Petitions
Graduate College policies and procedures regarding students were developed by the faculty and the staff of the College to maintain academic standards, to ensure equitable assessment and treatment of students, and to monitor and record their progress in an efficient manner. Occasionally students have legitimate reasons for requesting exceptions to policies and procedures, and the petition process allows them to formally state their cases.
The petition process is not a vehicle for students to fix problems they (or the department) have created by not knowing or following policies and procedures. Rather, it should be used by students who, for reasons beyond their control, have not been able to meet requirements, and who have an educationally sound alternative means of meeting the spirit, if not the letter, of the policy or procedure. The intention of the Graduate College faculty when the rule was adopted is the guiding principle in the review of a petition at the College level.
Petitions are normally reviewed at three levels (some require more). The advisor, acting as the College's closest representative to the student is the first judge of whether or not a request is reasonable and fair given his/her knowledge of the student's situation. The DGS is then asked to evaluate the request within the context of the program and his/her understanding of the philosophy of the Graduate College. The Graduate College, which, of necessity, has a wider scope, then adds its perspective on the issue. When the College administration feels that the request is a major violation of College standards, or that it is unjustifiably unfair to other students, it reserves the right to deny the request.
The intent of the College in this three-part process is to reinforce, not weaken, the relationship of the student to the DGS and program, and to underscore the College's assumption that Directors of Graduate Studies provide active oversight and continuous mentoring of students in regards to degree progress and program compliance. In this same vein, the College also understands that DGS support of a petition will be based on procedural and pedagogic concerns carefully considered by the DGS and expressed in forwarding petitions. On the other hand, it expects that the DGS will withhold support when appropriate.
In cases where the Graduate College approves petitions, it does so only with the strong endorsement of the advisor and DGS, and where appropriate, the instructor of a course. In so doing, it sees the DGS as the advocate of the student in relation to the petition. The Graduate College closely reviews the justification (or lack of) provided by the advisor, and, most importantly, the DGS, to help formulate a decision. The DGS can speak to program issues as well as to the specific situation of the student. Consequently, the Graduate College will not discuss the disposition of a petition with the student alone. Discussion should be initiated by the DGS, or an appointment may be set up with the DGS, the student and the appropriate Graduate College dean.
Graduate Student Petition
Except for a leave of absence or for transfer credit (which have their own forms), students should use the Graduate Student Petition for all other situations. Two other exceptions are the Petition to Register After the Registration Deadline and the Petition for Retroactive Registration or Course Add, both of which are Office of Registration and Records (ORR) forms.
Leave of Absence
See Leave of Absence
Petition to Register After the Registration Deadline (ORR form)
Students are allowed to register and make course adjustments in Banner uising UIC Web for Student (through which they access Student Self-Service) while the registration for the term is active. Priority and Open registration begins approximately twp months before the start of the term and continutes through the official 10th day (5th in Summer) of the term. Any registration activity after that date is considered late.
- If the student needs to make an adjustment to their existing schedule after the deadline but before final week has begun, the Petition to Register After the Registration Deadline should notbe used. See Dropping and Adding Courses to determine what forms are required, based upon what the student is attempting to do.
- If the student is not registered for the term and is attempting to register late for a term in progress, the Petition to Register After the Registration Deadline and the Graduate College Registration Revision Form must be used. The Graduate College Student Petition is not needed.
- The Petition to Register After the Registration Deadline is available for printing from the Graduate College website.
Petition for Retroactive Registration or Course Add (ORR form)
Students should make course registration corrections and adjustments during the time that registration is active (i.e. through the official 10th day of the term, 5th day in summer). In addition, students may need to make adjustments or corrections after the deadline (see Dropping and Adding Courses).
Course adjustments or registrations after the final exam week (final two days in Summer) are strongly discouraged, as students have ample time to make corrections and should not be allowed to make adjustments after finals have begun. However, in rare instances where this situation arises, the student must complete the Petition for Retroactive Registation or Course Add and a Graduate College Registration Revision Form. The petition form must be obtained from either the Registration Office in SSB or the Graduate College. See Dropping and Adding Courses for further information, including exceptions where this form is not to be used, and which office must sign and approve the request.
Registration Corrections
With the advent of Banner and UIC Web for Student, students, departments and colleges will be able to confirm students' academic records more efficiently and effectively. Students are able to consult the UIC Web for Student at any point to confirm their schedule and transcript, which should eliminate long term errors by giving students the opportunity to correct problems immediately, especially current registration issues with section numbers, missing courses, and course hours.
Failure to register properly on the part of the student will not be considered, by itself, an acceptable reason to process late and retroactive registration changes. A Graduate College Registration Revision form must be attached to all petitions regarding course changes.
Transfer Credit Toward An Advanced Degree
Petition Deadlines
Students are expected to take corrective action immediately upon discovery for registration petitions. Other petitions must be filed not more than 30 days from the time of the occurrence leading to submission of the petition, or from the time when the student should reasonably have been able to determine that the occurrence leading to the petition might have affected his/her status, unless the student was given an earlier deadline. Directors of Graduate Studies likewise, are expected to advise students of the earnestness of deadline concerns in exercising their petition rights as graduate students.
See also Leave of Absence, Probation and Dismissal, Registration,and Transfer of Credit.
See Student Forms and Publications for a sample of the General Student Petition, Graduate College Registration Revision Form, the Leave of Absence petition and Graduate Petition For Transfer Credit Toward An Advanced Degree, as well as a sample of the Petition to Register After the Deadline (OAR form).