New way to appeal grades is proposed

The Law School's student government plans to submit a proposal of procedures that students can follow to appeal failing grades they feel they do not deserve, Council of Student Representatives President Mike Farber said this week. The students designed their proposal in response to what they said was an unsatisfactory proposal made by the faculty last semester. "When we read the proposal the faculty had, we decided we didn't like it," said Farber, a third-year student. "It is not explicit at all with regards to the procedure students should follow." Students said the faculty's proposal was too vague concerning hearings for students who want to contest grades. While the faculty proposal calls for an ad hoc committee to determine how to deal with each case as it occurs, the CSR proposal provides standard rules for all instances. According to the student proposal, the faculty committee must schedule a hearing 30 days after receiving a complaint, and must present their verdict 30 days after the hearing. The proposal also requires a written explanation of the hearing's outcome to be sent to the student. "It puts a time limit on it so that the issue won't drag on forever," said CSR representative Melissa Jacoby. "The student knows why the result came out the way it did instead of just getting a yes or a no." The proposal also calls for student observers at the hearings where faculty decides whether or not to change the disputed grade. The faculty's proposal was created last semester as a result of an incident last spring in which a student had to appeal a failing grade. Yet when the new faculty proposal was publicized, the CSR found it unsatisfactory, and drew up their own proposal. They asked students to vote for the proposal they preferred and of the one-third of the law students who voted, 97 percent voted for the student proposal. Because the faculty proposal deals with students who want to contest both failing and non-failing grades, and the student procedure only allows students to contest failing grades, Gary Clinton, the Law School's assistant dean for student affairs, said that in some ways the "student proposal seems to be tougher and in some ways it seems to be more lenient." But Farber said he is more concerned with the students who receive failing grades. Clinton said that while he is concerned that students might exploit their grade appealing privileges, he is hopeful that a compromise will be reached between the student and the faculty proposals. "I think they're both OK," said Clinton. "I'm looking for a balance between students being able to address something that's really unfair and the concern I have that some students would take advantage of the system just by making more noise. I would hate to see a grade be challenged by people who are grade-grubbing." Farber also expressed confidence that a compromise between the students and faculty could be reached. But despite the debate over grade appeal, students and faculty realize that the procedures by which grades are changed will affect very few students. "I've seen it happen four times in ten years," said Clinton. "And I think in those ten years two of them have been approved for changes. The faculty are very careful in grading."