Lansing Community College
Procedure Details

Procedure Title: Final Grade Appeals
Procedure #: RO.010
Revision #: 001

Unit Responsible: Registrar’s Office
Individual Responsible: Registrar

Effective Date: 09/16/2022
Initial Approval Date: 06/28/2019
Last Review/Update Date: 09/16/2022
Next Review Date: 09/01/2025

*Does this procedure support a Board Policy? Yes
If yes, identify: 3.030 - Academic Records

Board policies can be found at: LCC Board of Trustees Policy Page

*Does this procedure support HLC criteria and/or Assumed Practices? Yes
If yes, identify: 3B, 4A

HLC Criteria can be found at: HLC Accreditation Criteria
HLC Criteria can be found at: HLC Assumed Practices

*Does this procedure support a State or Federal Regulation? No
If yes, identify: N/A

*Note: Standard Operating Procedures should be in furtherance of some LCC policy and/or accreditation criteria, even if the relationship is not direct. Assistance in determining this information can be obtained from the Academic Procedure Advisory Committee (APAC) and/or the Accreditation Liaison Officer.

Final Grade Appeals, BP 3.030

1. Purpose

Lansing Community College (LCC) recognizes that there may be instances where a student may disagree with their final grade in a course and provides students with the opportunity to file a Final Grade Appeal in those instances.


2. Scope

Applies to all students and all LCC personnel involved in addressing grade appeals.


3. Prerequisites

To begin the Final Grade Appeal process, the student asserts one or both of the following:

  1. The instructor miscalculated the student’s total points earned in the course or,
  2. Bad Faith: For example, the syllabus states that class participation will not affect the final grade, yet the grade was lowered expressly because of poor class participation.

If a) or b) listed above does not apply, the student cannot move through the Final Grade Appeal process. It is the student’s responsibility to demonstrate the instructor’s alleged mistake or bad faith.


4. Responsibilities

  • Student – Student will initiate Final Grade Appeal process by completing a Final Grade Appeal form and move Appeal forward after each step of review. 
  • Course Instructor – Reviews the student’s Final Grade Appeal and submits a Grade Change Request to the Registrar’s office if new grade is determined. 
  • Head of department or program (or designee) - Reviews the student’s Final Grade Appeal. 
  • Divisional Dean - Reviews the student’s Final Grade Appeal. 
  • Provost – Reviews the student’s Final Grade Appeal. 
  • Registrar Staff – Updates the student’s grade in Student Information System (SIS) if a Grade Change Form is submitted by the instructor.


5. Procedure

  1. Final Grade Appeals will be considered until the end of the 6th week following the course end-date. A student initiates the process by completing the Final Grade Appeal form.  The 4 steps involved in the Student Appeal of Grades process are:

    1. The course instructor

    2. The head of the department or program involved (or designee)

    3. The Dean of the division involved (or designee)

    4. The Provost (or designee)

  2. Upon notification of a decision at each step, a student will have up to 10 business days (not including campus closures) to move the appeal forward. It is up to the student to move the appeal to the next step. Final Grade Appeals that are received after the 10th business day (at each step) may be dismissed for “failure to submit an appeal on a timely basis.”
  3. If the appeal is moved to the Provost (or designee), the Provost’s (or designee) decision is final. The Provost (or designee) will communicate the final decision to the instructor, the department/program, the Dean, and the student within 30 days of receiving the appeal. Upon review, at each step, a notification of the decision will be sent to the student through their LCC email (username@mail.lcc.edu). The decision of the Provost (or designee) is considered final.
  4. If a new grade is approved, the instructor will complete the Change of Grade form in the shared drive. 
  5. The form is sent electronically to the department for approval. 
  6. The form is sent to the division office for final approval. 
  7. The division office forwards the Grade Change form to the Registrar’s Office for processing. 
  8. The Registrar’s staff will adjust the grade in LCC’s SIS.


6. Reference

LCC Final Grade Appeal Procedure


7. Definitions

N/A