In accordance with the provisions of the Guide to Graduate Policy (Appendix A), it is necessary for the Chemistry Department to have a procedure for appeals of “those administrative or academic decisions that terminate or otherwise impede the progress of a Berkeley graduate student toward his or her academic or professional degree goal.” The following procedure has been established:

1. A graduate student who has been dismissed from graduate standing, who has been placed in a probationary status, or whose academic progress has otherwise been impeded by administrative or academic decision, has the right to appeal that decision. The individual making such a decision is obligated to inform the graduate student of his or her right to appeal under these procedures.
2. The appeal should be lodged, in writing, within 14 calendar days after the student is made aware of the decision. The written appeal should be delivered to the Chair of the Chemistry Department. If the appeal pertains to a decision made by a Vice Chair of the Department or by the student’s research director, a copy of the appeal must be delivered to that individual as well as to the Department Chair.
3. Upon receiving the written appeal, the Department Chair will appoint an ad hoc committee to consider it. The ad hoc committee will normally consist of the three Vice Chairs of the Department, plus one professor to be named by the student. If the decision being appealed was made by one of the Vice Chairs, that person will not serve on the ad hoc committee. In such a case, the Department Chair will appoint a fourth member of the committee from the Chemistry Department faculty. The ad hoc appeals committee will be constituted within fourteen (14) calendar days of receipt of the written appeal.
4. Within twenty-one (21) calendar days after receipt of the written appeal in the Chemistry Department office, the ad hoc appeals committee will meet to consider the appeal. The committee will make a written recommendation to the Department Chair, who will make the final decision on the appeal. The Department Chair will notify the student of the outcome of the complaint within sixty days from written receipt of the appeal.
5. If the decision on the appeal is negative, the student has the right to further appeal to the Dean of the College of Chemistry or to the Dean of the Graduate Division, as provided in Appendix A of the Graduate Advisor’s Handbook.
6. The full Graduate Appeals Procedure (approved April 27, 1998) is available at the Graduate Division website at http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/degrees/pdf/gradappeal.pdf.