Academic Petition & Requirement Exceptions

An academic petition may be submitted by a student to request an exception to an academic policy or deadline.

• In all cases, the student must consult with her/his faculty advisor prior to submitting a petition.
• Extenuating circumstances must be accounted for to warrant consideration for change of registration petitions (see below for what constitutes extenuating circumstances).
• Students are required to provide evidence of compelling circumstances which would warrant approval. Present all information in a clear and concise manner. 
• As indicated in the academic catalog, any petitions to add or remove academic credit must be submitted within one calendar year following the last day of the semester in question or the petition will not be considered.

Acceptable extenuating circumstances:

• Death in the family, serious accident or illness resulting in an inability to attend class or do the required work, unusual circumstances surrounding the birth of a child, visa problems for international students, and similarly mitigating circumstances which could not have been prevented or anticipated by the student and were completely beyond his or her control.

Reasons considered not valid for petitioning include but are not limited to:

• Lack of knowledge of dates, deadlines or policies
• Examples of situations that will not be considered extenuating include being too busy, employment demands, minor illness, and duties from optional responsibilities like extracurriculars.

Policies that are not petitionable:

• Pass/No Pass and Audit deadlines (for traditional undergraduates)
• HHPA 145/345 late registration
• Grades are not petitionable but can be appealed through the academic affairs office (See Appeal of Grades)
• Transfer credit policies
• Total credit requirements (120/126, 39/42 upper, GRAD-per program requirements)

Academic Petition

Includes:

• Adding a class after the add deadline
• Dropping a class after the drop deadline
• Changing section of a class after the drop deadline
• Withdrawing from a class after the withdrawal deadline
• Changing number of field experience credits
• Early degree conferral (graduate-level only)

Academic Petition Form (All Students)

Petition Process

1. If the student situation meets the above requirements for submitting a petition, student completes petition form
2. Petition gets routed for approval. 
3. CAP coaches (for traditional undergraduate students) and enrollment manager (for graduate/Adult Degree Program students) will communicate status of petition approval/denial.

Academic Requirement Exception Request

For Traditional Undergraduate Students (Graduate and ADP students contact their department)

Request for changes to program requirements can be submitted through the Academic Requirement Exception Request form. The student must consult with her/his faculty advisor prior to submitting this request.

Includes:

• Course substitutions 
• Waiver of requirements

Academic Requirement Change Request Form (Traditional UG)

Academic Requirement Exception Request Process

1. Student meets with faculty advisor to discuss rationale for academic requirement exception.
2. If the faculty advisor or program director supports the request, the student fills out the Academic Requirement Exception Request form.
3. CAP coach (for traditional undergraduate students) reviews the request and routes it for approval 
4. After the appropriate individuals review the request, a decision to approve or deny it will be made. The approval or denial will be communicated to the student by the CAP coach or enrollment manager, and appropriate updates will be made to the student’s academic record.