Academic Petitions
The information contained on this page applies only to students in the following Faculties:
- Education
- Fine Arts
- Health
- Science
- Lassonde School of Engineering
- Environmental Studies
Students in other Faculties should refer to the following locations:
- Glendon - Office of Student Programs, C105 York Hall, Glendon campus
- Liberal Arts & Professional Studies - Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Web site
- Osgoode - Student Services, Osgoode Hall Law School, Ignat Kaneff Building
- Schulich - Schulich School of Business Petitions and Appeals
- What is a Petition?
- Submitting a Petition
- What is Petitioned?
- Deadlines
- Notification / Forms
A petition is a written request for the waiver of a Faculty's academic regulation or deadline. Before initiating a petition, you are advised to review University and Faculty rules and regulations as stated in the Undergraduate Calendar, as well as petition deadlines.
If you experience extremely difficult circumstances (e.g. death of an immediate family member or serious documented medical problems), which lead you to drop your courses after a refund deadline, you may request a credit/refund of your course fees by appending a Financial Petition Form as part of your academic petition package submission. Financial Petitions are adjudicated by Student Financial Services, not by Faculty petitions committees.
You must ensure that all required petition documents are submitted at the same time in one package. Incomplete petitions will be cancelled and the documents will be returned to the local mailing address currently on your record within the Student Information System. Make sure we have your current contact information. To keep your information up-to-date, visit My Personal Info on the My Students Records section of the Current Students Web site.
To initiate a petition, you must submit the following forms/information:
- A completed copy of the Undergraduate Academic Petition Form;
- A Petition Statement Letter (typed), organized under the following two headings:
- Regulation(s) being petitioned: clearly indicated the regulation(s) from which you are seeking exemption.
- Circumstances or grounds for the petition: explain in detail all the circumstances and problems which prompted your petition request. If you are requesting to drop some but not all of your courses in a term or session, explain your selectivity.
- Any relevant supporting documentation or forms. You will find this chart of frequently petitioned regulations and deadlines helpful in identifying the most common types of petitions along with the required supporting documentation for each.
Submit originals only. Photocopies are not acceptable. Please note that you must retain a copy of your petition and any documents you will be submitting with your petition.
| If your home Faculty is... | Submit your petition to... |
|---|---|
| Fine Arts Health Science & Engineering |
Student Client Services, Bennett Centre for Student Services |
| Education | BEd Student Services, 128 Winters College |
| Environmental Studies | Office of Student Academic Services, |
Frequently Petitioned |
Examples | Required Forms (in addition to the Academic Petition Form and Petition Letter) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academic standing regulation waived | Waive a debarment Waive a required withdrawal Waive Honours standing |
Relevant supporting documentation | Students wishing to petition their required withdrawal or debarment should do so in the year of the decision, no later than October 31. |
| Add course(s) past the published deadline(s) | Petition
to Enrol Late Form and Course Performance Summary (for the Faculties of Fine Arts and Science & Engineering) |
If you are requesting to enrol after the deadline but before the end of November for F and Y Term courses or the end of February for W Term courses, see the department offering the course for a Request to Enrol Late Form. This may prevent a formal petition. | |
| Course overload | To enrol in more than the maximum number of credits allowed in an academic session. | A copy of your study schedule showing times and dates of courses in which you wish to enrol | Please refer to important Faculty-specific enrolment reminders in the appropriate Enrolment Guide. |
| Deferred standing | If you wish to write a formal exam at a different time or submit outstanding term work past the deadline, you should first attempt to arrange deferred standing with your instructor. If your deferred standing is denied, you may formally petition this regulation. | Course Performance Summary and a copy of the denied Final Exam/Assignment Deferred Standing Agreement form |
The Petitions Committee will assume that you are continuing to complete any unfinished course work in anticipation of their decision. If your petition is granted, the deadline you are given to complete all course work will reflect this assumption. |
| Degree requirements waived or altered | Relevant supporting documentation | ||
| Drop course(s) past the published deadline(s) | Course Performance Summary | See also Financial Petitions below. | |
| Exemption from the deadline to submit a request for a grade reappraisal | Course Performance Summary | ||
| Exemption from the deadline to submit a petition for deferred standing | Course Performance Summary | ||
| Re-entry to the Faculty of Education | Relevant supporting documentation | ||
| Request for a second stop-out year in the Faculty of Education | Relevant supporting documentation |
- If you experience extremely difficult circumstances (e.g. death of an immediate family member or serious documented medical problems), which lead you to drop your courses after a refund deadline, you may request a credit/refund of your course fees by appending a Financial Petition Form as part of your academic petition package submission. Financial petitions are adjudicated by Student Financial Services, not by Faculty petitions committees.
Normally, a petition must be submitted no later than three weeks following the development of the circumstances that have prompted the petition. Petitions for Late Withdrawal from a course will only be considered within 30 days of the last day of classes of the relevant course. Such petitions may be considered for a period of up to one year if they are based on special circumstances, but only if the student submits the petition as soon as possible following the 30-day submission deadline, and the documentation justifies the delay to the point of submission. Petitions for Deferred Standing are subject to the deadlines stated in the deferred standing section of this Web site.
The above timeframes ensure sufficient time for consideration by the Faculty Petitions Committee. Should a petition submission be delayed due to extenuating circumstances and/or the late completion of a Course Performance Summary by a course director/instructor or departmental representative, you may submit your complete petitions package after the above timeframes, however, the petition letter must include a request for late consideration. Details and supporting documentation must be provided. There are no guarantees that any petition will be resolved in time for course enrolment in a subsequent academic session, thus, you should plan accordingly.
Students are notified of the Committee's decision by mail, directed to the local mailing address on the student's record. Please make sure your mailing address is up-to-date by visiting My Student Records. Under normal circumstances petitions can take from two to eight weeks to be processed depending on the type of petition submitted and the time of year. If your petition is denied, information regarding appeal procedures will be enclosed with the decision letter.