Academic appeals may seem like a bit of a nightmare, and they are. Once you get a few basics down, however, they are a little more bearable.
The very first thing you should do when faced with a problem is to talk to the professor. Often, difficulties can be worked out between you and your instructor long before any formal appeal process begins. If that doesn’t produce a satisfactory remedy to your situation, you should go to the department teaching the course and set up a meeting with the Department Head. These people can often iron out difficulties without the need for appeal.
If you’re still not satisfied with the result, you can then go to the Dean’s office (again, of the faculty teaching the course) and request a meeting. You will probably end up meeting with an Associate Dean of the faculty to discuss your circumstances. Again, you’ll want to exhaust all avenues before going on to a formal appeal.
If you ultimately decide that an appeal is the only way to go, you should probably make an appointment with the Students’ Union Vice-President Academic. They can give you some advice about the path to follow. If you just plan to dig this article up for assistance (should the occasion arrive), this is the general procedure.
First, write a letter. In the first part, give the faculty your vitals. Include your name, student id number, and all the administrative stuff. Also, be sure to mention, briefly, the decision that you are appealing and who made that decision.
In the second part, state your grounds for appeal as clearly as you can. Be too long-winded rather than too short, as this section will be used, along with any documentation evidence that you may include with the letter (e.g. a doctor’s note, a death certificate, etc.), to decide whether your appeal gets a hearing or not. Finally, suggest a remedy to your situation. This section is critical, as it will be the remedy that an appeals committee (if you get a hearing) most likely considers. Don’t be too timid ("I’d like my ‘unfair F’ to be changed to an ‘F with a smile,’ please") or too forceful ("Damn it, I want a full tuition refund for the last four years, plus interest, an ‘A+’ in all my classes, and a building named after me!"). Just use your common sense and you’ll be fine.
Give your letter to the Dean’s office of the faculty teaching the course and address it to the Chair of the Faculty Appeals Committee. Just "Chair of Faculty Appeals Committee, Faculty of X" will do. You don’t need to know who it is. You will then be informed by mail if you have received a hearing. If you get a hearing, I can only offer two pieces of advice: be honest, and be polite. If you do these things, your appeal can only be judged on its merits, and you will feel better at the end of the day. After the committee (usually five people, including one student representative) asks you to leave so that they can deliberate, you might as well go home and wait for a letter telling you their decision.
If you are rejected (and thus dejected), the letter should tell you how you can appeal to the General Faculties Council’s Committee to hear and determine Student Academic Appeals (whew!). This is basically your last academic appeal option, and to get a hearing you must be able to present evidence of bias at the previous appeals level, substantive new information that could not be presented at the faculty-appeal level, or evidence of unfair procedures. This committee functions almost exactly like a faculty appeals committee, except that you address correspondence to it through the GFC Secretariat office (Admin. Building).
For each appeal level listed here, you must file a letter or make an appointment within 15 days of an unfavourable decision, with the exception of contact with the Department Head, in which case appointment should be requested immediately after the unfavourable decision.
Note: The above is a procedure for appeals that are not geared toward a reappraisal of your final grade. For this you need only fill out a form at the Registrar’s office (it actually doesn’t count as an appeal either). A deadline will be established each year by the Registrar’s office for the receipt of this form, and you can appeal these decisions to faculty appeals committees and the gfc appeals committee (within 15 days, of course).
Now you are more prepared, young Skywalker, but remember: a Jedi you are not. Throughout any procedure of this sort, I can’t stress enough the importance of getting some advice. The U of C Calendar covers this issue, and you should go to the SU or ask an adviser for help, as each case is different and this tiny article couldn’t possibly cover all the bases. Good luck.