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An appeal is a formal request for a decision to be reviewed and changed.

Decisions that fall under the Student Misconduct and Academic Appeals Policy are appealable through a two-level structure. Some decisions are appealable within Faculties, and others are appealable centrally through the Student Appeals Office. 

• Grade reappraisal decisions are appealable through Faculties. For graded term work, the Faculty Appeals Committees (FAC) is the final level of appeal. For final grades (final academic assessments), the FAC decision may be further appealable to the University Appeals Committee (UAC). See Grade Reappraisals and Academic Assessment Appeals for more information.

   

• Academic progression matters (Required to Withdraw decisions), academic misconduct, and non-academic misconduct decisions are appealable to the UAC through the Student Appeals Office. If the appeal is heard by the UAC, the decision of the UAC may be further appealable to the University Appeals Tribunal (UAT). See Appeals Process for more information.

   

• The only exception to the two-level structure, is for medical residents in the Cumming School of Medicine.  Decisions which can be appealed by a medical resident can only be appealed to the Post Graduate Medical Education Appeals Committee.

Appeals are submitted online through the University Student Appeals Office website. The Appeal Submission Form is available here: /secretariat/student-appeals.

Appeals must be submitted before your appeal deadline, and include all the requirements laid out in Section 4.4 of the University Appeals Committee and University Appeals Tribunal Procedures. The Appeal Submission Form is designed to assist you in ensuring that you have provided all of the required information

If you have any questions about how to submit your appeal, contact appeals@ucalgary.ca.

Please be aware that you must submit your appeal to the University Student Appeals Office within 10 business days from the date of the letter informing you of the decision that you wish to appeal. Please note that this deadline is strict.

If you need more time, you can request an extension by emailing appeals@ucalgary.ca and including the following information:

• A copy of the decision you plan to appeal 
• The reason an extension is required
• How long of an extension you require

Please note that extensions can only be requested beforeyour appeal deadline has passed. If you experienced circumstances that left you incapable of submitting an appeal or requesting an extension to your deadline for the duration of your 10 business day appeal period (e.g., personal incapacitation due to medical emergency), please reach out to the Student Appeals Office at appeals@ucalgary.ca.

The Student Ombuds offers a safe place for all 91�鶹��Ʒ students to confidentially discuss student-related issues, interpersonal conflict, academic and non-academic concerns, and other issues, and can provide you with support in preparing your appeal. 

Appointments with the Student Ombuds can be booked through their website: /student-services/ombuds.

Please refer to University Regulations . It is also recommended that you consult with your Faculty.

A grade reappraisal is a request to have a piece of graded term work or an academic assessment reassessed by the department or Faculty. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the grade reappraisal, you may be able to appeal the grade reappraisal decision to the relevant Faculty Appeals Committee.

There are some academic assessments to which the grade reappraisal process does not apply (e.g., practicums, graduate student thesis examination or candidacy components). In these cases, the matter would proceed directly as an appeal to the relevant Faculty Appeals Committee.

See University Regulationsin the Academic Calendar for more information.

After you submit your appeal, the Student Appeals Office will forward it to an Appeal Review Administrator (ARA) for review. An ARA is an academic staff member or Board of Governors member who determines if your appeal will proceed to a hearing.

See Appeals Process for more details.

The reasons why an ARA may deny permission to appeal are provided in Section 4.8 of the University Appeals Committee and University Appeals Tribunal Procedures.

If your appeal is denied by the ARA, this means it will not proceed to a hearing and the decision or outcome you were appealing remains in effect. The ARA’s decision is final and not further appealable at the University.

You, as the student who submitted an appeal, are the Appellant. The Respondent is a representative of the Faculty or office that made the decision you are appealing. For example, the Associate Dean who signed the decision letter you received.

The ground or grounds for your appeal are the reason you are requesting a decision be reviewed and changed. The possible grounds of appeal are laid out in Section 5.6-5.8 of the Student Misconduct and Academic Appeals Policy and depend on the type of decision you are appealing. 

You may choose this ground of appeal if you have new information that:

• Is relevant to the decision that was made; and
• Could not have been presented earlier (e.g., when the Faculty was making the decision); and 
• May have affected the decision being appealed

As per Section 3.1 (i) of the Student Misconduct and Academic Appeals Policy, “procedural fairness” means that an Appellant and a Respondent have the opportunity to be heard by an unbiased decision maker and to be made aware of all evidence considered by the decision maker. Procedural fairness is about the procedures used to make a decision, not the actual outcome of the decision.

As per Section 3.1 (j) of the Student Misconduct and Academic Appeals Policy, “reasonable apprehension of bias” means that a reasonable and informed person, viewing the matter realistically and practically, would think that it is more likely than not that a decision maker was biased in respect of the decision under appeal. 

A standard of proof refers to the level or the degree you must convince a decision maker through your evidence and submissions that your version of events is correct and that your requested outcome should be granted. If permission to appeal is granted, the Appellant is responsible to satisfy the appeal hearing panel that the Appellant’s evidence or position is more likely than not (at least 50.1% likely) to have occurred or to be accurate.  

If an ARA grants you permission to appeal, a hearing will be scheduled where a panel of three will review your case. The role of the hearing panel is to review the decision being appealed, not to re-investigate the matter. This means that the appeal panel considers whether the decision maker’s process in arriving at the decision was procedurally fair and whether the outcome being appealed falls within a range of reasonable, defensible outcomes.

All student appeals are heard by a panel of three (3) members. Most often, the panel is made up of two academic staff members and a student. For non-academic misconduct appeals, a non-academic staff member will be on the panel. 

All panelists must be someone that: 1) you do not know personally; 2) is not from your (the Appellant’s) home Faculty; and 3) is not from the Respondent’s Faculty.

You will be notified of the panel membership in advance of the appeal hearing and you will have the opportunity to raise any concerns you may have about the membership. See Sections 4.16-4.19 of the University Appeals Committee and University Appeals Tribunal Procedures regarding “Challenge to Panel Membership” for details.

By default, a student representative will be on the panel for your hearing. However, if you would prefer to not have a student on your panel, another academic staff member will be assigned instead.

More information on appeal panels is provided in Sections 4.73-4.80 of the University Appeals Committee Procedure and Sections 4.75-4.82 of the University Appeals Tribunal Procedure.

An oral hearing is a meeting where you and the Respondent to your appeal will be invited to present summaries of your cases to a panel. You will have the opportunity to ask and respond to questions, and have the option to invite witnesses to provide evidence relevant to your appeal.

A written hearing is where the panel decides on your appeal based solely on written submissions from you and the Respondent.

Whether your appeal hearing will be oral or written is decided by the Chair of the panel for your appeal. The preference indicated by both the Appellant and Respondent will be considered, however certain criteria must be met for a written appeal hearing to be granted. See Section 4.14 of the University Appeals Committee and University Appeals Tribunal Procedures for details.

If it is determined that an appeal will proceed to an oral hearing, the hearing will be held in-person. Upon request and at the Chair’s discretion, an oral hearing may be held virtually.

An Advisor is someone who attends your appeal hearing with you as a support person. Advisors do not play an active role in the hearing (e.g., they don’t speak at the hearing), but you will get the opportunity to speak with them during breaks. An Advisor can be a friend, family member, or other trusted individual. 

Please note that the Student Appeals Office does not contact Advisors directly. You are responsible for coordinating with your Advisors for the appeal hearing.

A Witness is someone that you invite to appear at your appeal hearing to give evidence that supports your appeal. Your Witness(es) should have first-hand, personal knowledge of the situation and the evidence they give should be relevant to the grounds of appeal. A Witness provides their evidence by answering questions that you ask them. The Respondent and panel will also have the opportunity to ask them questions. Witness(es) will be asked to submit a written summary statement in advance of the appeal hearing.

Further information on the role of a witness can be found in the Witnesses FAQ.

Please note that the Student Appeals Office does not contact Witnesses directly. You are responsible for coordinating your Witnesses’ attendance at the appeal hearing and for submitting their written summaries to the Student Appeals Office.

All oral appeal hearings take place in the Governors Boardroom, Room A167, in the Administration building. This room is large and can be intimidating. The hearing panel and Student Appeals Office staff do their best to make the hearing atmosphere comfortable.

Boardroom A167 Photo

Most appeal hearings take 3-4 hours. If there are multiple Witnesses being called, a longer hearing time may be scheduled.

The Student Appeals Office makes a transitory audio recording of the hearing. The recording will not distributed to any parties or turned into a transcript, and is destroyed after the final decision is issued. 

No other recordings of the hearing are permitted. You are not permitted to make your own recording of the hearing.

In most cases, the attendees for an appeal hearing are:

• The appeal panel (three members)
• The Appellant
• The Respondent
• Legal counsel to the appeal panel
• Student Appeals Office staff member

The role of the panel’s legal counsel is to offer advice to the panel on procedural issues and the legal aspects of their decision.  They do not have a role in deciding the appeal and do not represent either party (Appellant or Respondent).

If either party has an Advisor, they will also be in attendance. Witnesses only join the hearing during their scheduled time.

All witnesses must sit outside of the hearing room until they are called upon to give their evidence. The hearing panel sits on one side of the table and the Appellant and Respondent sit across from them. 

An example agenda for an appeal hearing is shown below:

Action                                                                                                         Estimated Time

1.  Panel Chair checks in with all parties to confirm process                    9:00 (15 min)

2.   Opening remarks by the Panel Chair                                                    9:15 (10 min)

3a.   Appellant’s summary statement                                                          9:25 (45 min)

3b.   Respondent’s questions 

3c.   Committee’s questions

4a.   Respondent’s summary statement                                                     10:10 (45 min)

4b.   Appellant’s questions 

4c.   Committee’s questions

Break                                                                                                             10:55 (10 min)

5.   Respondent’s closing summary                                                             11:05 (5 min)

6.   Appellant’s closing summary                                                                 11:10 (5 min)

7.   Adjournment                                                                                            11:15

If the Appellant is calling Witnesses, they will be scheduled to appear after the Appellant has provided their summary statement and answered questions. If the Respondent is calling Witnesses, they will be scheduled to appear after the Respondent has provided their summary statement and answered questions.

You can request additional breaks throughout the hearing. You and your Advisor will be provided with a private space for breaks. 

Once the hearing is adjourned, the panel will deliberate. The panel’s decision will be issued in writing, normally within 10 business days of the hearing.

If you do not attend your oral hearing, the appeal panel may choose to proceed with your appeal in your absence. The same applies if the Respondent does not attend.  Please see Section 4.46 of the University Appeals Committee  and University Appeals Tribunal Procedures.

As part of the Appeal Submission Form, you will be asked to indicate if you require any accommodations or special consideration should your appeal proceed to a hearing. Examples of accommodations or special considerations that may be requested include:

• Accommodations that a student receives under the Student Accommodation Policy
• Incorporation of Indigenous cultural protocols, including having an Elder or Traditional Knowledge Keeper in attendance
• Attendance of more than one support person (Advisor)
• Extra breaks scheduled into the hearing agenda (please note that all parties are welcome to request breaks as needed during the course of the hearing)

The above list is not exhaustive. Please contact the Student Appeals Office (appeals@ucalgary.ca) if you have any questions or concerns about possible accommodations for your hearing.