Clinical Grade Review, Challenge, and Appeal Process

Patient Care and Explore & Focus Phases

Summary of process for required and elective clinical clerkships

Students who believe that a clerkship erred in the assignment of a grade, or who believes a grade recording error or omission has occurred, shall follow the following procedure to resolve the matter:

Please note: if your issue stems from mistreatment, please reachout to the Learning Environment prior to starting the process below.

Firstly, the student submits a written request to the department to challenge their grade. The clerkship director then reviews the relevant grading and evaluative materials and elicits related materials, if necessary, to determine the uniformity and impartiality of the grade and/or summative comments. After the clerkship director completes fact finding, student and director meet to discuss the student’s challenge. After the meeting, the clerkship director will contact the student in writing with the grade challenge decision. A pre-requisite of requesting a grade challenge is for students to review their grade with the department,

Please check the department website for information on grading guidelines.

Following the grade challenge, if the student feels  that their grade is demonstrably wrong or that there was an error in the grading or grade challenge process, the student submits a grade appeal to somchlng@uw.edu. The grade appeal committee meets to review all materials related to the appeal and make the final determination to retain or revise the grade and/or relevant comments. Students can review their grade at any time, however, please be aware that the grade challenge and appeal process must be completed within twelve weeks after the grade is posted. Please review the grade appeal committee deadlines.

 

All students are permitted under FERPA (Family, Education, Rights and Privacy act) to review educational records (e.g., exams and evaluations) upon request and any time after grade submission. Typically, a student will meet with a department representative to review de-identified evaluations, summative comments and/or final examination score. If the clerkship has established guidelines for the review follow their specific instructions. If after the grade review, you believe that your grade is demonstrably wrong or that there was an error in the grading process, you may initiate the grade challenge process.

  1. To initiate a grade review, contact the Department Clerkship Administrator to set up a time to speak or meet face-to-face.

Students must submit a grade challenge within four weeks after the grade is posted. This allows the department to connect with the student and process the challenge within seven weeks after the grade is posted. The department must contact the student in writing with the challenge decision seven weeks after the grade is posted. If after the grade challenge decision, you believe that your grade is still demonstrably wrong or that there was an error in the grading process, you may initiate the grade appeal process.

  1. Complete Clinical Grade Challenge Form
  2. Send completed form to Clerkship Director and administrator.
  3. Meet with Clerkship Director or clerkship faculty representative.

The grade appeal must be submitted within eight weeks after the grade is posted. This allows the grade appeal committee to meet and decide the student’s grade appeal within twelve weeks after the grade is posted to align with UW policy. Please see University of Washington’s Grade Appeal Procedure Policy.

  1. Complete the Clinical Grade Appeal Form
  2. Submit completed form to somchlng@uw.edu

Clinical Grade Appeal Committee

  • Department chairs have delegated responsibility for the grade appeal decision to the School of Medicine grade appeal committee for the Patient Care and Explore & Focus Clinical Phases, in accordance with UW policy.
  • The grade appeal committee comprised of faculty and/or student members, will review all materials related to the appeal (no student identifiers). The grade appeal committee will focus on determining whether a petitioning student’s grade and/or clinical evaluation summative comments were awarded arbitrarily or capriciously by the instructor/department and will make the final determination to retain or revise the grade (up or down) and/or relevant comments. Committee bylaws can be found here.

For additional information on the grade appeal committee please refer to the FAQ.