Academic concerns are generally categorized as:
- Grade-Related
- Accommodation-Related
- Content and Delivery-Related
If a student has an academic concern, there are specific actions they can take to address and remediate the concern. Please familiarize yourself with the processes, which are outlined below in each of the categories specified above.
Academic Concern Categories
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Students with formal diagnoses, temporary, or long-term illnesses, or who are experiencing an isolated medical incident may work with Student Accessibility Services and their professor/course director to develop suitable accommodations, which will then be outlined in a Letter of Accommodation (LOA). The complete process is outlined here: https://accessibility.students.yorku.ca/new-students
Students do not have to disclose personal information, including the nature of their diagnosis/specific diagnosis, to faculty members.
It is the responsibility of faculty members to be conversant with policies and resources related to teaching students with disabilities, to ensure specific rights and entitlements of students with disabilities are upheld in their class, and to create an equitable environment in their courses where respect for dignity of persons with disabilities is upheld.
CONCERN
After presenting their Letter of Accommodation (LAO) to their instructor, the student feels their recommended academic accommodation is not being met.
ACTION
The student should request a meeting to speak informally with their course instructor regarding why they feel their accommodation is not being met.
OUTCOME
Preferred Informal Outcome: The student is able to come to a resolution with the instructor that satisfies their accommodation as outlined in their Letter of Accommodation (LOA).
Continue only if an informal outcome is not satisfactory.
If the student is unable to reach the preferred informal outcome, they must then contact the Director, Student & Enrolment Services who will assist in the development of a suitable resolution. At the discretion of the Director, Student & Enrolment Services, consultation may be sought from the Program Director, Academic Area, or Student Accessibility Services to ensure the documented accommodation is met.
If a student feels that their grade is incorrect, they may submit a formal grade appeal. However, the student should first attempt to resolve the appeal informally with the instructor.
CONCERN
The student receives a grade and feels the grade is not representative of their performance based on one of the two grounds below:
- A clerical error has resulted in a miscalculation of the grade.
- A computational grade awarded did not fairly reflect their academic performance according to the grading system used by the instructor.
ACTION
The student should request a meeting to speak informally with their course instructor. At the instructor’s discretion, consultation may be sought from the Program Director or Academic Area. However, the student should liaise with the course instructor directly.
OUTCOME
Preferred Informal Outcome: The student is able to come to a resolution with the instructor by which the grade is either changed, or they come to better understand and accept why the original grade was awarded.
Continue only if an informal outcome is not satisfactory.
If the student is unable to reach the preferred informal outcome with the instructor, they must then follow the formal written Grade Appeal Process, as outlined at: https://teachingandlearning.schulich.yorku.ca/grade-appeals/
This process is subject to term-related deadlines, of which it is the student’s responsibility to be aware. Further, appeals should be submitted only once they have received all of their marks for a course.
At the end of each term, students are asked to fill out evaluations of each of their instructors. These evaluations rate instructors on a variety of criteria. All Schulich faculty are also strongly encouraged to collect interm feedback on their courses in order to learn what is working well, and to gain insights and ideas about possible improvements or innovations while allowing time to make adjustments during the current term.
CONCERN
The student is dissatisfied with an element of the course content or delivery of content prior to the last two classes of the term (which is the period during which formal online course evaluations are collected). Note, this is different than dissatisfaction with faculty conduct.
ACTION
The student has three options, depending on the level of confidentiality they wish to maintain.
Option 1: Student can request a meeting to discuss, or send a respectful email to the course instructor outlining the concern.
Option 2: Student can send a respectful email outlining the concern to their Program Director.
Option 3: If the student wishes to remain anonymous, they can send a respectful email outlining their concern to the Director, Student & Enrolment Services, who will confidentially share the concern with the Program Director.
OUTCOME
Preferred Informal Outcome (Option 1): The student engages directly with the instructor in a meaningful dialogue to address their concern, and both parties leave the discussion satisfied that they have been heard, and that there is a plan in place to resolve the concern.
Continue if an informal outcome is not satisfactory or Option 2 or 3 was initially pursued.
The Program Director will connect with the instructor to discuss the students concern, and come to a resolution and/or identify areas for improvement.
The resolution will be shared with the student either by the Program Director directly or, in cases where they wish to remain anonymous, via the Director, Student & Enrolment Services.
All students will also have the opportunity to provide end-of-semester course evaluations. More information on the online course evaluation process can be found here: https://teachingandlearning.schulich.yorku.ca/course-evaluations/