has established and published a separate formal appeal’s process for a particular type of situation (e.g., Grade Complaints or Faculty Performance Complaints), the following procedure should be followed by the student.

1. The student will submit a formal appeal in writing to his/her graduate program, carefully stipulating the reasons for the appeal. Supporting documentation may be necessary for some appeals.
2. The graduate program involved will review the student’s appeal following its own standard practices in a timely fashion and submit its formal recommendation to the Graduate Dean.
3. The Graduate Dean will review the appeal and the program’s recommendation and will contact the student with a final decision, copying the Chairperson and/or Program Director of the graduate program involved. In reaching this decision, the Graduate Dean will be most concerned with any perceived failures in due process that might have occurred to ensure fair and consistent treatment of all students.