Grade Review, Petition, and Appeal Process — Staff Resources
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
A student who has questions about how their grade was determined or why specific comments were included in their evaluation can request to meet with the department for a guided review of their grade. The process for completing a Grade Review may vary by department. The process for requesting and completing a Grade Review may vary by department.
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, a student wishes to dispute their grade, including the inclusion of specific narrative comments, they can submit a Grade Petition to request that the course/clerkship director formally investigate whether process was followed in assigning their grade. The process for requesting and completing a Grade Petition may vary by department.
Grade Appeal
If a student is unsatisfied with the result of their grade petition, they can submit a grade appeal to request that the Grade Appeal Committee review their case. The Committee will determine whether the evaluation of the student’s 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. For more information about the Grade Appeal process, please click here.
*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”.
Important Deadlines
Grade Appeal requests must be submitted prior to the end of the academic quarter following the quarter in which the course was taken (e.g., a grade appeal request for a course taken in Spring quarter must be submitted by the end of Summer quarter as noted on the SOM Clinical Academic Calendar). While there is no specific date by which a Grade Review or Grade Petition must be completed, reasonable efforts should be made to ensure that a student who wishes to appeal their grade is able to complete all required steps in a timely manner. This time may be extended by the Grade Appeal Committee Executive Co-Chair in exceptional circumstances, such as a situation in which the student was unable to complete the process within the allowable timeframe due to a department’s lack of responsiveness.
Guidelines
Grade Review
All students are permitted under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to review educational records upon request. Typically, the student will meet with a department representative (an administrator or director) to review deidentified evaluations, summative comments, and/or final examination scores. If a department follows an internal process that differs from the published guidelines, it must ensure that the process is known to the student prior to meeting with them.
Grade Petition
If, after completing a grade review, a student wishes to dispute any aspect of their grade, they may submit a grade petition. Students must complete and submit the Grade Petition Form to the department. Upon receiving a grade petition, 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) based on student petition documentation, and do fact-finding to ensure that all of the student’s questions and/or concerns are addressed. After fact-finding, the course/clerkship director will meet with the student – either in-person, over the phone, or via Zoom – to review the student’s concerns, address areas of uncertainty, share any additional data gathered prior to the meeting, and communicate their decision. They MUST also contact the student with the decision in writing (typically via email). Departments should make every effort to notify a student of the results of their grade petition within a reasonable timeframe to allow the student to submit a grade appeal, if desired, by the required deadline.
Grade Appeal
Grade appeal requests are managed by the Grade Appeal Committee administrator in the Curriculum Office. Students MUST have correctly completed the grade review and petition processes prior to submitting a Grade Appeal request. After a student submits a request, the process proceeds as below:
- The Curriculum Office determines whether the Grade Appeal request was submitted within the allowable timeframe.
- The department verifies that a student has completed the Grade Petition process and provides additional information about changes made to the student’s grade, if any. Departments are required to submit this information within 10 days of receiving a verification request.
- If a student’s request is deemed eligible, the Grade Appeal Committee Academic and Executive Co-Chairs review the student’s request and contact the department for additional context about how and why the grade was assigned.
- The Grade Appeal Committee meets to discuss the adequacy of the grading process and to determine what, if any, changes will be made to the grade.
Grade Appeal requests are typically reviewed by the Committee no later than two quarters after the course was taken. Students who have submitted a Grade Appeal will receive a letter from the co-chairs detailing the Committee’s decision within two weeks of a Committee meeting in which their case is discussed. A copy of the student’s decision letter will be sent to the clerkship director and may include recommended changes to clerkship processes.
Additional Resources