help! please! GRIEVANCE LETTER/APPEALS PROCESS

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Dec 11, 2015

You admit you were struggling all along. Claiming it's not fair after not meeting the minimum score to progress is not going to go over well with the appeals committee. 0.21% is not that small of a number and it's extremely rare for a traditional BSN program to round never mind an ABSN program. The live chat is not a significant difference to win an appeal. Did you score low on the quizzes ? Are you certain extra time would have made a difference? Different instructors structure their classes differently even if the content is the same.

What was your previous degree in? What was your first degree GPA? What was your nursing pre-req GPA?

Did you review the school policy for academic grievances /grade appeals? Do you meet the requirements to appeal? It's rare for faculty to help a student to grieve an academic dismissal especially in a competitive ABSN program. .

Zyprexa_Ho · Dec 11, 2015

Unfortunately, the extra five minutes thing and the live chat thing don't sound like sufficient grounds. Not every class has to be the exact same. The professors are allowed some discretion in how they teach their classes, or else anyone could teach them if they had a cookie cutter way that the class was taught. If you had questions before the exam and were not offered the live chat, you should have gotten in touch with the professor to ask those questions, regardless if there was a specific live chat available or not.

I mean, you can always file an appeal. Who knows, maybe you'll get the exception. One time I filed an appeal as an undergrad that was totally baseless, and the professor let me re-do the assignment and he gave me a 100%, and even though that 100% wasn't enough to change my grade, he still changed my grade. It sounds like your appeal really rests on getting an answer about the final exam questions you felt were not clear or not fair. That's a good place to start.

Also, the professor is not going to help you with this process. You need to talk to the dean. Make it clear you felt some questions were unfair, that you expressed this to the professor, and that the professor did not give you an adequate reply.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Dec 11, 2015

Based on my own exposure to academic rules & regulations, there is very little likelihood of success with this type of grievance. If they make an exception for you, then they would have to do so for everyone... and the rule would effectively be useless. There have been several widely publicized cases involving nursing students with similar issues, such as the one at Misericordia in May. She wasn't successful either.

The separate issue of non-responsive faculty should definitely be addressed by the program. In traditional schools, faculty roles and behavioral expectations are clearly outlined with respect to their availability to students - e.g., "office hours" are a requirement. It sounds like this was an online course (program?), and it's a bit more difficult to maintain this level of support with virtual instructors... but the school should have some requirements.

You have my sympathy. I hope it works out well for you.

EmKayy18 · Dec 15, 2015

I know that my program has made it clear from day 1 that there is no such thing as rounding in nursing school. We need a 78% (in both exam and coursework separately) to pass and 77.99999% is failing. I'm afraid I have to agree with the previous posts also about your basis for appeal being unfair treatment throughout cohorts. Are all of the cohorts ABSN programs or do they vary? It is possible your instructors expect more from you than your peers if they are taking upper-division level courses for the first time. Regardless, i know my nursing school, and, from what I've read and heard, most others are heavily reliant on your ability to self-teach independently. So, if you do find a way to appeal, I would focus on taking FULL responsibility for not passing and have a very specific plan to present to the committee on how you would ENSURE your success if given a second opportunity. Wishing you the best of luck as you deal with this difficult situation.

mrsboots87 · Dec 16, 2015

There were people in my final nursing course who failed by 0.01. Literally. The program requires a 76% pro tired score before assignments are added in and there is not rounding. A handful of people received a 75.99 and are required to repeat if a first time fail. Dropped completely if a second failure. It totally sucks, but it is what it is.

We we were split into two groups for classes. One section took mental health first and one section took critical care first. The first mental health group all did really good in the mental health tests. The second class mostly did very poorly. There is speculation that the tests for the second group were harder then that if the first group. But at the end of the day, none of that matters. We either passed or we didn't and what happened to the other class doesn't apply to USA. And this is from the same instructor. With 2 different instructors, I would imagine there to be even more difference.

Every professor teaches their class how they want within policy. You will not win an appeal based in the classes being set up and taught differently. There is no way to know if you would have done better in the other class or not. When you took your pre reqs there were probably multiple classes taught by multiple instructors, and they were all taught differently. That's just the way it is.

Also, check your student handbook. It is made clear in ours that the final is not reviewable. EVER. The I structors are not obligated to review the answers or the material with any student. It could be the same for yours. If this is in your handbook, then there is nothing you can do about you instructor not getting back to you about your final.

needlesmcgeeRN, ASN, RN · Dec 16, 2015

Guess what's NOT part of the NCLEX? Rounding and fairness.