Petition for Special Action
On this page, you can submit a request for Special Action, such as special admissions requirements, requests to change a grade, or any request that falls outside or goes against our listed policies.
Per Page 40 of the PCU Student Information Handbook:
A grade once entered into the official transcript may be changed only upon a showing of good cause. The policy set forth below under grading errors is the procedure to be followed to apply for and approve atranscript change.
Petitionsto the Academic Council Regarding Course Grades or Examination Grades
Students are not permitted to lobby instructors to request a grade change. Once a grade has been released, it will not be changed unless one of the following situations exists:
1. Error
A student claiming that an examination grade or a course grade was the product of clerical, recordation, or computational error in the calculation of the grade should, within two weeks after the grades are released, inform the School of Law office and request that the matter be investigated. If the matter is not resolved to the student’s satisfaction, the student may petition the Academic Council for relief. This petition must be filed within one week after the School of Law notified the student of the results of the investigation. (The Academic Council is composed of faculty members.)
2. Unfairness or Departure from Established Grading Policy
A student claiming that an examination grade or a course grade was the product of unfairness orwas a departure from established grading policy may, within 15 calendar days after the grades are released, petition the Academic Council for relief. For purposes of this section, “unfairness” means that the grade under review constitutes an abuse of the grader’s professorial discretion in that no reasonable professor would award that grade under the circumstances.
The student is strongly encouraged to meet with the relevant instructor in order to discuss the basis of the grade prior to petitioning the Academic Council. The professor cannot change the grade. If the student did not meet with the instructor, the student must state in the petition the reason(s) why such a meeting did not take place.
In any event, the petitioning student must present clear and convincing factual evidence supporting the claim that a grade was unfair or was a departure from established grading policy.
If the student fails to state a proper basis for the petition, fails to present clear and convincing factual evidence to support the petition, or fails to act timely, the Academic Council may deny the petition summarily. If, however, the student satisfies the procedural and substantive requirements of the petition process, the Council may request a statement from the instructor involved. The Council may also request other information it deems appropriate.
The Council will notify the student in writing of the outcome. The Academic Council’s decision on the student’s petition is final.
