Academic Petitions

Up until June 30, 2024, students are not required to submit a doctor’s note or an Attending Physician’s Statement in support of requests for petitions.

If you haven’t already done so, we strongly encourage you to connect with your course instructor(s) first to make other arrangements to complete outstanding work, as a petition may not be necessary.

Summary

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 in the Undergraduate Calendars and Financial Petition.

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 as part of your academic petition package submission. Financial Petitions are adjudicated by Student Financial Services, not by Faculty petitions committees.

Who is this page for?

The information on this page applies only to undergraduate students in the following:

• Faculty of Education
• Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change
• Faculty of Science
• School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design

Students in other Faculties should refer to the following locations:

• Faculty of Health: Faculty of Health Academic Petitions website or email hhpet@yorku.ca
• Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies: Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Academic Petitions website
• Faculty of Graduate Studies: Faculty of Graduate Studies Academic Petitions and Appeals website
• Glendon College: visit the Office of Student Programs, C105 York Hall, Glendon campus, or the Glendon website
• Lassonde School of Engineering: Lassonde School of Engineering Petitions website, or visit the Student Welcome and Support Centre, 105 Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, 11 Arboretum Lane, 416-650-8215, or email ask@lassonde.yorku.ca
• Osgoode Hall Law School: visit Student Services, Osgoode Hall Law School, Ignat Kaneff Building
• Schulich School of Business: Schulich School of Business Academic Petitions website

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 in the Student Web Services module.

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:
   • 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, explain why.
3. 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.

Waive a required withdrawal

and

Note: Your Faculty may have additional rules about submission deadlines. Check with your academic program's advising office for details.

Normally, your petition must be submitted no later than three weeks following the development of the circumstances that prompt 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. These petitions may be considered for a period of up to one year if they are based on special circumstances, but only if you submit your 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 (Final Exams and Assignments) section of this website.

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 Petition Committee's decision by other email or postal mail, to the local address on the student's record. Be sure your mailing address is current on the Student Web Services module. Under normal circumstances, the petition process takes between two and eight weeks, based on the type of petition submitted and the time of year. If your petition is denied, information about appeal procedures will accompany the decision letter.

Incomplete petitions will not be processed.

You must ensure that all 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 York record.

Be sure York has your current contact information on the Student Web Services module.

Read this first as it identifies all the documents that need to be included in your petition.