A. Background
Many times in the past, requests for change in grades due to various reasons had been one of the concerns of the College Registrar of AdNU. Seeing that there was no definite structure for decision and program for action on the assessment of needs in the changing of grades, Fr. Raul J. Bonoan, S.J. ordered that a committee be formed to formulate policies regarding this matter.
Two committees had done the revisions of the policy and procedure on the changing of grades. These were the committees formed in 1992 and 1997. However, there was no clear-cut basis for the selection and composition of the committee members. Moreover, students had never been represented to give balance to the decisions made by the standards committee.
During the time of the revision of the student handbook in SY 2000-2001, Fr. Tabora along with some students whom he consulted made the revision on the number of days for appeal for a change of grade to 7 days solely for graduation purposes.
In the year 2003, an ad hoc committee was formed to address the issues on selection and composition of the members of the College Academic Standards Committee (CASC) and to reformulate existing policies in the changing of grades.
B. Rationale
Grades are records of individual student’s cumulative performance across a given period of time. They reflect the extent of the students’ learning of a particular course and the effort accordingly invested by such student toward this achievement. In a larger sense, they, too, are potential data for insight on such crucial matters as the efficiency and effectiveness of instruction inclusive of content, methodology, tools for evaluation and assessment and the like.
These grades ascertain that a student has satisfactorily met the requirements of a certain course. They are essential to the university for such decisions as promoting students, recognizing
honor awardees, determining worthy candidates for graduation, and even selecting student representatives to congresses or fora. In the long term, these grades are considered an important basis by institutions or companies for hiring an applicant for employment.
As a result of human error, however, instances arise when, despite the best intentions, students
are not given the grades due them. Such errors might occur in at least four (4) ways:
(a) by a mere miscalculation where items recorded are incorrectly computed according to stipulated formulas;
(b) by negligence in the task of accurately recording quiz andm examination results;
(c) by a grave abuse of discretion exercised when a teacher is amiss in accomplishing tasks stipulated in the contract (e.g., fulfilling the number of contact teaching hours with students, allowing insufficient or inappropriate basis for assessing learning, etc.); and
(d) by the failure of the learning process to prosper due to a blatant mismatch between the teacher’s pedagogical skills (of deficiency of skills) and the students’ just expectations of a teacher.
The College Academic Standards Committee exists as the arbiter in cases where the justice behind a grade is in question. When a student presents a request for a change of grade, the committee seeks to determine whether the aforementioned errors exist. If errors do not exist, justice requires that the grade that has been given stays as it is. If, on the other hand, error is
established, justice requires that the grade be rectified accordingly.
As such, the committee directs the action necessitated by the decision it has reached.
C. Functions
The College Academic Standards Committee (CASC) shall
1. investigate the merits of the case or requests;
2. summon the parties concerned;
3. deliberate on the merits of requests for change of grades by students and /or teachers;
4. decide on the merits of the case; and
a. endorse the proposed solution to the student and /or teacher concerned; this shall entail a procedure of conflict resolution whereby:
i. if the student or teacher agrees with the decision, the case rests;
ii. in the event of resistance or disagreement by either party of the decision, a subcommittee composed of peers of the teacher shall investigate the particulars of the case and determine whether an injustice was committed.
iii. if an injustice is established, the sub-committee specifies the remedy (e.g., how a new grade can be determined such as stipulating a new exam, a project, a term paper, etc.);
iv. this remedy decided on by the sub-committee is binding and is subject to appeal only to the President.
5. direct the teacher to effect the appropriate rectification in the form of a change of grade;
6. in cases where the teacher still refuses to make the change and/or is no longer available to do so, direct the College Registrar to effect such change in the student’s record.
II. Composition, Selection and Functions of Each Member of the College Academic Standards Committee.
A. Composition
The Committee shall be composed of 7 members:
1. College Registrar - 1
2. Faculty Representatives - 4
3. Student Representatives 2
B. Selection
1. The Committee Chairperson shall be appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the Vice President for Higher Education (VPHE) from among the four-faculty representatives.
2. The faculty representatives shall be nominated by their colleagues in the department, recommended by their Chair, and endorsed by their Dean. From the list of nominees submitted by the respective Deans, the President appoints the Chair of the Committee and the three faculty member representatives. No College, however, shall have more than one representative in the committee.
• Qualification: Full-time faculty, preferably with regular status, with rank of at least Assistant Professor.
3. The student representatives shall be selected through the following:
a. The Supreme Student Government (SSG) Board members shall have one SSG
representative from among themselves.
b. One student representative shall be elected by the presidents of the co-curricular organizations from among themselves and the election shall be facilitated by the SSG. The student representative should be at least third year.
The secretary of the committee shall be a non-voting member and shall be appointed by the VPHE. * Qualification: A regular employee of an office under the VPHE.
C. Functions/Duties/Responsibilities
1. Committee Chairperson (Tie-breaker in voting)
a. Convenes the members of the Standards Committee as scheduled and whenever a need arises.
b. Presides over the meetings/conferences.
c. Designates an acting Chair who will preside over the meetings whenever the Chair is not available. During prolonged absence of the Committee Chair, the President shall appoint an acting Chair.
d. In case of a tie, s/he casts his or her vote.
e. Orients new members and/or reviews the existing members on the policies on grading system and on the system for the College Academic Standards.
f. Prepares the summary report for each case.
g. Ensures confidentiality of the cases.
2. College Registrar
a. Attends regularly the meetings called by the Chair.
b. Participates actively in the deliberation of the case.
c. Effects the decision made by the committee.
d. Ensures confidentiality of the cases.
3. Faculty and Student Representatives
a. Attend regularly the meetings called by the Chair
b. Review cases relative to the changing of grades.
c. Participate actively in the deliberation of the case.
d. In times of decision-making, decide in accordance with the existing academic policies on changing of grades.
e. Ensure confidentiality of the cases.
4. Secretary (non-member of the committee)
a. Receives letters of requests/complaints from either faculty or students.
b. Keeps records and other documents pertinent to the work of the committee.
c. Acts as secretary during meetings.
d. Checks attendance.
e. With the supervision of the Chair, prepares minutes of the meetings and letters to concerned parties.
f. Provides the individual member copies of pertinent documents.
g. Ensures confidentiality of complaints, transcripts and general proceedings of the meetings.
D. Terms of Office
1. Committee Chairperson- The Committee Chair shall be in office for 2 academic years.
2. College Registrar- The College Registrar is a permanent member of the committee.
3. Faculty Representatives- The four faculty representatives shall have a number of years of service on a staggered basis, to wit:
* 2 faculty representatives serving for two academic years, one of which is appointed as the Committee Chair.
* 2 faculty representatives serving for one academic year each.
* For succeeding nominations, each faculty representative shall serve the committee
- For the first set, the President determines the term of office of the faculty representatives.
4. Student Representatives- The student representatives shall hold their position for 1 academic year upon approval of their appointment.
III. Regularity of Meetings
The College Academic Standards Committee (CASC) shall convene twice a month.
The members shall agree at the start of the semester on the schedule of their meetings and this
schedule shall be reported to the President. Special meetings shall be held as necessary. The constitution
of the quorum shall be the Chair, the Registrar, two of the four faculty representatives and one of the
two student representatives. Decisions and resolutions shall be approved by a simple majority of the
voting members of the CASC.
IV. General Procedure on Changing Grades
Final grades in all subjects including PE and NSTP may be changed only at the request of the faculty member and/or the student concerned upon the approval of the CASC.
A. Change of grades may only be due to the errors stipulated below:
1. Clerical Error
• Erroneous transfer and/or recording of grades
2. Computational Error and/or Recording Lapse
• Error in computation due to the following reasons:
*Incorrect mode of computing grades;
*Erroneous transmutation;
*Unrecorded grades; and
*Erroneous rounding off
3. Delayed or Non-Submission of Completion Grades
• Teacher’s failure to submit completion grades within the specified period as stipulated in the University Memo No. 313
• Student’s failure to submit the completion form within the specified period as stipulated in the University Memo No. 313.
4. Grave Abuse of Discretion exercised by a teacher
• Failure to comply with or to fulfill the required teaching hours with students;
• Prejudice and discrimination against the student
5. Insufficient or inappropriate basis for assessing learning
• Mismatch between the instructional objectives and the evaluation instruments/indicators.
• Inadequate number of quizzes and/or performance indicators.
6. Failure of the learning process to prosper due to:
• Blatant mismatch between the teacher’s pedagogical skills and the student’s just expectations of a teacher
• Deficient pedagogical skills
B. Process:
1. The teacher or the student shall write a letter requesting change of grades. This letter shall
be accompanied with pertinent document/s supporting such claim. If the request for change
of grade comes from the teacher, the Department Chairperson’s notation shall be sought.
However, requests coming from the students shall be directly submitted to the CASC.
Pertinent documents needed are the following:
a. Clerical Error
• Original class list with correct entry/ies
• Erroneous entry in the grading sheets
b. Computational Error and/or Recording Lapse
• Erroneous entry in the grading sheet/class list and/or incorrect mode of computation.
• Corrected computation
c. Delayed or Non-Submission of Completion Grades
• Process by which completion was made
• Date of completion of subject requirements to the teacher
• Date of submission of completion form to the College Registrar
• Reasons/factors for late/non-submission of completion grades of concerned
students.
d. Grave Abuse of Discretion exercised by a teacher
• Teacher’s attendance report
• Beadle’s form
• Student(s)’ complaints and/or petitions
e. Insufficient or inappropriate basis for assessing learning
• Class Record
• Mark Sheet
• Assessment Instruments submitted by the teacher to the Department Chair
f. Deficient pedagogical skills
• Class Record
• Mark Sheet
• Assessment Instruments submitted by the teacher to the Department Chair
• Student(s)’ complaints and/or petitions
• Teacher’s Classroom Performance as indicated by summative evaluation of the students, the peers and the Chair.
2. The Chair convenes the members of the CASC and presides over the meeting.
3. If the one being complained about is a member of the CASC or his/her mentor or chairperson, that member shall inhibit himself/herself from the deliberation to maintain the desired level of objectivity.
4. The CASC, in a closed-door session investigates the merit of the case in the presence of both parties (e.g., teacher and the student/s). The summoned teacher or student should appear in the Committee meeting by themselves.
5. If the CASC determines after due deliberations that the student’s allegation is true, the CASC recommends the change of grade/s. If the student or teacher agrees with the recommendation, the case rests.
6. In the event of resistance or disagreement by either party of the decision, a sub-committee composed of peers shall investigate the particulars of the case and determine whether an injustice was committed.
7. If an injustice is established, the sub-committee specifies the remedy (e.g., how a new grade can be determined such as stipulating a new exam, a project, a term paper, a remedial class, etc). This remedy of the sub-committee is binding and is subject to appeal only to the President.
8. The CASC directs the teacher to effect the appropriate rectification in the form of a change of grade.
9. In cases where the teacher still refuses to make the change and /or is no longer available to do so, the CASC directs the College Registrar to effect such change in the student’s records.
10. The CASC shall write a letter indicating the decision to the teacher, copy furnished to the Dep’t. Chair of the teacher, the student, and the VPHE. This letter shall be released within one week after the decision has been made.
All requests must be filed within the allotted period stipulated below. Beyond this date, no request will be entertained by the CASC unless the teacher himself /herself recognizes the validity of the completion.
The faculty and/or the student requesting the change of grade submits to the CASC within one semester after the course was taken. If the course is taken during the first semester, the deadline for filing requests is the last working day of March. If the course is taken during the second semester and summer, the deadline of filing requests is the last working day of October.
For delayed submission or non-submission of completion form within the above specified period in which case the Incomplete Grade automatically turns into an F, both parties (student and/or teacher) may file a change of grade within one semester after the set deadline.
All files pertaining to the committee’s work shall be kept in the VPHE Office