Academic Appeals Support Program

The Advocate is the person appointed to administer the Academic Appeals Support Program (AASP). The Advocate is August Duquette, who you can reach at suvpadvocacy@msvu.ca. 

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The Advocate can support students in preparing and filing their academic appeal including:

• helping students understand their rights, and assert them

• helping students draft appeal letters,

• helping students understand university regulations,

• attending academic appeal hearings,

• explaining the potential outcomes of an appeal. 

  

The MSVUSU cannot guarantee the outcome of an appeal.

 

The following information includes summaries of MSVU Academic Regulations; 

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Please see for additional information on academic appeals, including all forms required to file the appeal on your own 

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If you have been charged with an academic offence (plagiarism, cheating, misrepresentation or other), it is your right to file an academic appeal if you wish. You may appeal either the charge itself or the penalty imposed for the alleged offence. Your appeal letter must contain all the information the committee will need to hear your appeal. You will need to contact the university registrar to discuss what information is required. If you wish, the Advocate can have this conversation on your behalf, provided you sign the release form.  

  

If you believe that your course instructor misapplied MSVU regulations, or if the imposition of university regulations caused you undue hardship, you can file an appeal under a misapplication of university regulations. The appeal letter must include the allegedly misapplied regulation, evidence of its misapplication, and a requested remedy for the situation. If you are unsure whether your situation is a misapplication of regulations, the Advocate can provide advice and consult with the Registrar as needed. You must file these appeals within three weeks of the alleged mistreatment. Misapplication of regulations appeals are not meant to remedy course management issues; however, the Advocate can provide guidance and other direct advocacy to deal with alleged course mismanagement. 

  

If you believe your final grade is incorrect, you can appeal for a re-read. A Stage 1 re-read is made informally and involves you approaching your course instructor to check if all your grades were recorded correctly. If you still believe your course grade is incorrect after this stage, you can appeal for a stage 2 re-read. You forfeit your previous grade during this stage 2 re-read, and two faculty members will regrade all your work. The grade determined by the re-read process is final and may be higher or lower than the original grade.  You are responsible for preserving the original copies of all work submitted, except for the final exam. The Advocate can help you prepare this appeals package and help with consulting the Registrar.