Student Evaluation and Appeal Policy

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Part I - Preamble
Part II - Student Evaluation
Part III - Evaluation Procedures
Part IV - Appeals
Part V - Appeal Procedures

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Part I - Preamble

A. Introduction

1. The Canadian Police College evaluates students to inform them and their employers of the degree to which the student possesses the level of knowledge or skill identified as essential by the Course Design Document for the course in which the student was enrolled. 1
2. The Canadian Police College grants two forms of certificate: a certificate of achievement and a certificate of participation. By granting a certificate of achievement, the Canadian Police College acknowledges that the student has demonstrated the level of knowledge or skill identified as essential by the Course Design Document for the course in which the student was enrolled. By granting a certificate of participation, the Canadian Police College acknowledges that the student attended a course or workshop and completed various assignments or other activities.
3. Certificates of achievement do not imply that the Canadian Police College has formed an opinion concerning the ability of a student to perform any particular operational, administrative or managerial function.
4. Should a competent external organization delegate to the Canadian Police College the authority to certify a student as being competent to perform a particular operational, administrative or managerial function, the Canadian Police College will issue a supplementary certificate which identifies the authority under which it is granted and which is visually distinct from the Canadian Police College certificate of achievement.
5. Certificates of achievement will be issued only in those courses in which students are formally and individually evaluated.
6. A certificate of participation may not be substituted for a certificate of achievement.

B. Scope

The Canadian Police College Student Evaluation and Appeal Policy applies only to those courses for which the Canadian Police College issues a certificate of achievement.

C. Responsibility for the Policy

The Executive Director, Academic Services and the Director, Research and Curriculum Design are jointly responsible for the maintenance and application of the Canadian Police College Student Evaluation and Appeal Policy.

Part II - Student Evaluation

A. Policy Statement

1. The Canadian Police College will objectively and fairly evaluate whether students possess the skills and knowledge which represent the learning objectives of the course.
2. The evaluation of students will focus on the skills and knowledge identified by the Course Design Document as being essential.
3. The Canadian Police College will ensure that students understand the process by which they will be evaluated.
4. Changes to announced evaluation procedures must have the agreement of all the affected students.
5. The Canadian Police College will ensure that students understand the degree to which they are achieving the objectives of the course.
6. The Canadian Police College will grant certificates of achievement to those students who have demonstrated the level of knowledge or skill deemed essential by the Course Design Document.
7. The final evaluation made of a student’s performance will indicate that the student has either passed or failed the course. Letter and numeric grades will not be used.
8. The Canadian Police College will not adopt evaluation strategies that encourage students to compete with one another.
9. Should the Canadian Police College authorize another institution to deliver a Canadian Police College course, the Canadian Police College Student Evaluation and Appeal Policy will govern the issuing of Canadian Police College certificates of achievement.

Part III - Evaluation Procedures

A. Responsibilities

1. Executive Director, Academic Services

Should the Canadian Police College authorize another institution to deliver a course which leads to a Canadian Police College certificate of achievement, the Executive Director, Academic Services will require that institution to identify who will perform the functions outlined in this policy, and to agree, for the purposes of issuing a Canadian Police College certificate, to abide by this policy.

2. Canadian Police College Registrar

The Registrar will refer all students to the Canadian Police College Student Evaluation and Appeal Policy on the Canadian Police College website prior to their arrival at the Canadian Police College.

3. Delivery Team Leader

Each time a course is given, the Team Leader responsible for the course will designate one person as the Course Facilitator who has overall responsibility for the management of the course.

4. Course Facilitators

Regardless of whether the Course Facilitator with overall responsibility for a course evaluated the student personally, he or she is deemed to have evaluated the student.

The Course Facilitator with overall responsibility for a course will ensure that the evaluation process focuses on those issues identified by the Course Design Document as being essential.

The Course Facilitator with overall responsibility for a course will ensure that consistent evaluation procedures are used across various sessions of a course.

During the introduction to the course, a Course Facilitator will explain the evaluation procedures that will be used in the course.

The Course Facilitator with overall responsibility for a course will evaluate students against a documented standard, as found in the Course Design Document.

The Course Facilitator will review, with the students, their performance on all written tests and assignments, and practical exercises, that contribute to their being granted a Canadian Police College certificate of achievement.

The Course Facilitator will complete a written assessment of the students’ performance.

In addition to reviewing the students’ performance on formal tests and assignments, the Course Facilitator is expected to provide informal feedback to students throughout the course.

5. Student

If the Course Facilitator’s review of formal tests and assignments does not address a student’s concerns with respect to his or her evaluations, he or she is responsible for raising the issue with the Course Facilitator.

6. Delivery and Design Team Leaders

Each Team Leader responsible for the delivery of training will meet annually with the Team Leader, Curriculum Design to review the testing procedures being used on every course in his or her area of responsibility. These meetings are intended to ensure conformity with the Canadian Police College Student Evaluation and Appeal policy and that the evaluation materials such as tests, assignments and exercises are regularly revised.

Part IV - Appeals

A. Policy Statement

1. Students have the right to appeal formal evaluations that contribute to their being granted a Canadian Police College certificate of achievement.
2. Every effort should be made to resolve appeals quickly, fairly and informally.
3. Students may appeal evaluations of their performance only on the grounds that the evaluator made an error in the evaluation process.
4. A Canadian Police College certificate of achievement will not be issued to a student if there is an appeal in progress.
5. Costs incurred by a student during an appeal will not be reimbursed by the Canadian Police College.
6. The reevaluation conducted during a student appeal by the Delivery and Design Team Leaders and the final decision of the Executive Director, Academic Services are not subject to appeal.

Part V - Appeal Procedures

A. Responsibilities

1. Student

A student who wishes to appeal an evaluation made of his or her performance on a course given by the Ottawa campus of the Canadian Police College, must inform the officer in charge of the Investigative Training Team that he or she would like a reevaluation of his or her work. This must be done within five working days of receiving the evaluation.

A student, who wishes to appeal an evaluation made of his or her performance on a course given by the Canadian Police College West Campus, must inform the Director of Canadian Police College West Campus that he or she would like a reevaluation of his or her work. This must be done within five working days of receiving the evaluation.

When informing the officer in charge of the Investigative Training Team or the Director, Canadian Police College West Campus of his or her concerns, the student must document the specific grounds for his or her appeal. Lack of specificity will result in the application being rejected.

After the appeal has been referred by the officer in charge of the Investigative Training Team or the Director, Canadian Police College West Campus, to the designated Course Facilitator, the student will meet with the Course Facilitator to attempt an informal resolution to his or her appeal. Refusal to meet with the Course Facilitator will cause the appeal to be rejected.

Once a student has agreed to a negotiated resolution of the appeal, he or she may not subsequently appeal the agreement.

If the student and the Course Facilitator are unable to achieve a negotiated resolution, the student may resubmit the same appeal to the Executive Director, Academic Services for a review.

2. Officer in Charge of the Investigative Training Team or Director, Canadian Police College West Campus

If the Officer in Charge of the Investigative Training Team or the Director, Canadian Police College West Campus decides an appeal does not conform to the Student Evaluation and Appeal Policy, he or she will discuss the issue with the student and inform the student that he or she can withdraw the appeal or revise the appeal to bring it into conformity with the policy.

When an appeal has been properly filed, the responsible officer in charge or Director will refer the appeal to the Course Facilitator with overall responsibility for the course for resolution.

3. Course Facilitator

When an appeal has been referred by the responsible officer in charge or Director, the Course Facilitator with overall responsibility for the course will review, with the student, only those aspects of the evaluation that form the substance of the appeal.

If the review process, whether at this stage or following a review commissioned by the Executive Director, Academic Services reveals any errors or omissions, the Course Facilitator with overall responsibility for the course will adjust the evaluation made of the student’s performance accordingly.

The Course Facilitator with overall responsibility for the course will ensure that all Canadian Police College records containing erroneous information concerning the student’s performance are amended to show the correct, final evaluation.

4. Executive Director, Academic Services

When a student submits an appeal to the Executive Director, Academic Services, the Executive Director will arrange for a qualified and neutral third party to assess the student’s initial performance.

The Executive Director, Academic Services will ensure that the person conducting the review evaluates the student’s performance against the documented standard used initially in the course.

Should the re-evaluation of the student’s performance differ from the initial evaluation, the Executive Director, Academic Services will meet with the neutral evaluator and the Course Facilitator with overall responsibility for the course to reconcile the differences.

The Executive Director, Academic Services may render one of the following decisions.

1. Deny the appeal and confirm the original evaluation;
   
   
2. Sustain the appeal and assign a revised evaluation; or
   
   
3. Direct the Team Leader of the responsible training team and the Team Leader, Curriculum Design to reevaluate the student and, based on this supplementary evaluation, assign a revised evaluation.

If the Team Leader of the responsible delivery team was responsible for the evaluation that is being appealed, the Executive Director, Academic Services will assign the supplementary evaluation duties to a qualified, neutral third party.

The Executive Director, Academic Services will make the final decision with respect to the student’s appeal.

The Executive Director, Academic Services will provide a written explanation for his or her decision to the student who filed the appeal.

The decision of the Executive Director, Academic Services is final and is not subject to appeal.

5. Delivery and Design Team Leaders

Should the Executive Director, Academic Services, direct that the student be reevaluated, the Team Leader of the responsible training team or the replacement neutral third party identified by the Executive Director, and the Team Leader, Curriculum Design, will evaluate the student using an evaluation strategy consistent with the original evaluation. They will report the outcome of this evaluation to the Executive Director, Academic Services.

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1 For the purposes of this policy, Course Design Documents include Course Training Standards.