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Ramapo College recognizes a students’ right to file an appeal of an academic nature. Student appeals of an academic nature fall into two general categories: grade appeals and other appeals of an academic nature.
Course instructors establish course requirements and performance standards. Instructors’ evaluation of students’ academic performance is a professional judgment based on the requirements set forth in the course syllabus and is expressed through the submission of final course grades to the Registrar at the close of each semester. Under some limited circumstances, a student may appeal a grade.
Circumstances for which students may appeal grades
Grade appeals will be considered only if a student can provide documentation supporting his/her case. Circumstances that might justify a grade appeal include (but are not limited to): computational error; factual information not in evidence at the time the grade was posted (for example, an assignment that the student can document was submitted but was not graded by the course instructor and therefore not factored into the final grade); or an alleged violation of College Policy. Appeals that will not be considered include, but are not limited to, those based on a student’s perceived need for a higher grade (for instance, in order to raise his/her GPA or to enable the course to transfer to another institution) and those based on grades that were penalized (for example, 0 on an assignment) because the student was found responsible for violating the Academic Integrity Policy.
If circumstances such as those described above can be documented, the student may appeal a grade by taking the following steps:
If a student and the course instructor cannot reach an agreement and a student wishes to further pursue a grade appeal, the student must present a written appeal (by email or certified letter), including pertinent course materials or course work, to the Dean of the academic unit which sponsored the course in question within twenty calendar days of the final determination conference between the student and the course instructor.
If the Dean renders an opinion which does not support the student’s grade appeal, the student may petition for a review by the Office of the Provost. The petition is initiated by the submission of a written statement by the student, submitted by email or certified letter, that explains his/her position and includes any evidence that contradicts the Dean’s decision or contains information that had heretofore been unavailable. Such a petition must be made within twenty calendar days of the final, written determination by the Dean. The Office of the Provost reserves the right to hear the petition and will reject any request that does not offer clear evidence that the Dean made a factual mistake, violated school policy, or otherwise acted outside the purview of the Dean.
The decision of the Provost or his/her designee is final.
Course instructors exercise the right of academic freedom. In addition, they have responsibility for managing their classrooms. If, after considering those faculty prerogatives and reviewing relevant policies, students still wish to make appeals of an academic nature (other than grade appeals), they must follow this procedure:
Preferably as soon as a student believes that he or she has cause to make an appeal, but no later than 20 calendar days after the last day of the semester in which course is scheduled, the student may meet with the course instructor or, if the student prefers and makes a compelling case for doing so, with the Dean of the school in which the course is offered.
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