The instructor of the course shall determine the grade to be awarded to each student. When grades are given for any course of instruction taught at colleges of Kern Community College District, the grade given to each student shall be the grade determined by the instructor of the course, and the determination of the student’s grade by the instructor, in the absence of mistake, fraud, bad faith, or incompetency, shall be final. “Mistake” may include, but is not limited to, errors made by the instructor in calculating a student’s grade and clerical errors.
Any student may file a written request with Cerro Coso Community College’s vice president of instruction to correct or remove information recorded in the student’s records which the student alleges to be:
- inaccurate,
- an unsubstantiated personal conclusion or inference,
- a conclusion or inference outside of the observer’s area of competence, or
- not based on the personal observation of a named person with the time and place of the observation noted.
The removal or change of an incorrect grade from a student's record shall only be done by the instructor who first awarded the grade or by an alternative method that ensures that each student shall be afforded an objective and reasonable review of the requested grade change.
A student’s first request for a grade change shall be from the instructor. Provisions shall be made by the vice president of instruction to designate another faculty member to substitute for the instructor if the student has filed a discrimination complaint, if the instructor is not available, or where the college determines that it is possible that there may have been gross misconduct by the original instructor.
Method for Requested Grade Change
Refer to “Complaint Against a College Employee” or Administrative Procedure 5530, Student Rights and Grievances, for the process for a student-initiated grade change request. It is the same process. The first step after attempting an informal resolution, is to submit a Statement of Grievance form.
The timeframe by which students may initiate grade change requests is three years from the last day of class. Exceptions to this timeframe may be made if it is determined that the grade was awarded becuase of mistake, fraud, bad faith, or incompetence by the instructor.
