ES4680 - College Review Board

1. Institutional Regulations
   
   The Board of Directors of DMACC confers upon the staff the power to invoke sanctions and promulgate rules to protect the educational processes and the rights of individual students and staff.
    
2. Procedure
   1. The College Review Board shall hear and receive evidence regarding the appeal of final grades. The College Review Board shall hear and review all testimony relevant to the appeal. The College Review Board has the final authority to make determinations regarding the appeal of final grades.
   2. The College Review Board will be composed of the following voting members: the Chairperson of the College Review Board, as appointed by the Vice President of Academic Affairs or their designee; one student representative from each campus appointed by the Student Activities Council President and approved by the Student Activities Council (SAC), one faculty/staff member from each campus as appointed by the Provost or their designee for each respective campus from a pre-selected trained pool, and approved by the Vice President of Academic Affairs or their designee.
   3. A quorum shall consist of seven (7) members of which two shall be students and two shall be faculty/staff. The Chairperson shall vote only in the event of a tie.
   4. In the event that the SAC president has not appointed student members, the Campus Coordinator of Student Activities may appoint the student representatives.
   5. The Chairperson will appoint a substitute for any member when a conflict of interest disqualifies the board member from participating. A conflict of interest exists when a member of the College Review Board is a complaining or defending party to the incident involved or in any other way has a vested interest in the outcome of the hearing.
   6. The student has the following rights at a hearing: (1) to present his or her side of the story, (2) to present witnesses and evidence on his or her behalf, (3) to ask questions of witnesses presenting evidence against the student, and (4) to be accompanied by up to two advisors (at the student’s expense) as defined in ES4625 - Advisors for Students in Academic or Disciplinary Hearings .  Faculty may have a representative with them at any time.
   7. During deliberation, only voting members and the Chairperson may attend.
   8. The College Review Board will reach one of the following decisions:
      1. The College Review Board may reach a resolution that is mutually acceptable to the student and the instructor who issued the grade.  Should the acceptable resolution involve a grade change, the instructor will submit a change of grade form.
      2. The College Review Board may determine that the original grade should be recalculated or otherwise changed.  The new grade may be higher than, the same as, or lower than the original grade. The Chairperson of the College Review Board and three board members will sign and submit the change of grade form to the Registrar only if the instructor is unable to do so.
      3. The College Review Board may determine that the original grade stands.
      4. The College Review Board may determine other outcomes that may impact the grade such as allowing a test retake and the recalculation of the grade, for example.
   9. Decisions reached and implemented by the College Review Board are final and binding on all parties.
   10. The instructor and student will be advised in writing of the College Review Board decision.
   11. As an outcome of the College Review Board hearing, under no circumstances may an individual other than the original faculty member or the College Review Board change a grade.
   12. The original copy of the appeal form will be returned to the student.
   13. If any timelines are not met by college personnel, the appeal automatically goes to the next higher level. If timelines are not met by the student, the appeal process is canceled.

May 11, 2022 - Cross-referenced to Policy SA511.

January 11, 2023 - Changes made that were approved by the Policies & Procedures Commission in September, 2022.