Grade Appeals

Students are encouraged to attempt to resolve the issue with their instructor before pursuing additional assistance.
If a successful resolution is not reached, students should contact the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies (Dr. Erin Murdoch, emurdoch@gmu.edu). In the event that the Associate Chair is the instructor who assigned the grade, the Department Chair (Dr. Keith Renshaw, krenshaw@gmu.edu ) should be contacted. In these cases, the Department Chair will take the place of the Associate Chair for all steps listed below.
The Associate Chair will gather all necessary information from the student.
The Associate Chair will then reach out to the instructor, to gather the instructor’s perspective of the situation.
The Associate Chair will work with the student and instructor to attempt to reach a resolution.
If no resolution is reached, the Associate Chair will create a committee of three Psychology Department faculty members to review the case. The student and instructor will be informed of the faculty members on the committee and have the right to request any changes to the committee members.
The faculty committee will review the information gathered by the Associate Chair. If all three faculty members believe the information gathered is sufficient to render a recommendation, and all three faculty members agree on that recommendation, they will proceed to Step 8. If at least one faculty member on the committee believes more information is needed, or the faculty members are not unanimous in agreement about the recommendation, the committee will schedule in-person meetings with the student and the instructor (separately) to hear details of the case.
The faculty committee will issue a recommendation to the Associate Chair.
The Associate Chair will contact the student and the instructor with the recommendation.
Students who are not satisfied with the recommendation have the option to further pursue the appeal with the CHSS Dean’s Office.