The academic grievance procedure for graduate students, intended to ensure uniform and fair application of program, department, unit, or university-level academic policy, adheres to the principle of unit-level determination and University guidelines outlined in Executive Order 58 for undergraduate and professional students, except as specified below. The “units” for this policy refer to schools, colleges, or campuses.
See also: Guidance (Academic Grievance) – Student Guidance for Academic Grievances
3.8.1 Application
Graduate students who believe they have been subjected to unfair treatment in the administration of academic policies must follow the grievance procedure established within their school, college, or campus.
Note that the following areas have their own procedures and policies:
- Students contesting individual grades or academic evaluations should refer to the Change of Grade Procedure contained in the Scholastic Regulations, Chapter 110, Section 2.
- Students who believe they have been discriminated against on the basis of race, religion, color, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or status as a disabled veteran or veteran should refer to EO No. 81 – Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct, and the Resolution Options Overview at the Civil Rights Compliance Office.
- Student disciplinary proceedings for misconduct, including plagiarism and cheating, fall under the provisions of the Student Conduct Code contained in the Student Policies Chapter 209 and Chapter 478-120 WAC.
3.8.2 School-, college-, or campus-level grievance procedures
Each school, college or campus will develop and implement an academic grievance procedure for graduate students that adheres to the general provisions described in Executive Order 58 as well as the specifics in Sections 2A, 2B, and 2C.
- EO58 – 2A: “An informal conciliation stage, where assistance will be provided to the student by the appropriate departmental personnel, or when requested, through the Office of the University Ombud.” This stage may include, but does not require, assistance from the Graduate School when requested by the student. If the grievance is not resolved in the conciliation stage, and once a particular policy (or policies) has been identified as potentially unfairly applied, the grievance procedure may move to the next stage.
- EO58 – 2B: “The appointment of a college or school Student Academic Grievance Committee, composed of both faculty and students.”
- EO58 – 2C: “The establishment of hearing procedures, under which the Grievance Committee will proceed to arrive at advisory recommendations for submission to the dean.” Here, the “dean” refers to the dean of the academic school or college.
- EO 58, – 2D (appeals) will be administered by Dean of the Graduate School as described in Graduate School policy section 3.8.3 below.
Information concerning the availability of grievance procedures shall be provided to students and shall be readily available as part of program student handbooks and other student-facing resources.
Each school or college must share its current academic grievance procedures and related policies with the Graduate School and notify it of any updates. This ensures the Graduate School can fulfill its responsibility to coordinate grievance procedures with the Provost, as outlined in EO 58.4.
3.8.3 Appeal on grounds of procedural uniformity
Within 15 business days of the conclusion of the school or college-level grievance procedure, a graduate student may file an appeal with the dean of The Graduate School alleging a lack of procedural uniformity in the unit’s application of their grievance procedure. The complaint must be initiated by a written statement that indicates the exact nature of the non-uniformity including the date(s) the action(s) occurred; the deviation of the grievance procedure from the unit’s documented procedure, EO 58, or from other applications of grievance procedure within the unit; and the relief requested. The statement should also include a description of the results of the unit-level procedure, as well as any background information that the student deems pertinent to the complaint.
A designated representative (or representatives) of the Dean of the Graduate School will review the appeal, consult with the unit and allow a written response, and recommend to the Graduate School Dean whether further action is warranted. Evaluation criteria will be whether the unit-level grievance procedure is clearly articulated and available to all students, as well as whether it was uniformly applied in the student’s case. The Dean of the Graduate School or their designee will notify the student and academic unit leader within 15 business days during an academic quarter of submission of the formal complaint by the student of their determination and any recommended remediation.
Policy 3.8 revised November 2000; May 2007; February 2023; March 2025; September 2025; November 2025
Policy 3.8.3.7 revised August 2023
Policy 3.8.1 revised January 2026