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Appeal Process

Flow of the Appeal Process

  1. You must complete parts one to four of the appeal form and collect your supporting documentation.
    • You may ask for assistance with or review of your appeal from student support service offices such as FGPS, CSEDI, etc.
  2. Submit your appeal package to your supervisor/course instructor/applicable respondent for comment and signature. The package will then go to your program's graduate coordinator for comment and signature. The package will be returned to you.
  3. Submit your completed appeal package to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (FGPS) at fgps@wlu.ca.
  4. FGPS staff will review the package and contact you and/or your program for more details as required. If required, a rebuttal process may be initiated. For more information on rebuttals, see the next two sections.
  5. An anonymized version of the appeal will be reviewed by the Graduate Student Appeals Committee (GSAC) at the next monthly committee meeting, based on the date of receipt of all required parts of the appeal. You do not attend the GSAC meeting.
  6.  The decision will be communicated by email within 10 days of hearing the petition.

Rebuttal Process

The Graduate Academic Calendar (General Regulations – Student Appeals) states:

  • The parties shall have access to all relevant documents to be relied upon by the committee in hearing the appeal.
  • When a respondent program (Instructor, Advisor or Graduate Coordinator) submits documentation or a written response to the appeal, the student shall be permitted to submit a written rebuttal to the documentation and/or the written response material. Examples of situations where this occurss include when a program does not support the appeal, or if new information is raised in the comments provided by the program.
  • If the student's written rebuttal raises new issues, the respondent may submit a written reply to the student's written rebuttal. No further submissions will be accepted.
  • All parties will recieve a final, signed version of the appeal.

Flow of the Rebuttal Process

First, follow steps one to four of the Appeal Process. If applicable, a rebuttal process may be initiated.

The rebuttal process is optional; you can choose not to submit a rebuttal. If you wish to proceed with a rebuttal, the following steps would take place:

  1. The full appeal packaged will be returned to you by email with information on how to proceed. You have the option to submit a rebuttal statement to reply to the program or instructor’s comments in the appeal, and submit any additional supporting documentation.
    1. You are encouraged to consult with FGPS or other support services before submitting the final version of their rebuttal. This version is the final opportunity for you to add comments, new information, or supporting documents.
    2. The original appeal package plus your rebuttal package will be sent to the program for review. If the program feels that you provided new information in the rebuttal, it may respond to the rebuttal, and add any additional supporting documents. This review is the final opportunity for the program to add comments, new information, or supporting documents.
    3. At this point, the original appeal package, your rebuttal and the program’s rebuttal response will be combined into one document. This document is the final version that will be presented to the GSAC. The final combined package will be shared with you and your program as records.
  2. The appeal will be reviewed by the GSAC at the next monthly committee meeting, based on the date of receipt of all required parts of the appeal. You do not attend the GSAC meeting.
  3. The decision will be communicated by email within 10 days of hearing the petition.
    1. If you wish to appeal the decision of the GSAC, you can follow instructions for a second level appeal process.

Presentation of Cases

All materials pertaining to your appeal that is taken to the GSAC will have third-party identifiers removed where consent has not been given.

The graduate records and data management coordinator will prepare a brief summary of your status, including program, term of registration, relevant details (including update on previous appeals for the same issue, confirmation that a satisfactory progress report is on file, etc.). This summary will be attached to the documents you submit, a copy of which is available for each GSAC member’s review.

GSAC Decisions

The GSAC makes decisions on matters pertaining to the academic standing of graduate students.

The GSAC will carefully consider the material presented in conjunction with Graduate Academic Calendar regulations. The decision will be made by a majority vote of the voting members of the committee. See the Graduate Academic Calendar for more information on the structure of the committee members (Graduate Academic Calendar – General Regulations – Student Appeals).

Per the Graduate Academic Calendar, the GSAC has the power to:

  • Deny the appeal.
  • Uphold all or part of the appeal.
  • Consider the issues and substitute its own decision. (General Regulations – Student Appeals).

The decision will be sent within 10 business days of the committee meeting date to your @mylaurier.ca email address and will be copied to the graduate coordinator, program administrator, and any other pertinent individuals.

Second Level Appeals

You may choose to appeal the decision of the GSAC at the second level of appeals, the Senate Student Appeals Committee (SSAC). The SSAC will only permit appeals on the grounds of:

  • new evidence, or
  • evidence of substantial procedural irregularity.

For more information, view the Procedures for Considering a Student Appeal page. Questions about this process may be directed to vpacademic@wlu.ca.