Preamble
One of the core responsibilities of faculty is the fair and accurate assessment of students in their courses and the assigning of final grades based on those assessments. Faculty are responsible for ensuring students understand the factors that go into the final grades they receive. It is the right of the student to challenge those grades when the student believes grades were determined unfairly or incorrectly. Students who chose to appeal a grade are responsible for supporting their appeals with evidence. This policy explains the process through which these grade appeals are adjudicated.
Grade Appeal Limits
Starting with courses offered in the spring2025 semester, the following grade appeal policy is in effect for all courses, undergraduate and graduate.Students should be aware that grade appeals cannot move forward once a student has graduated. Once the degree is conferred, the student’s academic record is sealed and grades cannot be changed. Students are limited to three grade appeals during their educational experience at the College. The three-appeal limit will apply separately to the undergraduate degree and graduate programs; however, any grade appeal that is successful shall not count toward that three-appeal limit.
Student Appeal
Students are encouraged to speak with the faculty member teaching the course about the reason or reasons the student thinks the grade is incorrect before filing a grade appeal. Students who wish to move forward with an appeal must send a completed Grade Appeal Application, which can be found on the JStop website, and copies of all supporting evidence to the Grade Appeals Unit of the Registrar’s Office at gradeappeal@jjay.cuny.edu. The Appeal of Grade form for courses taken in spring or summer must be filed with the Registrar's Office by the twenty-fifth day of the subsequent fall semester; the Appeal of Grade form for courses taken in the fall or winter must be filed by the twenty-fifth day of the subsequent spring semester. Exact dates each semester can be found on the college’s Academic Calendar. Once a grade appeal is filed, the student can withdraw the appeal at any time before the appeal is decided.
The following are the general reasons for which a final grade can be appealed:
- Calculation Errors: The student alleges that the final grade reflects erroneous calculations. For example, the professor failed to include work submitted consistent with the course policies as communicated by the professor.
- Inconsistent Application of Grading Criteria: The student alleges that the final grade reflects the use of different criteria and/or standards than were other students in the same course section.For example, the syllabus explicitly lists a late penalty for assignments with no exceptions, but some students who submitted late work were penalized, and others were not.
- Unstated Grading Criteria: The student alleges that the final grade is based at least in part on criteria not stated in the syllabus or appropriately and timely communicated during the semester.For example, the professor added an assignment that counted toward final grades in the middle of the semester without informing students ahead of time.
Department Grade Appeals Committee
Appeals received by the Registrar’s Office within the accepted time frame shall be reviewed by the appropriate grade appeals committee. Appeals will be heard by the grade appeals committee of the department that staffs the course. If the appeal is from a course offered by a non-departmental program, including graduate programs, the appeal will be heard by the grade appeals committee of the program if one exists. If the program does not have a grade appeals committee, the appeal will be heard by the grade appeals committee of the faculty member’s home department. Hereafter, “department” refers to the relevant departmental or program grade appeals committee.
The department committee has 30 calendar days to review the appeal. If the Registrar’s Office sends the appeal before the beginning of the fall or spring semester, the department grade appeals committee has 30 days from the first day of the semester. If the Registrar’s Office sends the appeal after a semester has started, the department grade appeals committee shall have 30 days from the date the appeal is sent. If the Registrar’s Office sends the appeal and 30 days are not remaining in the semester, that appeal will be deferred to the start of the following semester. The Department Chair/Program Director is responsible for ensuring that the committee makes a timely decision. The department grade appeals committee shall review all material submitted with the appeal. The department grade appeals committee may request additional information from the student, professor, or other parties as appropriate. A grade change cannot be recommended unless the professor has had an opportunity to address the student’s appeal before the committee. At the conclusion of review, the department committee shall inform the Department Chair/Program Director whether it does or does not support a change of grade. If the committee supports a change of final grade, this will be recommended to the faculty member.
Faculty Review
The faculty member, upon receipt of the committee’s recommendation, must render a judgment within 14 calendar days and communicate in writing to the Department Chair/Program Director and the Office of the Registrar their decision to either sustain the originally filed final grade or submit a grade change that is no lower than the grade recommended by the department grade appeals committee.
Student Notification
Once the department process is complete, the Department Chair/Program Director will complete the form and send it back to the Registrar’s Office. The Registrar’s Office will notify the student whether the department grade appeals committee did or did not support the requested change of grade and, if an appropriate change of grade was supported, whether the faculty member accepted that recommendation. Only if the department grade appeals committee recommends a change of grade and the faculty member does not accept the recommendation, may the student appeal the decision of the faculty member to the College-Wide Grade Appeals Committee. Within 14 days of being notified of the department committee’s decision, the student has the option to request that their original appeal be forwarded to the Registrar.Once an appeal is filed, the Registrar’s Office shall send all of the related documents to the College-Wide Grade Appeals Committee.
College-Wide Grade Appeals Committee
Upon receiving an appeal, the College-Wide Grade Appeals Committee shall have 30 calendar days to review the complete record as provided by the Registrar’s Office. The College-Wide Grade Appeals Committee will consider whether the departmental committee made an error in rendering its decision. Specifically, the College-Wide Grade Appeals Committee will answer whether or not the departmental committee made an error in supporting a change of final grade. The College-Wide Grade Appeals Committee is encouraged to consult with the faculty member, members of the departmental committee, and the Department Chair/Program Director as appropriate.
Subsequent to a finding in support of changing the final grade (i.e., upholding the decision of the departmental committee), the responsibility to change the final grade shall rest with the Department Chair/Program Director. If the faculty member against whom the appeal was filed is a Program Director, the responsibility to change the final grade shall rest with the Chair of the faculty member’s home department. If the faculty member is the Department Chair, the responsibility to change the final grade shall rest with the Provost or the Provost’s designee.
No change in grade may be authorized except by the faculty member teaching the course or by the appropriate party described above. Each fall, a report will be furnished to the Dean of Academic Programs and President of the Faculty Senate as to the number of grade changes made through this appeals process during the previous academic year.