Appeals Memo

An appeal can be made by: 

• One student
• A group of students (Where an appeal or complaint is made by a group of students, it shall be signed by all the students, but no more than three students shall be designated as representatives of the group of students, with whom the Appeals Board shall communicate directly.)

Appeal types: 

• An appeal against an achievement grade;
• An appeal against irregularities in knowledge assessment procedures;

Complaint types: 

•  Against an administrative action, except for appeals concerning the content of study programmes, academic ethics or labour relations.

Filing appeals or complaints:

• Before submitting an appeal against an achievement grade, the student must, within 3 working days of the date of publication of the grade, contact the lecturer/committee that assessed him/her to give him/her an opportunity to review and discuss his/her written work. 
• If the student disagrees with the explanations and arguments of the assessor/committee, he/she may, within 5 working days from the date of entry of the result into the University's information system, submit a written appeal against any irregularities in the assessment of achievement.
• An appeal against the assessment of achievement may be made by contacting the assessor within 3 days, while an appeal against breaches of the assessment procedures may be made immediately, without contacting the assessing lecturer or the board.
• Appeals and complaints can be submitted to vilniustech@vilniustech.lt

Appeal against an achievement grade:

• Before submitting an appeal against an achievement grade, the student must, within 3 working days of the date of publication of the grade, contact the lecturer/committee that assessed him/her to give him/her an opportunity to review and discuss his/her written work. 
• If the student disagrees with the explanations and arguments of the assessor/committee, he/she may, within 5 working days from the date of entry of the result into the University's information system, submit a written appeal against any irregularities in the assessment of achievement.

Appeal against irregularities in knowledge assessment procedures:

• An appeal against the assessment of achievement may be made by contacting the assessor within 3 days, while an appeal against breaches of the assessment procedures may be made immediately, without contacting the assessing lecturer or the board.

• Appeals can be made for failure to provide facilities for the taking of assessments.

• An appeal may be lodged against a final settlement where a group of more than 30 people is supervised by only one teacher.

Complaint against an administrative action, except for appeals concerning the content of study programmes, academic ethics or labour relations.

• It is always possible to report breaches of the Code of Ethics, but it is suggested not to delay too long.

Appeal Boards and their formation:

• • The Vice-Rector of Studies shall refer the appeal or complaint received to the Appeals Committee of the Faculty or the University.
  • The University Appeals Board hears appeals and complaints against: 
    • Violation of the procedures for assessing achievement or the assessment procedure if the assessor was a dean of a faculty, a vice-dean, the rector of a university, a vice-rector or the head of a department;
    • a breach of the procedures for assessing achievement or the evaluation procedure, if the evaluation was carried out by the Board;
    • Actions taken by the administration, except for complaints about the content of study programmes, academic ethics or labour relations.
  • Faculty Appeals Boards hear appeals against the assessment of students' achievements or against infringement of assessment procedures.
  • An appeal board shall be set up at the faculty within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the appeal by an ordinance of the dean of the faculty in which the department teaching the study subject module is located. 
  • The Faculty Appeals Board shall be composed of 3 to 5 members, one of whom shall be appointed Chairperson of the Board. 

• Appeal Boards must:

• • To deal with appeals and complaints objectively and impartially;
  • Respect the rights of the persons taking part in the hearing and observe the principle of equality of arms between all parties to the dispute;
  • Make efforts to reconcile the parties, if possible in the circumstances.
• A member of the Appeals Board must:
  • Attend Board meetings and vote on all matters under discussion
  • inform the President of the Board in writing and recuse himself or herself from any appeals or complaints where there are indications of a conflict of interest
  • Vote objectively and impartially;
  • not to disclose to any third party any information of which he becomes aware as a result of his work on the Appeals Board;  
  • Adhere to academic ethics, GDPR requirements, confidentiality obligations.

GDPR- General Data Protection Regulation

Content of appeals and complaints:

• The appellant's contact details (name, surname, main programme of study, telephone number, university e-mail)
• The subject of the appeal ( subject of study, assessment, assessor, form of assessment )
• Date of publication of the achievement assessment in the mano.vilniustech.lt system
• Arguments in support of the appellant's disagreement with the assessment 
• Appellant's request 
• Appellant's signature

Appeals and complaints can be submitted to vilniustech@vilniustech.lt 

There are three ways in which the appeal can be concluded: 

• The appeal is upheld
• The appeal is partially upheld
• The appeal is dismissed

The Board shall review the appeal within 30 calendar days.

The lodging of an appeal shall never diminish the appellant(s)' performance evaluation. It may remain the same or go up, depending on the decision of the panel.

Memo prepared on the basis of this document.

Templates for what an appeal should look like can be found here!.

If you have any questions about incorrect assessment or the procedure for writing an appeal, please contact us!.