Student Appeal Procedure

Academic departments hear complaints, grievances, and appeals related to academic matters. This may include adding, dropping, and withdrawing from courses as well as grade appeals and complaints about courses. Procedures for these issues are set by the School or College, unless they involve allegations of academic dishonesty outlined in UWS Chapter 14.

If you have a concern within your academic department, please contact the department chair from the appropriate College of Engineering & Applied Science department.


Undergraduate Appeal Procedure

Informal Resolution of Grievance/Grade Appeal

The majority of situations in which students consider taking a formal action should be resolved informally. If the situation involves a teaching assistant, the student first shall discuss the situation with the TA. If the situation is not resolved to the student’s satisfaction, the student may discuss the matter with the supervising instructor for
the course. If the difficulty cannot be resolved informally, the student has thirty (30) working days from the date of the instructor’s or TA’s action (usually this is the posting of a grade) to initiate a formal appeal as indicated below. Therefore, efforts to reach an informal resolution should be initiated as soon as possible.

Step 1

  • Within thirty (30) working days from the date of when an action becomes available to the student, the student may file with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs or their designee a written statement of appeal. The Associate Dean is involved in the appeal process from the beginning because they must maintain complete records of the appeal process and they also provide a useful main point of contact.
  • The Statement of Appeal shall include, but need not be limited to, the following:
    • The student shall specify what actions or decisions by the instructional staff are being appealed.
    • The student shall describe the personal adverse effect caused by these actions or decisions.
    • The student shall cite the campus policy, procedure or practice allegedly violated and explain the nature of the violation. Possible relevant policies are those for the course syllabus, final examinations, or incompletes. An example practice would be that grades should be based on sensible and fair standards.
    • The student shall explain how such university policy, procedure or practice has been violated.
    • The student shall indicate the remedy they are seeking.
  • The student must claim to have already suffered harm. Appeals about anticipated harm are not appropriate and will be rejected immediately. Such a rejection is not subject to further appeal.
  • If the statement does not include the required information, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs or their designee shall provide the student with a copy of the Statement of Appeal indicating what is missing and the student shall be given an additional ten (10) working days to submit a revised written statement of appeal. If a revised statement of appeal including all required information is not submitted in this time period, the appeal may be rejected as incomplete. Such a rejection shall be final and is itself not subject to appeal.
  • Otherwise the appeal is accepted, and the Associate Dean shall transmit the statement of appeal to the chair of the relevant department or their designee, with a copy sent to the instructor. If the instructor of record happens to be the department chair, the Associate Dean shall select another department chair or a senior faculty member to handle Step 1.
  • The chair or designee shall offer to meet jointly or individually with all parties in an effort to resolve the problem and shall prepare a written “Step 1 report” of the results of their efforts. Such meetings may be in person or virtual. Asynchronous communication, such as via email is also acceptable if the parties are willing. The Step 1 report shall specifically address, but may not be limited to, each of the required components of the Statement of Appeal identified above.
  • Additionally, the chair or designee shall issue a status report on the resolution progress via email to all parties every fifteen (15) working days until the written Step 1 report is completed. Concerns about lack of progress or reporting may be referred to the Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
  • The completed Step 1 report shall be given to the student, the instructor, and the Associate Dean. If a proposed resolution is agreeable to both the student and the instructor, the student and instructor shall be asked to indicate formally that the matter is resolved and the Step 1 report, along with the student’s and instructor’s formal acceptance of the resolution, will be sent to the Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The proposed resolution shall be put into effect.
  • If one party accepts a proposed resolution and the other party neither accepts nor appeals the resolution to Step 2 within ten (10) working days of receiving the Step 1 report, the second party shall be deemed as accepting the resolution by default and the preceding actions shall apply.
  • If neither party accepts or appeals the Step 1 report within ten (10) working days, the matter shall be deemed concluded, and no further action will be taken.

Step 2

  • Either the student or the instructor may request, within ten (10) working days of receiving a copy of the written Step 1 report, that the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs or their designee move the matter to Step 2. In Step 2, the appeal/grievance is sent to the CEAS Scholastic Appeals Committee.
  • The committee shall gather and consider all information it deems appropriate, including the original statement of appeal and the Step 1 report, afford the student and the instructor an opportunity to present their cases, and recommend a course of action in its own (Step 2) report.
  • The chair of the appeals committee shall issue a status report on the committee’s progress via email to all parties every fifteen (15) working days until the Step 2 report is completed.
  • The format of the Step 2 report shall follow the format of the Step 1 report as described above but shall always include a proposed resolution.
  • Concerns about lack of progress or reporting may be referred to the Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
  • The committee report shall be given to the student, the instructor, and the Associate Dean. If the proposed resolution is agreeable to both the student and the instructor, the student and instructor shall be asked to indicate formally that the matter is resolved and the Step 2 report, along with the student’s and instructor’s formal acceptance of the resolution, will be sent to the Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The proposed resolution shall be put into effect.
  • As with Step 1, if one party accepts the resolution and the other neither accepts nor appeals within ten (10) working days of receiving the Step 2 feport, the second party will be deemed as accepting the resolution by default, and the preceding actions shall apply.
  • As with Step 1, if neither party accepts or appeals the resolution within ten (10) working days, the matter shall be deemed concluded, and no action will be taken.

Step 3

  • The student or the instructor may request, within ten (10) working days of receiving a copy of the Step 2 report, that the appeal/grievance be referred to the Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for Step 3.
  • The Associate Dean or designee shall review all documents, independently consider all information they deem appropriate, afford the student and the instructor an opportunity to present their cases, and render a final decision in a written report that follows the format of the Step 1 and Step 2 reports.
  • The Associate Dean or designee shall issue a status report on their investigation via email to all parties every fifteen (15) working days until they reach a decision.
  • Concerns about lack of progress or reporting may be referred to the Office of the Dean of the College of Engineering & Applied Science.
  • Following evaluation at this level, the decision of the Associate Dean or designee is final.
  • The proposed resolution shall be put into effect.

Missing Deadlines

While due consideration will be given to summer or other recess periods, failure by the student or the instructor to meet any of the prescribed deadlines terminates the appeal procedure, and the decision at the previous appeal level stands.

Abuse of Process

A student must proceed with a complaint in good faith. Abuse of process, malicious complaints, or frivolous complaints may result in referral to the Dean of Students Office for appropriate action (e.g. ref. Chapter UWS 17 Student Non-academic Disciplinary Procedures [17.09(11)]).

Definition of “Student”

A student is any person taking courses offered by UWM, either full-time or part-time, including Summer Session and Extended Education. Any person who is a student or was a student at the time that the alleged event occurred may use this Student Grievance Procedure, within the timelines specified in the procedure.

Records

The complete grievance file, including materials submitted by the parties to the grievance, communications of the appeals committee referred to in Step 2 of the process, communications of administrators referred to in Step 3 of the process, and other official documents relating to the grievance, shall be maintained by the Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for three (3) years after the completion of the proceedings. At that time, the grievance file shall be reduced to statistical records, including no references to the identities of parties. The contents of the file shall be destroyed confidentially.

The above procedure reflects 5.6 Undergraduate Academic Appeal and Grievance Policy (CEAS Fac. Doc. 302)

For additional information regarding undergraduate appeals, please contact Todd Johnson, Assistant Dean of Student Services.


Graduate Appeal and Exception Procedure

Please submit the form below to begin the process to address the following unusual circumstances:

  • Graduate students who encounter difficulties beyond their control may request certain reasonable exceptions to Graduate School policies.
  • Graduate students may choose to appeal academic decisions such as their grades or scholastic standing; specific procedures and timelines are required.
  • Graduate Assistants may file grievances related to conditions of employment; this process is facilitated by the Labor Relations Coordinator and overseen by the Office of the Provost.

Questions? Contact ceas-graduate@uwm.edu.