Grade appeals go through numerous stages

By Sarah Szczepanski
Assistant Features Editor

Danelle Rivera, a junior in the School of Nursing, expected to get an "A" in her NUR 208, "Human Development Over the Life Span," class. When she checked her grades on SSINFO, she was shocked to find that she received a "C" for the class.

"I didn’t understand," said Rivera, "I had 'A''s on every one of my exams, and I thought I did pretty good on the final."

Rivera brought the issue up with her professor and her grade was changed to an "A."

"It turned out that they didn’t count the last exam; they didn’t average it in at all, they had a zero for it," she said.

Rivera was fortunate enough to solve her grade discrepancy in what George Bodner, the chairman of University grade appeals, said is the first step.

Other appeals can take much longer.

Grade appeals can take up to a year with a process leading from an individual meeting with the professor to a formal hearing with the University, Bodner said.

"It's a pipeline problem. Some get resolved with each process."

According to Bodner, the grade appeals process offers a great insight into how the University operates.

The first step is to discuss any grade discrepancies with the professor. Bodner said this is the best place to resolve grading conflicts because the professors and students are closest to the issue.

If the conflict is not resolved there, an appeal sometimes goes to the department head. "We hope this solves most cases," said Bodner. "It doesn't."

After a meeting with the department head, the individual school holds a hearing with its own committee.

All the committees must be composed of faculty and students. Purdue Student Government assigns three undergraduate students and three graduate students, Bodner said.

According to Bodner, there have been few times when the final verdict was not unanimous.

"Sometimes the students are harsher than the faculty," he said. "A key in the cases is that a professor cannot treat one student differently. The committee can only deal with grades; it can't deal with the way the course was taught."

Once the case is heard and decided, the losing party may present an appeal that is based on procedural irregularity, new evidence or an unfair decision, which Bodner said is the hardest appeal to make.

Bodner must receive the appeal within six days.

After this, there is a two-phase approach.

The first phase is a preliminary hearing with the University Grade Appeals Committee.

It is a discussion of written documents where the committee decides whether it will hold a formal hearing on the case.

It is not common for an appeal to make it to the formal hearing stage, Bodner said. "Usually there are four to six cases that come up in the spring semester that are heard around one year later," he added.

"The student writes a document describing their case. This can be however long they want it to be," Bodner said.

He said he gets the response from the other party and puts together a document for the committee summarizing the case.

If the committee decides to hear the case, the appeal moves on to the second phase, which is the formal hearing.

"During the hearing, they get five minutes to state the case and then there is one hour to ask questions," Bodner said.

"They get really intense — whatever happened was made much larger; it's what we call polarization in chemistry."

Art class difficulty surprises students

Program honors King

Tropical garden to offer break from cold weather

Grade appeals go through numerous stages

'Save the Last Dance' lacks intensity, history

Album fails to provide listeners with good music

'AntiTrust' copies plots of well-known movies

FEATURES DESK PHONE:
(765) 743-1111 ext. 256

Features editor:
Megan Finnerty

To send a letter to the editor, please email opinions@purdueexponent.org