Student Appeals Committee Policy

Committee Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the School of Education Student Appeals Committee is to consider the following student appeals:

• Requests to retroactively withdraw or drop courses
  • Please note retroactive course withdrawals with a grade or a grade of W are only considered for undergraduate students. Per the Graduate School, this is not applicable for graduate students. You can refer to the Graduate School handbook here for more information concerning grade appeals.  
• Requests to drop courses for medical reasons after posted deadlines
• Grade appeals
  • For a grade change to be considered, please refer to the Office of the University Registrar for more information.
• Appeals for denial of reinstatement into a program
• Dismissal from program
• Denial of admissions

The University’s Policy on Prohibited Harassment and Discrimination prohibits discrimination or harassment on the basis of an individual’s race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Appendix B of this Policy provides specific information for students who believe that they have been discriminated against or harassed on the basis of one or more of these protected classifications.

• Students who want additional information regarding the University’s process for investigating allegations of discrimination or harassment should contact theEqual Opportunity and Compliance Office for assistance:
• Equal Opportunity and Compliance
  The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  214 W. Cameron Ave., 2nd Floor
  Campus Box 9160
  Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
  (919) 966-3576
  eoc@unc.edu
• Any administrator or supervisor, including a department chair, associate dean or other administrator, who receives a student’s complaint about prohibited harassment or discrimination must notify the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office within five (5) calendar days of receiving the complaint. If a student raises a claim of prohibited harassment or discrimination during an academic appeal, an investigation of the student’s claim must be performed under the direction of the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office. The school or department must await the results of the harassment or discrimination investigation before deciding the student’s academic appeal.

Committee Composition

The committee is comprised of three faculty members, and the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs serves as Ex Officio on the committee. The three faculty members are nominated by the Area Chair of their academic program to serve two-year terms. Faculty membership must include at least one faculty from a graduate program, at least one from an undergraduate program, and there must be representation from at least School’s three program areas.

Ex Officio Responsibilities

The Ex Officio member works with a Program Administrative Support Specialists to schedule the meetings. The Ex Officio member presents the appeals cases to the committee and communicates to the committee and appellant relevant University and School policy. The Ex Officio member also records the day and time of the meeting, members present, and the final vote, decision, and any conditions. The Ex Officio member is not a voting member. The Ex-Officio members is responsible for conducting meetings and providing the outcome and any conditions to the Director of Undergraduate Advising and Student Engagement, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, or the Graduate School.

Appeal Submission Procedures

Appeals must be submitted to the Office of Student Affairs via this link by 5:00 p.m. on the 15^th of every month. If the 15^th day of the month falls on a weekend, appeals must be submitted by noon the following Monday. Appellants must provide a written statement outlining the reasons for their appeal as well as any evidence gathered to support their case. Please see below for more information

• Suggested Appeals Statement Elements
  • The class name, term class was in progress or completed, instructor’s name
  • Grade received
  • The appeal should make an argument indicating the following:
    • Why the grade received should be changed
    • Why a course should be retroactively withdrawn
    • Reason for admission, reinstatement or dismissal should be overturned
  • The appeal should request a specific remedy, i.e. indicate the grade the student believes to be appropriate

Committee Meetings

Committee meetings are scheduled once a month during the calendar year to hear all appeals submitted for the month. Following is the format for committee meetings:

• The Ex Officio member presents the appeal case and any University or School of Education policies that apply to the appeal
• The committee members then review the case and deliberate
• The Ex Officio members calls for a vote (show of hands or oral) as to whether to honor the appeal request
• The members’ votes are recorded

Appellants are not present at committee meetings.

Conveyance of Committee Decision

The Ex Officio members communicates the committee decision to the appellant by letter and copies the Director of Undergraduate Advising and Student Engagement or the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. A copy of the letter is placed in the appellant’s electronic academic file in the Office of Student Affairs, and in the case of programs which are under the auspices of the Graduate School, when necessary, copy is provided to the appropriate Graduate School official.  The Assistant Dean for Student Affairs will work with the appropriate team member (i.e. SOE Registrar, Director for Undergraduate Admissions, Associate Dean for the Graduate School, etc.) to remedy solutions pending the outcome of the decision.

Records

Committee decisions are final. A record is made for each committee meeting for the following information: attendees, information considered, the vote for each voting member, and the committee’s decision. In June of each fiscal year, the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs provides the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs with a summary statement of the number of cases by type of appeal, along with the committee.