Administrative Rules

Austin Community College District supports the faculty member in determination of students’ achievement of competencies as relates to the course objectives.  Austin Community College District also supports the student’s right to clarification of course grading policies. 

Grades shall be assigned by the instructor of record for the course. 

The instructor will provide information to the students at the beginning of the course regarding course requirements and grading policies.  If the student has questions about or needs clarification of the grading policy and/or a specific assignment grade, those must be brought up while enrolled in the course.  Such questions or need for clarification should first be addressed to the instructor and then, if the student believes it is appropriate, to the instructor’s supervisor. 

The very nature of teaching and learning, demands that the instructor exercise professional judgment in the assignment of grades.  The instructor also has an obligation to discuss the grade, and the basis upon which it was assigned, with the student, at the student’s request.  If the student believes that an error has been made in the assignment of a grade, he should bring it to the attention of the instructor within three months after the grade was awarded and ask for it to be corrected.  In almost all cases, the decision of the instructor about whether there was an error is final. 

Occasionally, it is appropriate for someone other than the instructor to deal with the question of reviewing a possible error in a grade.  If the instructor has departed from the institution and cannot be reached or if the student believes that there is an error that the instructor refuses to correct, then the student may request a “Request for a Formal Review of a Final Course Grade” by a committee of faculty members which has the authority to change the grade to a different performance grade.  This request is handled by the Procedure for Determination of Error of a Performance Grade, not by the Student Grievance Procedure.