Student Appeal Procedures
There are several types of student appeals at Eastern Florida State College. Check below for information and procedures for each type. In any appeal, the burden of persuasion lies with the student, as the original result(s) shall be presumptively reasonable and appropriate.
Trespass Appeals
In the event a student has been trespassed from college property, any appeals will be handled in accordance with the process defined by college procedures related to trespass in Section 201.7.
Code of Conduct Appeals
The process for Student Code of Conduct appeals is set forth throughout Section 201.5 in the College Procedures. Refer to the Conduct process outlined in the EFSC Catalog for details. Any disciplinary sanctions will not be held in abeyance during the appellate process.
Academic, Administrative and Financial Appeals
Definitions as outlined in Section 201.6 in the College Procedures:
- Academic Appeals: Academic appeals are any appeals concerning final grade or final activity within the classroom.
- Administrative Appeals: Administrative appeals include issues with administration, registration, and late withdrawals or drops due to medical problems or other extenuating circumstances.
- Financial Appeals: There are two kinds of Financial Appeals:
- Tuition Refund or Credit - Students may appeal through the Collegewide Chair for a tuition refund, credit or exemption to full cost tuition.
- Hardship Appeals for Financial Assistance - Related to awarding of Federal, state, institutional or private financial assistance. Students are required to have completed a FAFSA for the term being appealed with the Financial Aid Office.
Can you avoid an appeal?
Before submitting a formal appeal form, students must address the concern as soon as possible in a non-confrontational manner with the appropriate faculty or staff member, which could include contacting the appropriate Academic Chair or Dean. If you're not sure who that is, ask your instructor which chair supervises the course related to your issue.
- Before filing an Academic Appeal: Discuss the issue with the instructor. If not resolved, discuss with the Collegewide Chair.
- Before an Administrative, Tuition Refund or Credit Appeal: Discuss the issue with the appropriate Collegewide Chair.
How to submit a Student Appeal
If not resolved through those initial discussions, students may submit a formal appeal form with attached documentation to support extenuating circumstances following the instructions for each type in the dropdown accordion below. (See more about extenuating circumstances below the accordion).
Appeals will only be accepted within two years from the date of the incident or issue on which the appeal is based. Documents listed in the accordion can be submitted to the appropriate collegewide chair through the secure, electronic Student Document Dropbox available after logging in to the myEFSC Portal. Each academic discipline is listed in the "Select Office" dropdown section of the dropbox. View details on using the dropbox.
If you have questions about the appeals process, contact the appropriate Collegewide Chair or Dean's office.
Form Needed
This form must be submitted to request a course late add or schedule adjustment after the published add/drop week. Documentation may be required.
Submit this appeal form to the appropriate Collegewide Chair or Dean through the Document Dropbox in the myEFSC Portal.
Forms and Documentation Needed
- Student Appeal Form
- Collegewide Tuition Credit Request Form
- Documentation of extenuating circumstances
These forms must be submitted to request a tuition credit due to extenuating circumstances. Documentation will be required.
Submit a Tuition Credit Appeal to the appropriate Collegewide Chair or Dean through the Document Dropbox in the myEFSC Portal.
Form and Document Needed
- Appeal for Exception to Maximum Attempts per Course
- Letter addressed to Collegewide Chair/Recipient of Appeal (contents specified on 4th attempt appeal form)
Florida State Board of Education Rule (6A-14.0301(3)) dictates that students are permitted only three attempts per course. Fourth attempts are allowed by exception only. Students must appeal to take a course more than three times. No more than four attempts per course are permitted.
Submit this appeal to the appropriate Collegewide Chair or Dean through the Document Dropbox in the myEFSC Portal.
Form Needed
- Appeal for Exemption to Full Cost Requirement for 3rd/4th Course Attempt
- Documentation for extenuating circumstances (Unless the student checks the box on the form to indicate they currently receive a Pell Grant)
When students take the same class for a third or fourth time, they are automatically charged the higher out-of-state tuition rate, even if they are Florida residents. To appeal for a return to the in-state tuition rate, students must submit the form and documentation if required for a Full Cost Tuition Appeal. An exception may be granted only once per course and must be determined to be due to exceptional circumstances, beyond the control of the student.
Submit this appeal to the appropriate Collegewide Chair or Dean through the Document Dropbox in the myEFSC Portal.
Forms Needed
- Student Appeal Form
- Course Withdrawal Form (non-Dual Enrolled Student)
- Course Withdrawal Form (Dual Enrolled Student)
- Documentation for extenuating circumstances for missing the Withdrawal deadline
The two applicable forms must be submitted to request a late withdrawal after the published withdrawal deadline. Documentation will be required.
Submit a Late Withdrawal appeal to the appropriate Collegewide Chair or Dean through the Document Dropbox in the myEFSC Portal.
Form Needed
- Student Appeal Form
- Supporting Documentation
After attempting to resolve the issue with the instructor, if no resolution is reached, this form, and any documentation that needs to accompany the form, must be submitted to start the appeal process. The specific appeal type should be checked off on page 2 of the form.
Submit this appeal to the appropriate Collegewide Chair or Dean through the Document Dropbox in the myEFSC Portal.
Contact the Financial Aid Office to request and submit a Financial Hardship Appeal form.
What are extenuating circumstances? Examples of extenuating circumstances include, but are not limited to: Student suffered
serious illness, injury, or disability; loss due to natural disaster; involuntary
call to active military duty; victim of crime or abuse; significant breakdown of family
relationship or serious illness, injury or death of immediate family member; administrative
error made by an EFSC employee or, in the case of a dual enrolled student, the high
school administrator.
Extenuating circumstances do not include issues such as transportation, roommate problems,
incompatibility with faculty, difficult course load, dislike of a course, short term
problem such as a cold that occurred during the course, technical problems such as
a corrupted disk or lack of printer, personal disruptions or events which could have
been anticipated, pressures of study workload, etc.
Documentation to confirm any extenuating circumstances is required and must include
specific dates and time periods. It may include, but is not limited to: Statement from medical or mental health provider, on letterhead and signed, that confirms
student’s medical condition and that student is able to return to school without restrictions;
Death certificate or obituary; Court documents, police reports, insurance damage reports;
Letters from clergy or lawyer on letterhead and signed; Letters from faculty, advisor,
or others who are aware of the situation; must be signed and include name, title,
address and telephone number.
If the concern is not resolved through an appeal process described above:
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- For academic or administrative concerns, the student may request in writing, through the Collegewide Chair's office, a review by the Dean aligned with each Chair's office, which will be either the Dean of Arts and Social Sciences/Eastern Florida Online, the Dean of Career and Technical Education and Applied Technology, the Dean of Nursing and Applied Health Sciences, or the Dean of STEM. The request must be received within ten days of student notification of the resolution and must contain additional documentation that is pertinent to the appeal. The decision of the Dean is final.
- For Financial concerns, the student may request an appeal to the Student Financial Appeals Committee (SFAC). The SFAC is comprised of the EFSC Controller, Director of Financial Aid, Registrar, and Advising Coordinator. The SFAC will evaluate the student’s need, academic and financial history with EFSC, as well as the student’s compliance and responsiveness to college financial aid policies and procedures. The SFAC will make recommendations to the Chief Financial Officer. The decision of the Chief Financial Officer is final.
If the student feels that the established procedures were violated, the student may request an administrative review by the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs. This is NOT a re-trial of the incident, but a procedural review. The request for administrative review must be made in writing through the Dean's office within five days of receiving notification of the resolution. The decision of the Associate Vice President is final, except as to matters involving suspension or expulsion.
If the student feels that the complaint has not been resolved he/she may visit the Florida College System Complaint Procedure Information webpage for information on how to file a complaint if it is believed that the complaint warrants additional investigation.
Distance Education students who have completed the internal institutional grievance process and the applicable state grievance process may appeal non-instructional complaints to the Florida State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (FL-SARA) Postsecondary Reciprocal Distance Education Coordinating (PRDEC) Council. For additional information on the appeal process, please visit the FL-SARA Student Concerns Page.
Inquiries regarding the College’s Equal Opportunity Policies, including Title IX (sex
discrimination) and Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (disability
discrimination) and equity issues in general may be directed to:
Ms. Darla Ferguson, Chief Civil Rights Compliance Officer
Cocoa Campus, George Washington Carver Administration Building 2
1519 Clearlake Road, Cocoa, FL 32922
Email: fergusond@easternflorida.edu
Phone: 321-433-7080