By Fiona Wagner
A new academic policy set to take effect Sept. 1 will remove a potential conflict of interest between professors and students appealing their marks.
Under the current policy, professors who are also department chairs assess students’ appeals of marks, even if they are the ones whose marking being questioned.
Under the new policy, which was expected to be ratified at Tuesday night’s academic council meeting, someone other than the chair within the school or department will process the appeal if there is a conflict of interest.
RyeSAC executive assistant Dennis Loney, who counsels students going through the appeal process, said the new clause is more fair. “The policy itself was damaged,” Loney said. “When a student is filing an appeal [against a chair], they’re filing it to the person they’re appealing against. I think right away it puts into the student’s mind ‘Okay, the process isn’t even fair—it’s a joke.’”
Other policy changes will give students 15 days to file appeals after a professor rejects a formal complaint—up from the current 10-day period—and allow students to appeal mid-term marks.
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