Proposed Amendment to Grade Appeals Policy

Submitted by the Student Affairs Committee of the Academic Senate, SFSU

1. The student petitioner may elect to have a student representative present throughout the hearing portion of the Grade Appeal process.

2. The student representative to the Grade Appeal committee should be (1) from the class where the petitioner received the deficiency or (2) a major in the discipline under which the class is generated.

3. The petitioner will submit the names of three students to the Chair or Dean, and the Chair or Dean shall select one of the nominees within five calendar days after receiving the names and a notice in writing shall be delivered to the petitioner and the representative.

3A. The Chair/Dean shall only reject nominees for just cause. That is, the Chair/Dean must provide concrete rationale or reservations [in writing] why the nominees would be disqualified from serving and forward these explanations to the student within five calendar days.

3B. The petitioner can then elect to nominate three additional students to the Dean/Chair in writing within ten days after receiving the reasons for rejection. The Dean/Chair must select a nominee from this second list and forward the name of the nominee to the petitioner and the panel.

3C. At all times, the faculty and the Dean/Chair must disclose any conflict of interests to the petitioner in writing within five days of any notices. The disclosure does not result in automatic disqualification but should be at the sole discretion of the petitioner.

4. The student representative shall be present at all discussions up to and excluding the actual deliberations that decide on the contested grade.

5. In order to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the matter, the petitioner must execute a waiver of privacy. The waiver must be in writing and is kept as a permanent part of the file. Conversely, the student representative must execute a non-disclosure statement which is likewise kept as a permanent part of the file. University legal counsel shall provide the appropriate forms.

NOTE: To count days, do not include holidays or weekends.