Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change

The complete Undergraduate Academic Petitions Package can be found on the registrar’s website here.

To Initiate A Petition, You Must Submit The Following Forms/Information:

1. A completed copy of the Undergraduate Academic Petition

2. A typed Petition Statement Letter with content organized under two headings:

3. Regulation(s) being petitioned:clearly indicated the regulation(s) from which you are seeking exemption.

4. 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, explain why.

Any relevant supporting documentation or forms. In the next section, you will see a chart of frequently-petitioned regulations and deadlines, along with the required supporting documentation for each type.

Submit original documents only. Photocopies are not acceptable. You must keep a copy of your petition and any documents you submit with your petition. Submit your petition to the Office of Student Academic Services, 137 Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies (HNES) building.

You can appeal a negative decision of the Petitions Committee, based on the following specific circumstances:

NEW EVIDENCE: information or documentation that is relevant but which you were not able to produce for the petitions review. Events that occur after faculty decision usually do not qualify as new evidence.

PROCEDURAL IRREGULARITY: evidence that the Faculty did not properly follow its procedures in the consideration of your case; they handled your case differently then other similar cases; there is evidence of obvious bias or prejudice in the handling of your case.

Once complete, your appeal will normally be considered at the next meeting of the Appeals Committee. If the hearing is deferred to get more information, you will be informed of such a decision.

You have the right to be present at the Appeals meeting for the purpose of presenting your appeal orally and also to answer Committee questions. Discussion of the decision and the vote will be taken in camera.

Any member of the Committee with a conflict of interest shall declare it at the beginning of the proceedings, and absent themselves from the part of the hearing when the decision is made.

Reappraisal of Final EUC Course Grades

Students may, with sufficient academic grounds, request that a final grade in a course be reappraised (why may mean the review of specific pieces of tangible work). Non-academic grounds are not relevant for grade reappraisals; in such cases, students are advised to petition to their home Faculty. Students are normally expected to first contact the course director to discuss the grade received and to request that their tangible work be reviewed. Tangible work may include written, graphic, digitized, modeled, video recording or audio recording formats, but not oral work. Note that a request for a grade reappraisal may result in the original grade being raised, lowered or confirmed.

In the event that students are still not satisfied with the final grade OR the course director is not available to review the work, they may submit in writing a formal request for a grade reappraisal to the department or unit in which the course is offered*. The Senate approved deadline for submitting grade reappraisals is within three weeks of the release of final grade reports in any term. Exercising discretion about minor delays in meeting the deadline which result from slow main delivery of extraordinary circumstances is reasonable.

If the condition of sufficient academic grounds as been met, the relevant department committee, Department Chair, Associate Dean or Graduate/undergraduate Program Director will be responsible for ensuring that the work is reappraised by an appropriate faculty member, ensuring anonymity of both the student and the reappraiser, and for communicating the result of the reappraisal (including the reappraiser’s comments) and the route of appeal to both the student and the course director. The reappraiser will be given the nature of the assignment and the rationale for the original grade. It is expected that every effort will be made to render the decision within 30 days of the reviewer having received the work.

Date by which to request a grade reappraisal.

Requests for grade reappraisals must be submitted by the scheduled date for the term in which a course is completed and the grade released.

Winter Term: June 15

Summer Term: September 30

Fall Term: February 15

In all cases, a minimum of 21 days from the date of the release of grades will be allowed. Whenever the grade reappraisal reflects a grade change, it will be annotated on the student’s transcript.

Further appeal for reappraisal of final EUC course gradeIf the student is not satisfied with the reappraised final course grade, the procedure shall be as follows:

1. The course director and the student shall discuss the matter with the Undergraduate Program Director, who may or may not arrange another reappraisal

2. If the matter remains unresolved, the student may appeal the grade by petition on the appropriate form provided by the Office of Student and Academic Services Subcommittee, clearly stating the grounds for appeal

3. The decision of the Undergraduate Program Review and Admissions Subcommittee shall be final, and may be appealed to the FES Appeals Committee only on grounds of procedural irregularity.

Reappraisal of grades other than final course grades

If a student is not satisfied with any grade other than a final course grade received from an instructor or teaching assistant, the student is expected to discuss the matter, normally within two weeks, with the person from whom the student received the grade (and at such time may request a reappraisal).

A reappraisal may result in a lower, higher, or unchanged grade. If the student is not satisfied with the result of the reappraisal, the instructor or teaching assistant (where appropriate) shall discuss the matter with the course director. The course director shall decide whether or not to reappraise the student’s work, his/her decision is final for all grades other than final course grades.

Deferred Standing is a request for additional time to complete course work after the published deadline for submission of term work, or to postpone an exam. The deadline for completion of term work is usually the same as the first day of exams. For most departments, deferred standing it is granted due to illness or misfortune and will require documentation as proof of your situation. While applying for deferred standing the University assumes that you are continuing to complete the work. Using the standard Deferred Standing Agreement (DSA) Form, it is your responsibility to make arrangements with the course director to complete the course and file the form with the appropriate departmental/unit office by the deadline specified on the form.

Course directors have the option not to consider requests for deferred standing; in such cases you must file a petition with the relevant Faculty-level committee for consideration within the established deadline. DSA forms must be handed in with a Course Performance Summary Form, which also needs to be completed by your professor. You will often find that if you are applying for deferred standing you should apply for a few of your courses as opposed to just one. First, if you need the time then you should take it. Trying to push yourself at a time when you are already under stress never makes sense. Also, if it is just for one course it begins to look like you just didn't do your work in that course. Document well and ask for what you need.

There are certain things that will help you in applying for deferred status:

• Your professor supports the application.

• You have been active in the course and have good attendance and record of completing work prior to the situation causing your deferred standing application.

• The cause of your application is well documented.

• It is your first time asking for deferred status.

• The period of time of your hardship is clearly documented.

Aegrotat Standing, from the Latin for "she/he is ill", excuses students from completing the required work for their studies, and AEG is entered on transcripts instead of a grade. Aegrotat standing is very rarely granted in any but the last year of a program, and even then only in the most exceptional of cases, such as a terminal illness.

Process for reaching a deferred standing agreement: Deferred Standing must be agreed upon for reports, assignments, essays, tests, final exams and other work assigned in the course, but may not be used for supplementary work, or assignments that are outside the formal marking scheme announced in class. There is no provision for rewriting a final exam to improve a final grade. The Course Director must agree that the circumstances warrant deferred standing. You must come to an agreement with your Course Director as to when the due date is for outstanding work. If the faculty member does not agree to approve the deferred agreement form, or if you require an extension to an original deferral, then you must file a formal petition. Petitions relating to enrolment status or academic standing must be submitted within thirty days of the release of final grade reports for the session. Such petitions may be considered for a period of up to one year if they are based on special circumstances. This petition must be submitted to the Student Client Services Office and should include the Undergraduate Academic Petition Form, your written petition letter, and a Student Course Performance Summary Form. All of the above named forms are available at the Registrar's Office.

DEADLINES: Requests for deferred standing must be made within one week following a missed examination or the last day to submit course work. This must allow enough time for grading to be completed and submitted before faculty submission deadlines.

Current Date

Student Name

Student Number

Home Faculty

Mailing Address

Telephone Number/E-mail Address

If you have missed the application deadline, state why that deadline should be waived and provide supporting documentation. Explain clearly what Faculty Committee decision you are appealing, what you are asking SAC to do for you, and what the grounds are for your appeal (new evidence or procedural irregularity). Provide the new evidence and explain why you were unable to provide it an earlier stage in the process. Or provide evidence of which procedure was not followed correctly. State whether or not you will attend the hearing if leave to appeal is granted, and whether you will bring a representative.

Example

I am appealing the decision of the Faculty of _________ on (date of decision letter) denying my request for (retroactive withdrawal/ deferral of examinations/ waiver of debarment, etc.)I was unable to meet the 30-day deadline for appealing because (state reasons clearly and provide documentation to establish a case of ‘special circumstance’).The grounds for my appeal are (new evidence: medical note that I was unable to obtain previously due to ..., or procedural irregularity: the Faculty did not follow the procedure as stated in the undergraduate calendar, pg. 72 etc. ...)

I am attaching a (medical form for .../ death certificate for ... / travel documents showing that ...) I would like SAC to (grant retroactive withdrawal / allow me to repeat AS/ECON XXXX, etc.) If leave to appeal is granted (I will not be able to attend / I would like to attend the hearing.)

Sincerely,

Signature

Current Date

Petitions Committee,

Faculty of ____________ Room # and Building,

York University 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3

Dear Members of the (Petition/Appeal) Committee:

I am writing this letter in order to petition for (state the regulation that you are petitioning) in (course name, number, tutorial/lab, term) based on the following grounds (compassion, medical, extenuating circumstances). My petition makes references to the following supporting documents (list them in order):

The circumstances surrounding my petition are (describe your situation in as great detail as possible, outlining everything from beginning to end, using specific dates). Make it overtly obvious as to how the circumstances have affected your academics. Refer to your evidence and use it to strengthen your case. (Note: this information is kept confidential.)

As a result of this situation (summarize your arguments), I would appreciate your approval of my petition.

Thank you for your kind attention to this matter, 

Your Name

Student Number

Mailing Address