Establishing a Claim for a Disputed Grade Grievance and Organization of the Board - Graduate • When a final course grade is disputed, the student and the instructor should meet to discuss the matter and seek an appropriate resolution. If the disputed grade is not resolved the student may forward the matter to the graduate program director. If the dispute is not resolved at that level the matter may be forwarded to the chair of the department which houses the program. If the attempt to settle the issue fails at this level, it moves to the Associate Dean for Graduate Study. • The student should submit a document indicating the student’s position and the rationale for the claim. The student must also provide whatever documentation is needed to support the claim. The instructor may do the same. The Associate Dean for Graduate Study meets with both the instructor and the student and confers with the program director and, if necessary, the chair of the department. If the matter is still unresolved, it moves to the next level of appeal. • The next step is the calling of a Hearing Board which will consist of the Associate Dean for Graduate Study, who shall chair the board, the Dean of Students or persons they designate, two graduate faculty members, including at least one graduate program director and two graduate students selected by the Dean of the School for Professional Studies in consultation with the President of the Student Government Association. The parties directly involved may have one other person present who is not an attorney. The Associate Dean for Graduate Study, as chair, shall designate a secretary who shall be responsible for recording the salient issues and the actions of the board. • The parties involved will be asked to submit written arguments to be circulated among members of the board. It is expected that the parties in disagreement appear before the board, but the hearing will proceed despite a failure to appear. When all presentations are complete, the board, in executive session, shall reach a resolution of the problem. • If the Hearing Board finds that a grade has been assigned in a manner that was arbitrary or inappropriate in the Elmhurst College academic setting or that critical evidence was disregarded, the Hearing Board may direct the Registrar to change the grade to one the board deems appropriate as dictated by the documented and objective evidence provided. The decision shall be represented in writing to the principals and others who need to know the results of the hearing. The chair shall maintain a file of relevant material for a period of at least two years. • The decisions of the Hearing Board shall be final.
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