At Orange Coast College, we understand that a positive and trusting relationship between students and instructors is crucial for effective learning. The grade grievance process at Orange Coast College is designed to ensure fairness and due process if a disagreement or misunderstanding about grades arises. It is important to note that the grade grievance process is only to determine if there was a violation of the California Education Code. It does not address personality, character, or teaching style.

Under California Education Code § 76224(a) and California Code of Regulations, Title 5 § 55025, the course instructor is responsible for determining a student's grade. This grade is final unless there is evidence of a mistake, fraud, bad faith, or incompetency. The regulations state, “In any course of instruction in a community college district for which grades are awarded, the instructor of the course shall determine the grade to be awarded each student. The determination of the student’s grade by the instructor shall be final in the absence of mistake, fraud, bad faith, or incompetency.”

Students who believe there is an issues with their grade, please follow these steps to seek a resolution:

• Step 1: Attempt to resolve the grade concern informally by discussing it directly with the instructor of the course.
• Step 2: If the issue is not resolved after discussing it with your instructor, escalate the concern to the respective academic dean.
• Step 3: If you are still unsatisfied after Steps 1 and 2, you may file a formal grade grievance petition. This petition must be submitted before the end of the sixth week of the subsequent semester, following the semester or summer session in which the grade was assigned.

For further questions about the grade grievance process at Orange Coast College, please contact:

• Shannon Quihuiz, Dean, Student Relations & Title IX at (714) 432-5930 and squihuiz@occ.cccd.edu