How to deal with college administrations

Many people do not know how to appeal a grade , seek redress of problems with an instructor and many other problems that can come along with an education. This guide is an attempt to place a small number of tools in the hands of those who need them.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• A bit of will and usually a couple of hours.

1. The first place to appeal a grade is with the course instructor, Barring any progress there you can always try the department chairperson and, lastly, the college ombudsman whose job it is to investigate such things.
2. if you feel you are being discriminated against or otherwise personally slighted you may wish to go straight to the department chairperson or ombudsman depending on what the specific problem is. If it is not a personal issue but rather a problem of instructional style or environmental stress the same advice applies.
3. If you have a problem with a fellow student start with the instructor whenever possible as they are most likely to be able to directly effect change and are just as likely to resent being bypassed as anyone else.
4. If you wish to exempt yourself from a class many colleges have an exam (suspiciously like the final exam for the class you wish to skip :) that can be taken for the credit. There are many other tests (CLEP, GRE, Dantes, TECEP, etc.) that can be taken for credit also but be aware that not all colleges accept them equally or at all so check the credit for them at your school before scheduling any of these tests.

Tips & Warnings

• Try not to stress out - just remember that the average university administrator remembers their own college experience and that you are (at least in an abstracted sense) their customer!
• If you personally insult the people whose help you need they will very likely stop listening to you! Try to be polite :)