Can A Professor Change A Grade After 2 Years
Is it too late for your grade to be changed? Two years after you’ve finished a professor’s course may seem too long for them to change your grade.
The truth is that except in cases where the scripts may no longer be available for remarking purposes, there’s no time limit on changing a grade. Professors can follow due process to rectify a mistake or make changes in the event of academic dishonesty.
However, some educational institutions like MIT have regulations that only allow grade change while still in school but seal your record three months after graduation.
That means graduates can only make changes to their grades within three months of graduating or leaving MIT.
However, changes can be made so long as they haven’t graduated from the course or left the educational institution for some reason.
That said, most other educational institutions have no limit on when students or even former students can request a grade change.
The only challenge is that these institutions may not keep test scripts that long as they may be disposed of after a year or longer.
When Should You Request A Grade Change
Changing your grade isn’t the easiest thing to do. Students must first meet their professors, appeal to the department chair or dean, and also provide evidence to support this desire.
Alternatively, students can also file a formal grade change request by filling out the appropriate Grade Change form.
Because of the lengthy nature of such requests, most educational institutions recommend that students approach their professors within 10 to 30 days of receiving their grades.
This simplifies the process as the test scripts may be readily available for students to help facilitate the process. So when should you make this request?
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Available Evidence
You should only make this request when you have evidence that can support your claim. Simply going to your professor to inform them that you believe they should change your grade isn’t enough.
You should only approach the professor if you have evidence that they made a mistake, or they were biased in some way.
Keep in mind that your professor isn’t perfect and may make a mistake. They may have entered the wrong grade into the system.
Students can quickly bring this to their attention to rectify any disputes with their grades. Ensure that you have the evidence to prove the mistake before approaching your professor for a grade change.
Know Your School Policy On Grade Change
Only request a grade change when you know your school’s grade change policy. If you need the school to remark a test, you should know what the school’s retention policy involves.
While most schools make keep old papers from students for up to a year, they’re under no obligation to keep them past that point.
Depending on your school’s policy, your old paper may not be available for remarking. So, ensure that your school still has your old paper before you request for remarking.
Additionally, some schools only allow students to request grade changes while they’re yet to complete the course. Also in some cases, graduates have a limited period to request a grade change before their results are sealed.
MIT for instance only allows graduates a grace period of three months to request a grade change, after which their grades are sealed and changes cannot be made from that point onwards.
That said most institutions have no time limit on when students can request for grade change. Keep in mind that this only applies in the case of grade change requests that do not revolve around remarking.
This is because old papers would not be kept indefinitely by these institutions. So, any request that revolves around remarking may be impossible after a certain period when old papers may have been disposed of.
At The Institution
Most educational institutions have no regulations against their students requesting grade changes. This is because there’s a high likelihood that the school hasn’t disposed of old papers yet at this point.
So, if you’re unhappy with your grade or you identify an error, the best time to bring it up will be when you’re still in school.
How To Appeal For Grade Change
While professors take absolute care in their academic evaluation process, mistakes sometimes happen. They understand and appreciate students who point out such mistakes to them.
After all, such mistakes could negatively impact the student’s life in general. However, students should have the necessary evidence to support any such claims to facilitate the process.
If you’re sure about your claim and would like to pursue it, you can follow these steps to request a grade change.
1. Contact Professor
The first step would be to contact the professor for that particular course. Present your reasons to the professor including any evidence you may have.
If you believe the professor entered the wrong grade or made some form of mistake, you should bring this to their attention as quickly as possible.
You’re responsible for demonstrating this error to the professor. The professor may also present their reasons for awarding the grade and why you deserved that grade.
Depending on how this meeting goes, the professor may file a grade change form to update your grade.
2. Department Chairperson
In cases where you’re unable to reach your professor for some reason or you’re unable to conclude with the professor, you can approach the department chairperson.
The department chairperson is responsible for the mediation of any disagreements between faculty and students.
All relevant documents should be submitted as well as a detailed statement explaining why you believe your grade should be changed. Depending on how this goes, the department chairperson may reach out to the professor to begin the grade change process.
3. Dean/Review Board
Should it go contrary to your expectation or should the department chairperson choose to uphold the professor’s grade, you can alert them of your desire to pursue this further.
In this case, the department chairperson would forward any available information you presented to the Dean.
The student may also be able to directly appeal to the Dean depending on the educational institution. You can present any necessary information and make the case for why your grade should be changed.
The Dean or Review Board can then evaluate this claim using the available and presented evidence before issuing a ruling.
If the Dean and Review Board conclude that, the grading involved some form of injustice or error, the case would be remanded to the instructor to make the necessary grade changes.
If the professor refuses to comply or disagrees with the conclusion made, the Review Board may recommend a grade change to the Provost.
Conclusion
The grade change process can become a tedious process for all parties involved especially when the request comes after a long period.
This is why some educational institutions have policies that restrict the length of time within which students can make appeals on their grades.
So, it’s advisable to identify any issues with your grade as quickly as possible to expedite the process.
That said, most educational institutions have no limit on when students can ask for grade change. The only exception is in the case of old test papers that may be unavailable for remarking.
