Student Appeal Policy 2026 by Education Canada Group

STUDENT APPEAL POLICY

Classiﬁcation: Academic

Responsible: School Managers, Directors, Vice Presidents, Students

Executive Sponsor: Vice President, Operations and Academics

Approval Authority: Robertson College Leadership Team

Date First Approved: 2020-01-21

Date Last Reviewed: 2026-01-15

Scheduled Review Date: 2028-06-01 or as needed

A. PURPOSE

The Student Appeal Policy outlines a clear, fair, timely, and transparent process by which the Student may seek a review of a decision made by the College or an individual at the College regarding academic and non-academic matters that impact their academic studies at Robertson

SCOPE

This Policy applies to all Students enrolled in courses and programs at Robertson College including former students who have been recently withdrawn

C. DEFINITIONS

Word/Term

Deﬁnition

Appellant An Appellant is a student or former student who initiates an appeals process.

Decision A Decision is an academic or non-academic decision that impacts the Student’s academic studies at Robertson

Student Appeal Policy: 2021-06-24 Page 1 of 8

Discipline

Discipline refers to any action taken under the Disciplinary Action Policy

Evaluation Evaluation refers to gathering evidence required that relates to the reason for the appeal.

Appeals Committee

Appeals Committee Chair

Respondent

The Appeals Committee is a committee appointed by the Appeals Committee Chair, and is responsible for providing an independent evaluation and decisions related to the Student’s Appeal.

The Appeals Committee Chair is the College’s designate who oversees and manages the Appeals process. This position has been assigned to the Vice-President of Operations and Academics at Robertson College.

The Respondent is the individual who has made the decision that the Student is appealing.

Evidence Evidence could include student/staff correspondence, examples of student work, SIS notes and information or other applicable documents/resources related to the appeal

Student

Student File

A Student is an individual who has applied for admission and is currently enrolled or has previously been a student at Robertson College.

The Student File contains information about a student, including demographic information, grades, documentation of appeals processes, and other information relevant to the Student’s academic career.

Grounds Speciﬁc, valid reasons that justify challenging or appealing a decision (rather than just disagreement with the decision).

Signiﬁcant Mitigating Circumstances

D. POLICY

Exceptional, uncontrollable situations (like severe illness, bereavement, addiction, mental health struggles, etc )

Robertson College operates with a clear and transparent process for handling appeals.

1. SCOPE

1.1 Students have the right to appeal decisions that affect their academic career at Robertson College, such as but not limited to the following:

111 withdraw from a program

1.1.2 a grade on an individual assessment

11 3 a ﬁnal grade in a course

1.1.4 sanctions that are imposed on a student through the Disciplinary Action Policy and procedure

115 any other matter that affects the Student’s academic studies at Robertson.

1 2 Decisions that are outside the scope of this policy:

1.2.1 the content, format, or delivery of a course: this includes choice of curriculum, textbooks, instructional methods, and/or the scheduling of classes and exams as these are matters of academic and operational discretion

1.2.2 decisions made by external regulatory agencies and/or accrediting bodies (ie, courses offered by the National Payroll Institute in our Accounting and Payroll Administrator program)

1.2.3 decisions with no basis or grounds for appeal as determined by the Appeal Committee Chair

1.3 Grounds for appeal

1 31 Procedural Error: A signiﬁcant error occurred in the academic decision-making process, and that error demonstrably affected the outcome. Examples include: Failure to follow published institutional or program policies related to grading, academic standing review, or withdrawal procedures

1.3.2 Bias or Discrimination: The decision was based on alleged prejudice, bias, or discrimination against the student on the basis of protected characteristics (e.g., race, religion, gender, disability), as deﬁned by institutional policy or applicable law.

1 3 3 Failure to Consider Signiﬁcant Mitigating Circumstances: There were signiﬁcant, unforeseen, and documented circumstances beyond the student's control that prevented them from meeting academic requirements, and the decision-maker (eg, the instructor or committee) was unaware of these circumstances or failed to adequately consider them

Student Appeal Policy: 2021-06-24 Page 3 of 8

1.3.4 New Evidence: Relevant and material evidence exists that was not reasonably available to the student at the time the original decision was made, and this evidence is signiﬁcant enough that it likely would have altered the original decision.

1 35 Policy Misapplication: The applicable academic or program policy was applied incorrectly to the student's situation (e.g., calculation errors, misinterpretation of requirements, or incorrect recording of results)

1.3.6 Insufﬁcient Disagreement: Simple disagreement with an instructor's professional judgment or the stringency of a policy (e.g., “I worked hard and believe I deserve a higher grade”) is not a valid ground for appeal

1.4 Burden of Proof: The student bears the burden of providing clear, compelling, and relevant documentation and evidence to support their claim that one or more of the above grounds occurred. Should grounds not be established, the Appeal Committee Chair reserves the right to cease the appeal process.

2. APPEALS PROCESS

21 Appeals are handled at two levels, each designed to render a decision. Students have the opportunity to elevate their appeal process from the ﬁrst to the second level if they are not satisﬁed with the initial decision. The two levels of the Appeals Process are:

2.1.1. Informal Resolution: The student is encouraged to exhaust informal resolution prior to submitting a formal appeal. The student may seek an informal resolution by contacting the party involved (eg, instructor, staff member, etc.) within 5 business days of receiving the decision Informal resolution may also be proposed by the Appeal Committee Chair as the initial step in the Formal Appeal process

2.1.2. Formal Appeal: The student may submit a formal appeal if they are not satisﬁed with the informal resolution. The Appeal Committee Chair may ask Appellants to explore informal resolution before proceeding with a formal appeal.

2 2 Formal appeals must be received within 5 business days of the decision or the informal resolution decision. Appeals submitted after 5 business days will not be considered

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2.3. Appeal decisions are rendered within 20 business days by the Committee and communicated in a formal letter to Appellants

3. PROGRAM ATTENDANCE

31 The rights and safety of all Robertson community members is a top priority and key consideration when determining if an Appellant may continue to attend classes while an appeal is in progress The Appellant has the right to continue to attend classes while waiting for a decision, except in the cases of:

311 reasonable belief that the presence of the Student would endanger or threaten members of the College Community; 31 2 reasonable belief that the presence of the Student would have a detrimental impact on teaching and learning experience; and/or,

3.1.3 where the Student has already been withdrawn from their program of study

3.2 It is the decision of the Appeal Committee Chair if a student may or may not attend class while the appeal is in progress This decision cannot be appealed.

4. APPEALS COMMITTEE

4 1 The Appeals Committee Chair will appoint an Appeals Committee, which will include ﬁve members consisting of instructors and staff members.

4 11 During a Formal Appeal, the Appeals Committee will review the Evidence and come to a decision.

4 1 2 The majority of the Appeals Committee members must agree on the decision. The Appeals Committee Chair is a non-voting member unless they are required to break a tie between Appeals Committee Members.

4 1 3 Once the decision has been made, the Appeals Committee Chair will provide a formal, written decision letter to the student and for inclusion in the student’s ﬁle

4 2

CONFIDENTIALITY

4.2.1 All information relating to the incident will be conﬁdential to all parties and disclosed only as required for investigation, disposition, or as required by law.

4.3 FAIRNESS AND OBJECTIVITY

4 31 Robertson College staff take the Appeals process and their responsibilities seriously and strive for fairness and objectivity.

4 3 2 Evidence and related documentation will be used where possible.

4 3 3 The appeals process does not follow the same procedures as a court of law, and Robertson staff are not legal experts or bound to legal processes. Appeal decisions are made based on probable evidence

4.3.4 Any member of the College Community can exercise their legal rights to pursue justice, including ﬁling a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission.

4 35 The Appellant will receive a copy of the evidence and information provided to the Appeals Committee.

4.4 APPELLANT PARTICIPATION

4 4 1 The Appellant can be requested to respond to questions from the Appeals Committee or be present for the appeals hearing. The Appellant may bring a support person to the appeals hearing if they so choose.

E. RELATED LEGISLATION None

The Vice President of Operations and Academics is responsible for this policy Questions regarding the interpretation of this policy should be directed to robertsonpolicies@robertsoncollege.ca.