Middlebury Handbook

An academic evaluation may only be disputed within four months of the end of a course.  Students seeking to dispute an academic evaluation, or seeking a grade change, should submit their request to the instructor for informal review.   

Informal Review by Instructor: In the interest of preserving the crucial student-instructor relationship, the first procedure requires an informal mediation phase in which the student and faculty member attempt to resolve the grade dispute by direct communication. 

Program Level Review: If the disagreement is not resolved by this dialogue, either the instructor or student may request that the director of the program mediate the dispute. The program director will obtain the relevant information and will communicate with both student and instructor to obtain their views. The program director shall then communicate in writing to the student and the faculty member, their judgment as to the proper outcome of this mediation. 

Appeal to the Dean: If a student wishes to appeal the decision of the program director, they must submit a written request to the Associate Dean of Academic Operations. The Associate Dean may request from the parties involved written documentation pertaining to the matter, including a concise report of the program director’s mediation process, the student assignments in question, and all written evidence of the faculty member’s marking procedures and evaluation criteria (e.g., the course syllabus, assignment requirements, assessment rubrics, benchmark student work, and so forth). 

The Associate Dean shall carefully review the documentation and solicit further information as needed (e.g., testimony from the student, the faculty member, and the dean) before issuing a decision in writing with a copy to all relevant offices. The Associate Dean shall respect the faculty member’s responsibility for the determination of their own evaluation criteria. The Associate Dean’s function is to resolve disputed academic evaluations by determining if there occurred a fundamental unfairness to the student. The Associate Dean’s determination regarding a disputed evaluation is final.