DeKALB | Students who feel they were given an unfair grade have an opportunity to appeal to the department to consider having their grade changed.

Students may appeal if they feel a grade was given based on anything other than performance in the class, by more demanding standards than other students in the course or a substantial departure from the criteria given to students at the beginning of the semester, according to the Procedures for Appealing Allegedly Capricious Semester Grades of Undergraduate Students Web site.

Walter Atkinson, development coordinator of communication, said appeals are usually filed when students feel they have been unfairly disadvantaged by their grade.

Paul Stoddard, executive secretary of the University Council, said there is a process students must follow if they feel they want to appeal a grade given to them.

“Usually, you work your way up,” Stoddard said. “First, you have to talk to the professor involved, and if that does not work out you can talk to the department chair.”

If the student still feels the issue is not resolved, he or she can go to a grade appeals committee to hear the case, Stoddard said. The committee reviews the student’s petition and they make a recommendation to the dean of the college. Each department also has an advising dean students can talk to if the above steps do not work out. The appeals committee consists of two faculty members and one undergraduate student from the department.

However, few students file appeals because of the lengthy procedure, Atkinson said.

Sue Doederlein, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said only four appeals reached her desk in the spring of 2006. Many appeals are resolved at the departmental level and don’t ever reach the appeals committee. Students discuss the issue with the instructor and with the chair of the department involved.

Laura Eakman, a junior music performance major, said it’s necessary to have the opportunity to appeal grades, because not everyone receives the grade they deserve.

“Having that option is necessary because the instructor isn’t always correct,” she said.

Students should be aware of the grade appealing process before they consider issuing a complaint with a professor.

“I would never try it, just because it seems like a difficult process to go through,” Eakman said. “I wouldn’t want to waste my time if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.”

Cassie Pfeifer is a Campus Reporter for the Northern Star.