Grade Review, Petition, and Appeal Process
Overview
In accordance with Executive Order #58, University of Washington Scholastic Regulations 110.2, and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Standards for Accreditation 11.6, the School of Medicine has instituted a 3-step process to enable a student who believes that an instructor erred in the assignment of a grade, or who believes a grade recording error or omission has occurred, to resolve the matter. The process includes the following steps:
Grade Review
All students are permitted under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to review educational records upon request. If you have questions about how your grade was determined or why specific comments were included in your evaluation, you can request to meet with the department for a guided review of your grade. Typically, you will meet with a department representative (an administrator or director) to review deidentified evaluations, summative comments, and/or final examination scores.
The process for requesting and completing a Grade Review may vary by department. Please check the department website for more information about their Grade Review process.
IMPORTANT: Students who believe that their grade is the result of a learning environment issue should contact the Learning Environment before initiating a Grade Review.
Grade Petition
If, after completing a Grade Review, you wish to dispute any aspect of your grade, including the inclusion of specific narrative comments, you may submit a Grade Petition to request that the course/clerkship director formally investigate whether process was followed in assigning your grade. The course/clerkship director will typically obtain all documentation related to the creation of the grade, solicit names/level of contact of evaluators (if applicable), gather additional data (if appropriate), and do fact-finding to ensure that your questions and/or concerns are addressed. After fact-finding, the course/clerkship director will meet with you – either in-person, over the phone, or via Zoom – to review your petition and communicate their decision. You will also receive a written copy of the decision (typically via email).
The process for requesting and completing a Grade Petition may vary by department. Please check the department website for more information about their Grade Petition process.
Grade Appeal
If, after completing a Grade Petition, you feel that your grade is demonstrably wrong or that there was an error in the grading or Grade Petition process, you can submit a Grade Appeal to request that the Grade Appeal Committee review your case. The Committee will determine whether the evaluation of your performance was fair and reasonable and whether the instructor’s conduct in assigning the grade was arbitrary* or capricious**, and will decide what changes to the grade, if any, will be made. Decisions made by the Grade Appeal Committee are final.
*Arbitrary is defined as “an unreasonable or unpredictable use of one’s authority in accordance with one’s will or desire”.
**Capricious is defined as “implying an instability or irregularity that seems to be the product of whim or erratic impulse”.
For more information about the Grade Appeal process, or to submit a Grade Appeal request, please click here.