XIX. Grievance Procedures

These procedures are intended to provide students at Georgia Tech a means for setting forth grievances relating to assessment activities that contribute toward satisfaction of graduation requirements. Disputes that can be contested under these Grievance Procedures include, but are not limited to: final course grades, PhD qualifying or comprehensive exams, and PhD defenses. It is not the intention of these procedures to provide a forum for questioning the judgment or grading policies of faculty. A student's concerns may be discussed with a faculty member or instructor and/or reported to the school or department head, the academic deans, or the Assistant Vice Provost for Advocacy and Conflict Resolution.

These Grievance Procedures may not be used to challenge or appeal the outcome of an Academic Misconduct case adjudicated under the Academic Honor Code. The Academic Honor Code and the rules governing Academic Misconduct procedures can be found in the Policy Library at: https://policylibrary.gatech.edu/student-life/academic-honor-code and https://www.policylibrary.gatech.edu/student-life/student-code-conduct.

A. Deadlines for Submitting a Grievance

In the case where a student is graduating and they have a grievance in that final semester, they may attempt to initiate the grievance process in the next semester. However, students should note that not all faculty are employed by the Institute in all semesters. In this case, the grievance may need to be processed in the following term.

  1. Students must submit a formal grievance within their next enrolled fall or spring academic term following the academic term of the course or examination in question, and best efforts should be applied to resolve the appeal within that academic term or the following fall or spring academic term, depending on when the grievance is filed.
  2. Students who have been placed on academic dismissal or who have graduated may also use these grievance procedures. The deadline to submit a formal grievance for these students is within the next fall or spring term after the grade was earned or the examination result was provided to the student. For example, a student who earned the grade in the fall term would have to initiate the formal grievance process in the following spring term. A student who earned the grade in the spring term would have to initiate the formal grievance process in the following fall term, at the latest.
 

B. Steps in the Grievance Process*

*The steps of the grievance process must followed in the order presented below.

  1. The student should attempt to informally resolve the grievance with the individual faculty member or the academic unit involved, where a unit is defined as a school, department or college (if the college has no schools or departments).
  2. If the grievance is not resolved in Step B.1 and the student elects to initiate a formal grievance process, the student may request a hearing by setting forth in writing to the unit head or program director or their designee the complaint and the remedy sought at the unit level.  The documentation of the complaint must include the specific course policy, departmental policy, or institutional policy that was not upheld, testimony regarding inequitable treatment of the student compared to their peer(s) in the same course section and in the same semester, and/or evidence documenting that an assessment outside of a course (such as a PhD defense) was unreasonable. Upon receipt of this document, the unit head, program director, or designee will acknowledge the formal grievance in writing within seven business days and will expeditiously proceed to constitute an ad hoc grievance committee. The unit head, program director, or their designee will serve as a nonvoting member of the committee. In addition, the following four committee members will be selected:
    1. One tenured faculty member from within the unit, selected by the unit head, program director, or designee.
    2. One member of the academic faculty**, selected by the student within seven business days of initiating the formal grievance process. If the student does not select a faculty member within this timeframe, then the student waives their right to do so and the committee will consist of three members.
    3. One member** from outside the unit, selected by the Student Grievance and Appeal Committee.
    4. One member of the academic faculty** selected by the faculty member or faculty committee whose action is in question.

**In the case of PhD degree milestone requirements such as qualifying exams or Defenses, the committee members should have Graduate Thesis Faculty status. 

The Committee will proceed with due haste to examine the merits of the complaint and to render a decision within 30 days. During the proceedings, the student may present any and all evidence that the student deems necessary to support the complaint, except that the Committee must agree that the evidence is in some way relevant. Such evidence may consist of documentation and/or testimony. Both the student grievant and respondent(s) may be accompanied by advisors; the role of advisor must, however, be restricted to advice. Grievant(s) and respondent(s) must make their own cases before the committee.

Following a hearing and a written decision at the school, college, or unit level, the grievance is presumed to be resolved unless the grievant appeals.

3. If a unit denies a grievance, or if the stated timeline or process is not followed by the unit, then the grievant may appeal the decision or the lack of timely action to the Student Grievance and Appeal Committee (SGAC). A written appeal must be presented to the chairperson of the Student Grievance and Appeal Committee within thirty days after the student has received notice of a decision in writing from the unit or within thirty days after the expiration of the unit’s timeline as stated above.

a. The appeal must state the basis for the grievance and the facts that support it, including a summary of the steps that have already been taken to resolve the grievance, reasons why the student finds the resolutions, or lack thereof, unfair or unsatisfactory, and a statement of the desired remedy. At this stage, the appeal will not include interviews or presentations by any party to the grievance appeal.  

b. The decision as to whether a formal hearing by either the unit or the SGAC is warranted shall be made available, in writing, to the parties concerned within thirty days after the Committee has received notice of the appeal. 

c. If the Committee, or subset thereof appointed by the chairperson of the Student Grievance and Appeal Committee, rules that the procedures are not applicable or that based on the facts stated by the grievant viewed in the light most favorable to the grievant, there is no basis for relief, then the appeal is denied. This is the end of that grievance appeal – there are no additional avenues for appeal. 

d. If the Committee rules that the grievance procedural rules are applicable and that a hearing of the appeal is warranted:

i. If the reason for the appeal is based on the unit’s refusal to hear the grievance or their inaction, the SGAC will notify the unit head or designee that they must convene a new ad hoc grievance committee as outlined in Step 2, who will provide a hearing and written decision within 14 days of the notice from the SGAC. The appeal is presumed to be resolved unless the grievant submits another appeal. A separate appeal must be submitted if the student finds the unit’s resolutions, or lack thereof, unfair or unsatisfactory. 

ii. If the reason for the appeal is based on the student’s disagreement with the unit’s findings, the SGAC will hold a formal hearing. 

1. After receiving testimony and the relevant documents, the Committee shall make a decision within thirty days of receiving the appeal. 

2. The Committee’s decision shall contain findings of fact, the decision arrived at, reasons for the decision, and the criteria or policy applied in reaching the decision.

3. This is the end of that grievance appeal – there are no additional avenues for appeal.

e. The Committee may alter a deadline specified in these procedures on written petition of either party showing a meritorious reason for delay; if the Committee itself needs to extend a deadline, it may do so on its own authority for periods up to fourteen business days; for longer delays, the Committee must request an extension from the Executive Board of the Institute.

i. The determination of the Committee as to whether a hearing is warranted is final.

ii. The Committee shall develop and, with the approval of the Academic Senate, establish and publish its own rules of procedures for the conduct of formal hearings.

C. Remedies

  1. General: If the Committee finds, after a formal hearing, that a faculty member, a unit committee, or an administrator of a unit has not acted fairly or properly, it will recommend a remedy. It will seek to find a remedy that can be implemented by those whose cooperation is needed. In the matter of a grade dispute, this must include the faculty member involved in the dispute.

  2. Enforcement

    1. If any party does not comply with the decision of the Committee, the Committee shall, upon request of any party, seek full compliance through the administrative offices of the Institute through the Office of the Provost.
    2. The merits of the dispute shall not be subject to review in the process of enforcement. There shall be strong presumption in favor of the remedy selected by the Committee, which may be different from the remedy proposed by the student.

  3. Report of a Final Decision: After a final decision has been made in a case, the Committee shall prepare an electronic report setting forth its findings and recommendations for action and present the report to the Office of the Provost. An electronic copy of the report shall be presented to the parties concerned and to those persons involved in implementing the Committee's recommendations. Care will be given that no incomplete or inaccurate information pertaining to the grievance is placed in any file and that all evidence obtained at any stage of the process and all deliberations and proceedings be kept confidential. At the conclusion of each case, the Student Grievance and Appeal Committee shall send an electronic copy of the report to the Office of the Dean of Students, who shall keep such records securely as Institute records for a period of time specified by Institute statutes.

    1. Grade Changes: In decisions that would result in the changing of a posted grade, the Office of the Provost will instruct the unit director to ask the involved faculty member to effect the prescribed grade change or, if cooperation is not forthcoming, to effect the grade change directly by action of the unit director. Such action shall not be construed as restrictive of the resources of the faculty member through the usual appeal procedure of the Institute.

  4. Final Appeal: Appeals of the decisions of the Committee to the Office of the Provost shall be permitted only for the purposes of procedural review. Such appeals shall be submitted via Georgia Tech email addresses, with copies to the Committee. The Office of the Provost will review the findings of the Committee and, upon judgment that the Committee has failed to follow these procedures or has failed to follow the procedures approved by the Academic Senate for the operation of the Student Grievance and Appeal Committee, return the case to the Committee for reconsideration, along with description of the received error in procedure and a recommendation for its correction.