Appeals Services

Student Responsibility
It is your responsibility to notify and consult with either the instructor, or programme department, depending on the situation, as soon as circumstances arise that are likely to affect your academic performance. It is also your responsibility to attempt to resolve all course related issues with the instructor and then, if necessary, with the Academic Director as soon as they arise. Failure to do so will jeopardise an appeal. An appeal may be filed only if the issue cannot be resolved appropriately.

Filing Forms
There are two types of appeals which may be filed. The first is a grade appeal which must be filed with the department which offered the course you are appealing, and the second is a standing appeal which must be filed with your own department. Since the appeal of a grade may have an effect upon your standing, you must advise of any grade appeals in process if they are not being made to the same department. Clearly state for which term (Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer) and year you are filing.

Contact Information
You must specify where you can be reached within the ten (10) working days following the filing of your appeal as you may risk missing important information if you do not properly receive a response from the department/ school. You must indicate how you wish to receive the response. Note that having a response mailed will delay your receipt, and you should retain the postmarked envelope to verify the date. If you have not heard from the department within ten (10) working days of your submission date, you must check with the Director of the Institute on the status of your appeal.

Grounds of Appeal
There are five grounds for the appeal of a grade:

1. Prejudice
2. Medical
3. Compassionate
4. Course Management
5. Procedural Error.

You must consult the Academic Board for the definitions of these grounds. Merit of Work and Recalculation are academic considerations and are not grounds for a formal appeal. If you believe that an assignment, test or exam should be remarked (Merit of Work) or that there should be a reassessment of a grade based on a calculation error (Recalculation), you must have first made the request to the course instructor within ten (10) working days of the date when the graded work was returned to the class. If the instructor did not agree to review the work or did not respond within five (5) working days, you may consult the Director who should assist in resolving the issue and who may initiate a formal reassessment at the earliest possible opportunity. If the reassessment is not done by the Director, the ground for appeal becomes a Procedural Error.

Important Note: Your mark on the work in question may go up, down or remain the same.

You must submit specific and detailed reasons, in writing to the Academic Director, as to why the original grade was inappropriate, including any documentary evidence from course notes, textbooks, etc. Asserting that the work deserves more marks or that you disagree with the mark is not sufficient support for the reassessment. If the Academic Director determines that a reassessment is not warranted, he/she may deny that reassessment, and inform you, in writing, of the reasons and of the right to appeal that decision on the grounds of Procedural Error.

Documentation
You are required to submit:

• A typed letter indicating: the actions you took to deal with any unforeseen situation which arose during the semester which seriously impacted your academic performance. Note that failing to meet the deadlines stated in the Policy for the submission of requests for consideration will jeopardise your appeal.
• The actions you are requesting.
• Your justification for the appeal.
• Medical Certificates or a letter from a doctor containing similar information accompanied by a student declaration is required.

Other documentation which supports your claim or other evidence for compassionate claims; course outlines where appropriate; semester grades where appropriate, and correspondence, if any.

• Be specific and clearly present all of your information. You must provide as much documentation of your claim as possible. The better the evidence you present, the stronger your claim. You are asked to sign a statement that all documentation is authentic and bona fide, and that all your statements are true. You should consult with the college for other specific requirements.
• You must retain a copy of the form you file and all of the documents you attach. You should also retain the date stamped letter if you pick up the response in person, a hard copy of the dated e-mail if you receive the response by e-mail, or the postmarked envelope from a mailed response to your appeal, as proof of the date of receipt.