Grade Appeal Procedure
1. The faculty of the University of Nebraska College
of Law, pursuant to section 5.3(c) of the Bylaws of the Board of
Regents, create a standing committee, known as the Grade Appeal
Committee, to consider appeals of cases in which a student in the
College of Law claims that a faculty member was prejudiced or
capricious in evaluating the student's performance in a course.
2. The Grade Appeal Committee shall consist of three tenured faculty
members and two student members of the College of Law. One
additional tenured faculty member and one aditional student member
shall serve as alternate members of the Committee. The regular
faculty members of the Committee shall be elected for three-year,
staggered terms by a majority vote of the faculty as a whole. The
alternate faculty member of the Committee shall be elected for a
one-year term. The student members shall each serve for a term of
one year. For each student vacancy, the Student Bar Association
shall nominate a panel of three students. The faculty shall select
one of the three nominted students to serve on the Committee. No
faculty member of the Committee shall serve on a case which calls
into question his or her grade. No student shall serve on a case in
which that student is the petitioner. If a faculty member of the
Committee is unable to serve on a case, the alternate faculty member
shall serve in his or her place. If a student member is unable to
serve on a cse, the alternate student member shall serve in his or
her place. Any additional vacancies on the Committee for a
particular case may be filled by a majority vote of the remaining
faculty Committee members.
3. The proper procedure for a student in the College of Law who
feels that he or she has been graded by a faculty member based upon
a prejudiced or capricious evaluation of his or her performance is
first to seek redress from the faculty member. If the student is not
satisfied after meeting with the faculty member that the problem of
a prejudiced or capricious evaluation has been rectified, the
student then has the right to petition a member of the Grade Appeal
Committee to call the Committee into session.
4. The student who appeals to the Grade Appeal Committee shall have
the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that
the grade in question was based upon a prejudiced or capricious
evaluation of his or her performance; the faculty member whose grade
is questioned shall have the right to appear before the Grade Appeal
Committee and rebut the charge.
5. The decision of the Grade Appeal Committee shall be based upon
written findings and shall be final. The Grade Appeal Committee
shall have the authority to order any procedure necessary for relief
and may direct a change of the grade in question by written
notification to the Register of the College of Law.
