Exception to policy petition

At some point in your undergraduate academic career, you may have a reason to request that an exception to a standard policy be made for you. Your academic advisor will help you determine whether or not to submit an Academic Policy Petition. If you are an inactive student and have difficulty logging into this form, please contact your college for further help or instructions.

Most petitions have these basic components:

  • Personal statement: Why are you asking for an exception to a policy? Please explain your circumstances:
    • University policies are set to ensure fairness and equity for all students. Your explanation must be compelling.
    • How did the timeline of your circumstances cause you to miss a deadline or make decisions that contributed to the need for this exception?
    • Have your circumstances changed? If prior events got in the way of your academic success, you may want to show how they have improved.
  • Documents: Evidence to support the reasons you are requesting an exception.
    • If your circumstances were medical, please provide the Medical Supplement form.
    • If there are other supporting documents (e.g., support letter or email correspondence, a letter from an access consultant from the Disability Resource Center, deployment orders, coursework from another institution, police reports, obituaries), please consider providing them.

To have your Academic Policy Petition considered, you will need to provide a completed form and the appropriate documents. Students use the form for different types of petitions, and the needed documentation varies from type to type.

Common Petition Types

Expand all

Add a course(s) or swap a section after the deadline

Personal statement: 

  • Explain why you missed the deadline.
  • Include a timeline of events.

Note: students are expected to discuss their intent to petition for an exception with their instructor before submitting. This petition will be routed to the instructor for the course/section you are requesting to add before going to your college scholastic committee.

Change course level/variable credit change

Personal statement: Explain why you are requesting this change.

Note: If the request is made late in the term, the form will be routed to the instructor for approval before being sent to your college scholastic committee; students should discuss this with their instructor before submitting this petition.

Third attempt at a course

Student guidelines

Personal statement: Explain why you are making your request: Your petition should include an explanation of why you did not succeed in your first two attempts at the course and what you will do differently this time in order to succeed.

Note: colleges are unlikely to approve the course if it is readily available at another institution.

Withdraw from a course(s) after the deadline

Personal Statement: 

  • Explain why you missed the deadline.
  • Include a timeline of events.

Documents:

  • Evidence of extenuating circumstances

Increase credit limit

Personal statement: 

  • Explain how the credit increase is necessary to further your academic/graduation plans. Please list the course department and 4 digit number (e.g., Hist 1001). 
  • Include a plan for how you will be successful with this increased credit load.

Note: Colleges are unlikely to approve an increase in credit limit if it is the student’s first semester at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, or if there is not a history of academic success taking similar credit and course loads.

Change grade basis

Personal statement: 

  • Explain why you missed the deadline.
  • Include a timeline of events.

Documents:

  • Evidence of extenuating circumstances

Program requirement substitution/modification

Personal statement: Explain why you are requesting this change.

Steps in the petition process

  1. Fill out the Academic Policy Petition form, upload all necessary documentation, and submit.
  2. You'll receive a confirmation email that the petition was submitted successfully and a timeline for when you will hear back from your college scholastic committee.
  3. The petition will be reviewed by your college scholastic committee. Typically, colleges do not release information about who serves on the committee. This helps the committee members maintain neutrality.
  4. You will receive an email from the scholastic committee notifying you of their decision.
  5. The scholastic committee will route approved petitions to One Stop to process.

If you have questions about the petition process or your individual circumstances, you are encouraged to talk to your advisor or college office.