Principles for the Acceptance of Excuses and Grade Change Procedures
Republic of Türkiye
ISTANBUL SABAHATTIN ZAIM UNIVERSITY
ACCEPTANCE OF EXCUSES AND CONDUCT OF MAKE-UP EXAMINATIONS, CLERICAL ERRORS AND THEIR CORRECTION, AND OBJECTIONS TO EXAM GRADES AND GRADE CHANGE PROCEDURES
(Senate Date: January 17, 2012; No: 2012/1)
Purpose
Article 1 - (1) These Principles have been established to ensure consistency of practice at our university regarding the acceptance of excuses, the conduct of make-up examinations, clerical errors and their correction, objections to exam grades, and grade changes.
Definition
Article 2 - (1) A make-up exam is an exam held for students who could not attend a midterm exam due to a valid excuse. Make-up exams are held on dates determined by the relevant administrative boards within 15 (fifteen) days following the end of the midterm exams.
Scope of Excuses
Article 3 - (1) The scope of excuses is explained in paragraphs a, b, c, ç, d, and e of this article.
a) Illness
1) If the student undergoes surgery, has a serious illness requiring hospitalization, or is in a situation requiring a medical board report, this situation must be documented with a medical report;
i - a single-physician report for illnesses not exceeding 3 (three) days,
ii - a report approved by the chief physician's office of the relevant hospital for illnesses requiring a report of between 4 (four) and 20 (twenty) days,
iii - for illnesses requiring a report of 21 (twenty-one) days or more, submission of a health board report from the relevant hospital is mandatory.
2) It must be submitted to the relevant Dean's Office/Directorate within 5 (five) days following the day after the report's expiration date.
b) Death of a Student's Relative
1) In the event of the death of one of the student's relatives (mother, father, spouse, child, grandfather, grandmother, sibling, paternal uncle, maternal uncle, paternal aunt, maternal aunt) on a date that prevents the student from taking the exam, the death certificate must be submitted to the relevant Dean's Office/Directorate within 5 (five) days at the latest from the exam date.
c) Accidents or Unforeseen Circumstances
1) If a student who set out to attend an exam is involved in a traffic accident that prevents them from reaching the exam in time, they must submit the accident report obtained from the traffic police or prepared by the parties involved,
2) If an event (fire, flood, earthquake, collapse, demolition) occurs in the building where the student resides on the eve of or on the day of the exam, preventing the student from taking the exam, the student must submit a document obtained from the local civil administration authority,
The documents listed above must be submitted to the relevant Dean's Office/Directorate within 5 (five) days at the latest from the exam date.
ç) Detention and Custody
1) If the student was taken to a police station for any reason and was thus unable to take the exam, they must submit a document obtained from the relevant police station chief,
2) If the student was taken into custody, they must submit a document obtained from the relevant public prosecutor's office or police unit,
3) If the student was arrested, submission of a copy of the arrest order,
The documents listed above must be submitted to the relevant Dean's Office/Directorate within 5 (five) days from the date of release.
d) Assignment by the University or Other Official Institutions
1) If a student is unable to take the exam due to an assignment made by the university or other official institutions for reasons such as a national or international competition, sporting activity, or university promotional fair, the assignment document must be submitted to the relevant Dean's Office/Directorate within 5 (five) days at the latest from the exam date.
e) Other Excuses
1) If a student is unable to take the exam due to an excuse other than those listed under the 5 main headings above, this excuse must be documented. For example, if the student falls ill on campus on the day of the exam, a report issued by the university doctor; or if the student falls ill during the exam, a report prepared by the course instructor and exam invigilator, etc.
Acceptance of Excuses
Article 4 - (1) A student who is unable to take an exam due to one of the excuses listed above shall submit a petition to the Dean's Office/Directorate specifying the course or courses for which they wish to take the make-up exam, along with the required document. The authority to accept the excuse rests with the relevant Faculty/School/Institute Administrative Board. A student whose excuse is not accepted is considered to have received zero on that exam.
Make-up Exam Results
Article 5 - (1) Make-up exam results are entered into the Student Information System using the method below.
a) In order for the relevant instructor to enter the make-up exam grade of the student into the Student Information System, grade entry access is granted to the instructor by the authorized student affairs staff based on the decision of the relevant Faculty/School/Institute Administrative Board.
b) The instructor who conducted the make-up exam delivers the exam results to the relevant Dean's Office/Directorate, to be forwarded to the Registrar's Office, within 5 (five) days following the exam date.
c) The instructor granted make-up exam grade entry access enters and announces the grade within the specified period.
Objection to Exam Grades
Article 6 - (1) Students may object to their exam results on grounds of clerical error by submitting a petition to the relevant Dean's Office/Directorate within 5 (five) days from the announcement of the grades. Objections made afterward will not be accepted. Upon objection, the exam paper is reviewed by the course instructor within 3 (three) days at the latest from when the matter is referred to them, and the result is reported in writing, with justification, to the relevant Dean's Office/Directorate. The instructor's justified report is finalized by the relevant Faculty/School/Institute Administrative Board and reported to the Registrar's Office. Grade changes may only be made by decision of the relevant Faculty/School/Institute Administrative Board.
(2) If the course instructor has entered a student's grade incorrectly and announced it before noticing the error, this grade change may only be made by decision of the relevant Faculty/School/Institute Administrative Board.
(3) The process for grade changes in the Student Information System is as follows.
a) In order for the instructor to correct the incorrectly entered exam grade of a student, grade entry access is granted to the instructor by the authorized student affairs staff based on the decision of the relevant Faculty/School/Institute Administrative Board.
b) The instructor granted grade change entry access makes and announces the grade change within the specified period.
c) After completing the grade change entry, the course instructor delivers the final version of the exam results obtained from the system to the Dean's Office/Directorate, to be forwarded to the Registrar's Office.