Appeals
Algonquin College is committed to providing students with a fair and timely process to appeal final grades and academic decisions that impact their academic standing or progress.
What are the responsibilities of students prior to filing an appeal?
Students who believe that their final grade, in whole or in part, has not been appropriately graded or who believe that they have a basis for appealing an academic decision (such as matters related to plagiarism, academic integrity, etc…) must first informally review their concerns with the professor within five (5) working days of their final grade/academic decision being issued.
When the issue is not resolved with a professor, or when a student does not receive a response from a professor within five (5) working days of the request, students are to contact the Academic Administrator (such as a Program Coordinator, Chair or Dean) responsible for the course for help prior to launching a formal appeal.
Students with no outstanding debts or obligations to the College have the right to formally appeal a final grade or an academic decision concerning their academic performance and progression through a program of study.
Students who want to file a formal appeal must make a request to the Registrar’s office within ten (10) working days of the final grade/academic decision being issued.
What are the options for a formal appeal?
There are 3 types of formal appeals available to students:
Review of Final Grade
| Students can request a review of final grade when they believe that they were evaluated unfairly and would like to request a review of the grade they received on an evaluation (for example, a test or assignment) or on their overall final grade. The formal reassessment will be done by a qualified person other than the original professor.When submitting a review of final grade form students must include specific and detailed reasons as to why the original grade was inappropriate, including any evidence from the course outline, course notes and textbooks. As a result of a formal review, the grade may remain the same, be raised or lowered. The reassessed grade becomes the official grade. The revised grade is final and cannot be subsequently appealed. Students cannot request a review of final grade for assignments, such as presentations, field placements or clinicals. Instead, they must file an academic appeal. |
Academic Appeal
| Students can submit an academic appeal when appealing decisions that impact their academic standing or progression. Students can only initiate a formal appeal for academic decisions related to:
Students may also initiate an appeal for academic decisions about their academic performance and progression regarding:
It is important to know that only certain grounds for an appeal will be allowed by the Academic Appeal Committee. Grounds are reasons that can be used to challenge an academic decision which the student believes are not fair or reasonable. Students must submit relevant documents to support their request when they apply for an appeal.
The following are the grounds which will be considered by the Academic Appeal Committee:
| Grounds |
Explanation |
Required Documents |
| Personal Bias/Unfair Treatment |
Unfair treatment of the student by a professor in comparison to the other students within the course. For example, where two students provided an identical or very similar answer and were graded differently. |
Write a record of the events and explain how this has affected the student’s ability to succeed. Include course outline or assignments if appropriate. |
| Medical |
Illnesses or medical conditions that have affected the timely completion of an assignment or affected a student’s academic performance or ability to meet academic obligations. |
Medical certificate |
| Compassionate |
Unforeseen significant event or circumstance, unforeseen by the student, that may affect the ability of the student to meet course requirements, for example, attend class, prepare papers, complete projects or write exams. Generally, employment commitments will not constitute grounds for academic consideration. |
May be hard to document. If appropriate, could include:
- Death certificate
- Funeral arrangement
- Travel arrangements
- Letters from counsellors, therapists or religious leaders
|
| Course Management |
Concerns about how a course is delivered or managed, or a significant departure from the course outline or the course management policies of the school or College. |
Write a record of where the departure occurred and explain how this has affected the student’s ability to succeed. Include relevant course outline and/or course management policies documents. |
Confused? Here’s an example.
For example, a student gets charged for plagiarism for a section of their assignment and receives zero marks on their whole assignment. According to the student they did not intentionally plagiarize and forgot to document sources in one section of their assignment but the rest of the assignment had the sources properly documented. The student would like the professor to consider only giving a zero in the one section of the assignment and not the whole assignment. If the student is unable to resolve the issue informally the student may choose to file an appeal under the academic decision of “plagiarism” using the grounds of “unfair treatment”. The student would need to provide the appropriate documentation to support their case.
Need assistance?
Students, who believe they have the basis for appealing an academic decision, should seek the advice of the Ombudsperson for support and direction at the earliest possible time in the process. |
Academic Appeal Review
If a student submitted an academic appeal and believes that they have not received a fair hearing they can file an academic appeal review appeal. The only allowable reasons are:
- A substantial procedural error has been committed by the Appeal Committee which has denied the student a fair hearing
- New evidence is available that, through no fault of the student, was not available at the time the appeal was heard by the Appeal Committee
- The penalty imposed by the Appeal Committee is unduly harsh given the circumstances or the offence
Need assistance?
Students, who believe they have the basis for submitting an academic appeal review, should seek the advice of the Ombudsperson (https://www.algonquincollege.com/ombuds/about-the-office-of-the-ombudsman/) for support and direction at the earliest possible time in the process. |
Is there a cost to file a formal appeal?
No, there are no fees associated with the submission of appeals.
How do I request a formal appeal form?
Please fill out the information requested below and the appropriate formal appeal form will be sent to you within 1 business days of receiving your request.