The Montana Board of Regents' policy establishing an appeals process to review decisions concerning the transfer of credits is Policy 301.5, Section F.

Once a campus in the Montana University System has completed its review of a student's transfer coursework, and shared those decisions with the student, the student may choose to appeal some of those decisions. The campus is required to tell students about their appeal rights at the time the analysis of transfer credits is given to students.

Students can appeal the decision on any or all of their transfer credits if they think that the transfer coursework should have been accepted, or should have been accepted for a particular use or purpose in their degree program.

The appeal process will vary from campus to campus due to differences in institutional size and organizational structure. The following common points are part of the process on each campus.

If the appeal concerns the use of transfer coursework in a student's major, minor, option or certificate program, the appeal will begin with the academic program that offers the major, minor, option or certificate.

  • The administrator who manages that program will handle the initial review. (Usually the department chair; but on the smaller campuses, it may be someone else.)

  • If the student is not satisfied with the initial review and decision, the student can appeal the decision to the next level in the academic organizational structure. On many campuses, that person would be known as the Dean, who manages the college or school where the program is located.

  • The final review is conducted by the Chief Academic Officer on the campus. That person is usually called Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Dean of Instructional Services, and so on. The decision of the Chief Academic Officer is final, and no further appeal is possible.

If the appeal concerns the use of transfer coursework in a student's general education program , the appeal will begin with a faculty committee. The name of that faculty committee will vary from campus to campus in the System, but students who choose to exercise their appeal rights will be directed to the appropriate group.

  • If the student is not satisfied with the initial review and decision, the student can appeal to the Chief Academic Officer on the campus. The decision of the Chief Academic Officer is final, and no further appeal is possible.

If the appeal concerns the use of transfer coursework as free electives in a degree program, the appeal procedures are identical to a decision concerning general education coursework, described above.

TWO DEADLINES are important in this appeal process:

  • The campus must complete the appeal by the start of the pre-registration period for classes in the next academic term (i.e., if a student files an appeal during Fall Semester, that appeal must be completed before the date when students can pre-register for classes in the upcoming Spring Semester.)

  • Students must initiate their appeal rights in a timely manner. For example, if a student receives the campus analysis of his/her transfer coursework in early September, and doesn't initiate the appeal process until early November, the student is not entitled to a decision by the pre-registration deadline.