Academic Informations: Grievances Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is a grievance?

At the USSU’s Academic Advocacy Office we deal with two different types of grievances: academic and non-academic. An academic grievance includes, but is not limited to, unreasonable expectations of a professor, being tested on information outside of the course material, and unfair assessment on exams or assignments. Non-academic grievances include, but are not limited to, things such as discriminatory treatment by a professor or instructor, favoritism, harassment or breach of confidentiality. To help with all your grievance questions here is a list of the most common questions and their answers. However, should you need more help or wish to speak with the VP Academic Affairs about your concerns please email vpacademic@ussu.ca or visit:

http://www.ussu.ca/aao/index.shtml#AcadGrievance

1. “Help! I slept in and accidently missed a final exam!!”

In this case the first thing that must be done when you miss a final exam is to contact the professor immediately. Tell your professor that you are aware you missed the final and would like to make it up. Students who miss exams due to sickness, misreading their schedules, sleeping in or for compassionate reasons can apply to their college for a supplemental or deferred exam. Applying for a supplemental or deferred exam does NOT guarantee that one will be granted. You will have to provide documentation such as a doctor’s note. For more information on supplemental and deferred exams please visit: http://students.usask.ca/current/academics/exams/exam-help.php

2. “I think I did much better on this assignment than the mark my professor gave me.”

In cases like this the first step is to speak with your professor informally (and politely, always politely!) about your concerns and see if they will reconsider your grade. If the professor is reluctant to do this you can file a Form A grading appeal as long as it is within 30 days of receiving your grade. A Form A appeal is filed with the department head responsible for the course in which the grievance is occurring (or with the dean in a non-departmentalized college). This form forces a professor to review your work and possibly change your grade. If the Form A does not give satisfactory results you can move on to a Form B appeal which has a student’s work re-evaluated by another professor from the same department. A Form B must be filed within 15 days of the finalization of the Form A appeal. Copies of Forms A & B are available at: http://www.usask.ca/university_secretary/honesty/Student_Academic_Appeals.php

3. “I failed a required class by 0.80%, is there a way to appeal this so I do no have to re-take the course?”
Why yes there is a way to appeal failing marks such as this! The process is very similar to the answer to question 2. One should first informally approach the professor and ask if there is a way to be re-evaluated and scrounge up and extra few percentage points to make a passing grade. If the professor is reluctant to do this you can file a Form A appeal. However, when filling out a Form A for this purpose, be sure to check off all the assignments or exams applicable to your class (i.e. you want all your work from the course to be reviewed). If the result of the Form A does not yield a passing mark you can move on and file a Form B, filling it out in the same all-inclusive manner. If the failing grade resulted from bombing the final exam check with your department or college to see if you are eligible to write a supplemental exam. If none of these solutions produce a passing grade then you’ll just have to take the class again. To ease this burden you can try taking the offending course as a summer class and then you’ll only have to suffer through it for three weeks.

4. “I registered for a class but early in the term I became very ill and ending up failing the class. Is there any way to get my wasted money back?”

In a situation such as this one may file a fee appeal. To do this you must fill out a fee appeal form and drop it off at Student Central. Fee appeals typically take anywhere from 4-8 weeks to process and their rulings can be appealed by the student if the student feels the outcome was unfair. For more information on filing a fee appeal including a copy of a fee appeal form please visit: http://students.usask.ca/current/paying/refunds-appeals.php

5. “My academic advisor gave me wrong advice and now I may not be able to graduate!”

Academic advisors are only human, not robots, (they will be someday, but not now) and therefore sometimes make mistakes when giving advice to a student. If this has happened to you or you merely fear it happening to you there are a few things you can do. First of all keep any and all sheets of paper that an academic advisor gives to you. If an academic advisor writes what classes you need and how many credit units of a certain requirement you have left on your program monitor sheet, make sure they sign their name to that sheet and then take it with you and keep it. If you were given and subsequently followed erroneous information from an academic advisor, and their mistake is preventing you from convocating or otherwise interfering with your studies, you are safe as long as you have that signed program monitor. If you have a copy of a signed program monitor containing the advising mistake the college MUST abide by that program monitor form and fix any problems that arise from it, including letting you convocate.

6. “I have a disability, what services are there on campus to assist me?”

Disability Services for Students (DSS) is a program run by the university to assist students with various types of physical and mental disabilities. From providing note takers for various classes to exam accommodations DSS does a number of things to help students of all strides become successful in their studies here at the University of Saskatchewan. For more information on DSS including how to enroll please visit: http://students.usask.ca/current/disability/registration.php