NOTE: The outcome of an appeal may result in an increase, decrease, or no change in the grade under appeal.
Grounds for Appeal:
The Faculty of Information and Media Studies does not view the appeals process as an opportunity for students to solicit a second opinion on a grade assigned to a particular piece of work. Appeals must pertain to the final grade in a course, and will only be entertained if sufficient grounds for appeal can be met, including: medical or compassionate circumstances, a defect in the evaluation process, bias, inaccuracy or unfairness.
Stages in the Appeals Process:
- The first stage of the process is a discussion of the disputed grade with the appropriate Teaching Assistant (if applicable), and subsequently, the course Instructor.
For grades assigned to individual assignments, essays, lab reports, projects and tests completed throughout the term, the student first must appeal to the Teaching Assistant or Instructor of the course, within three weeks of the date on which the Instructor or Teaching Assistant returned the assignments to the class. The Appeals Committee will not hear any further appeals about the final grade in any course unless this first step has been taken. - If completion of the first stage has not resolved the matter, the student may appeal the final grade in the course to the FIMS Appeals Committee.
Appeals of final grades must be within the time frame indicated in the Undergraduate and Graduate Calendars [Note: MA Journalism students must consult the Appeals Procedures described in the Graduate Student Handbook for more specific timelines]. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the appeal is submitted within the deadline. The student shall submit a formal letter to the FIMS Appeals Committee outlining the grounds for the appeal, the remedy sought and relevant materials. If the appeal involves a request for work to be regraded, the original marked work and a clean copy (if possible) must be included. If the appeal is commenced once the deadline has passed, it will not be considered either by the Appeals Committee or by the Associate Dean. - The FIMS Appeals Committee has the discretion to determine whether the grounds for appeal have been met.
If the Committee deems that the reasons for the appeal are not legitimate, the Associate Dean will be informed. The appeal will be terminated and the student will be informed. - If the Committee decides that the grounds for appeal have been met, the following steps will be taken:
- the course Instructor will be shown the appeal letter and offered an opportunity to make a written response;
- if work is to be regraded, a reader will be appointed who is competent in the area in question and was not involved in the assignment of the original mark. The reader will consider the work in question and will arrive at an independent evaluation. If there is a large discrepancy between the original mark and the regraded mark, a second reader may be appointed by the Committee. If the appointed reader(s) arrive at a grade within five marks of the original, the original grade will stand.
- The FIMS Appeals Committee will review the evidence and will make a recommendation on the case to the Associate Dean.
The Associate Dean will consider the recommendation from the Appeals Committee, and will make a decision. The student and the instructor will be notified promptly and in writing by the Associate Dean of the decision and of the change in grade, if any. Within the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, the Associate Dean’s decision on the matter is final. Further appeals are possible under certain circumstances to the Senate Review Board Academic (for Undergraduate students) or to the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (for Graduate students) but the student should carefully consult the guidelines regarding such Appeals.