Academic Grievances

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An academic grievance is any formal, written expression of a complaint, resentment or accusation lodged by a student about an academic circumstance. An academic circumstance is any event relating to a student's education at the School of Law. Such events include grading, testing, or quality of instruction among others.

Procedure:

1. First Stage: The academic grievance procedure in the School of Law begins with a discussion between the grieving student and the faculty member, committee, or administrator with whom the student has a grievance. The student must meet with the faculty member, committee, or administrator within thirty calendar days after the event giving rise to the grievance (if the student's grievance arises from the grade received in a course, the thirty days will be measured from the date the grade was recorded in the Dean's Office). If the thirty-day period ends on a date outside the School of Law's regular academic year, then the student must meet with the faculty member, committee, or administrator within thirty calendar days after the first day of classes of the first full semester following the event giving rise to the grievance. The Dean may waive this stage for good cause.
2. Second Stage: If the grievance is not resolved to the satisfaction of the student at the first stage, the student may advance the grievance to the Dean. The Dean may appoint a designate, including a committee, to hear the grievance. If the Dean is the person against whom the grievance is lodged, the Dean shall appoint the Assistant or Associate Dean to hear the grievance. At this stage, the student must present the grievance in writing and describe the grievance and the remedy sought. The student must advance the grievance to the Dean within thirty calendar days of the completion of the first stage. The student's written grievance also must indicate the results of the first stage or the reason for not attempting to resolve the grievance through the first stage. The Dean or the Dean's designate will render a decision within forty-five calendar days of receiving the student's written grievance.
3. Third Stage: If the grievance is not resolved to the satisfaction of a party at the second stage, that party may petition the Faculty of the School of Law for relief within thirty calendar days of the completion of the second stage. The party's petition must be in writing and indicate the results of the second stage. The petition must also describe the reasons for the party's dissatisfaction with the results and the remedy sought. All tenured and tenure-track members of the law faculty shall sit as a Committee of the Whole. At the request of either party, a student member appointed by the Student Bar Association, will be added to the Committee. The Dean will convene the Committee of the Whole and appoint a Chair who will schedule a hearing to occur within a reasonable time, not to exceed twenty class days (counted as those days on which classes meet during the School of Law's regular academic year), except upon agreement of the parties or the inability of the Committee to make a quorum of at least one-half the Committee's membership. The Committee must render a decision, by majority vote of a quorum, within twenty class days of the conclusion of the hearing. The Committee's decision is the final decision of the School of Law.
4. The decision of the School of Law in a matter of academic concern is final and may not be appealed under the procedures listed in the University of North Dakota's Code of Student Life or any other University process external to the School of Law. The School of Law is a professional post baccalaureate program approved by the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools. The standards for approval of these accrediting bodies require that decisions of professional academic matters remain with the law school faculty. No further appeal is permitted or appropriate.

Adopted by administrative order, Spring Semester, 1991
Modified as submitted, Faculty Committee, January 25, 2002
Approved by Faculty Committee - April 26, 2002
Updated September 5, 2002.