Other forms to include:
Course Performance Summary (mandatory)
Attending Physician’s Statement
Attending Counsellor’s Statement
Petition to Drop a Course from the Transcript
A Petition to Drop a Course from the Transcript is a formal request, submitted to Glendon’s Petitions Committee, to drop or withdraw from a course or courses after the published deadlines: registrar.yorku.ca/enrol/dates/.
NOTE: You cannot petition to drop a course if you have already chosen to withdraw (notation of W on transcript). For more information, please see the Withdrawn from Course (W), Policy and Guidelines.
If you have experienced any extenuating circumstances, or if there was an error on the part of the University, that had a negative effect on your academic performance and ability to drop or withdraw from a course, then you should consider submitting a petition.
If you are in your first year of postsecondary studies, please note that Glendon College is sensitive to the transitional issues faced by students in their first year. The Faculty exercises leniency in its consideration of this type of petition for late withdrawal. Please talk to an advisor for more information.
To be considered complete, your petition must include:
- A signed and completed Petition to Drop a Course from the Transcript form;
- A personal letter;
- A signed Course Performance Summary form for each course included in your petition;
- Any relevant supporting documentation.
You should always submit your petition as soon as you can. Normally, petitions for Late Withdrawal from a Course will only be considered if they are submitted within 30 days of the last day of classes of the relevant course. These petitions may be considered for a period of 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.
The Petitions Committee meets once a month, from August-June each academic year, to consider petitions.
If you are a Glendon student, you can submit your petition, and all relevant documentation, in person to Academic Services: York Hall C102 (or, if the counter is closed, you can submit your petition through the dropbox in York Hall C106).
If you are unable to come in person, you can also submit your petition by e-mail to acadservices@glendon.yorku.ca.
Remember that it is strongly recommended that you meet with an advisor, who can review your petition with you, prior to submitting it.
The outcome of your petition can be:
- Granted as a course drop (removal):
The course and grade would be completely removed from your transcript. The course and grade will not affect your GPA. - Granted as a withdrawal (W):
The course will appear on your transcript with a “W” (withdrawn from course). Your final grade in the course will not appear. The course and grade will not affect your GPA. See Senate policy here. - Refused:
The course and grade will not be altered in any way. The course and grade will still appear on your transcript, and your final grade will still be calculated in your GPA, as per the normal regulations.
If you are requesting to drop more than one course, note that the Petitions Committee could potentially partially grant your petition, as each course is considered individually in relation to the circumstances you describe in your petition.
Please note that once the Petitions Committee has made a decision about your petition, your request cannot be withdrawn and the result cannot be reversed.
You will be sent a letter from the Petitions Committee to the e-mail address that we have on record.
Make sure that your contact information stays up to date: currentstudents.yorku.ca/student-personal-information.
If you do not agree with the result of your petition, you may have grounds to appeal the decision. An appeal can be submitted based on one or more of the following grounds:
- The decision under appeal was made without jurisdiction;
- A denial of natural justice, such as (but not limited to) a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the original decision maker(s) or a fundamental procedural error, such as the consideration of information that ought not to have been considered or the failure to consider information or special circumstances that ought properly to have been considered;
- Inconsistent application of the relevant regulations; or
- New evidence has arisen that could not reasonably have been presented, and that would likely have affected the original decision. Generally speaking, events or performance subsequent to the relevant time does not constitute new evidence for the purposes of this provision.
You will receive instructions about how to appeal in your Petitions decision letter.
Filling out the Petition
Fill out the table with the information about all courses you are requesting to retroactively drop. If you are not sure of any detail, please check in with Academic Services. If you run out of space, you can add another page with the remainder of your courses – just make sure to indicate underneath the course information table that you have done so.
If something outside of your control affected your studies, this might be grounds for a petition. The Petitions Committee will decide (on a case-by-case basis) whether or not your circumstances do qualify as grounds for a course drop or withdrawal, but generally speaking, types of grounds can include:
Illness: including your own illness, or the illness of a close relation. The illness could be related to physical or mental health.
Important note: If you had a documented, temporary illness that caused you to miss an assignment or test/exam, you can ask for an extension to complete the work. If the work you missed was your final exam or final assignment, you can ask for deferred standing to complete the outstanding coursework or final exam after the due date. If it is beyond the deadline to request a deferral, you will need to petition for late deferred standing.
Personal circumstances: Any unforeseeable personal circumstance that negatively affected your academic performance. It is important that you clearly define your circumstances in your personal letter.
If you are petitioning on the grounds of illness:
- Include a detailed, date-specific explanation of the illness, and how those circumstances affected your academic work;
- Address why you did not drop the course by the published drop deadline, and why you did not withdraw from the course by the published withdrawal deadline;
- Address selectivity, if applicable (if you are not petitioning all courses in a term, you should explain why your circumstances affected the course(s) you are petitioning to drop, but not the other(s));
- If you are submitting your petition more than thirty days after the last day of your class(es), your letter should include a detailed, date-specific explanation of the circumstances that prevented you from submitting your petition earlier.
If you are petitioning on the grounds of personal circumstances:
- Include a detailed, date-specific explanation of your circumstances, and how those circumstances affected your academic work;
- Address why you did not drop the course by the published drop deadline, and why you did not withdraw from the course by the published withdrawal deadline;
- Address selectivity, if applicable (if you are not petitioning all courses in a term, you should explain why your circumstances affected the course(s) you are petitioning to drop, but not the other(s));
- If you are submitting your petition more than thirty days after the last day of your class(es), your letter should include a detailed, date-specific explanation of the circumstances that prevented you from submitting your petition earlier.
Note that any allegations about actions of an employee or office of the University may be shared with the party or parties in question, so that the person/office has an opportunity to respond. Any response provided will be shared with you, so that you can respond in turn, before your petition is seen by the Committee.
The course director must fill out the Course Performance Summary (CPS) and return it directly to you. Note that your professor has space to provide comments for the Petitions Committee, but if you disagree with anything written, you can address that in your personal letter.
The submission of the Course Performance Summary is mandatory, but the Committee understands that you may not be able to obtain the form directly from your instructor. If you experience any trouble obtaining the CPS form from your instructor, contact the department secretary, or administrative assistant, of the department offering the course. If you still experience any difficulties, please contact Academic Services in YH C102 or at acadservices@glendon.yorku.ca.
If you have written anything in your personal letter that can be proved or supported by additional documentation, include the documentation. Petitions can be refused for lack of relevant documentation, if the Committee feels you should have been able to provide it.
The exact type of documentation you should include is entirely dependent on the circumstances you describe, and you can consult with an academic advisor for feedback as to what might be relevant. Generally speaking, some types of documentation you might include, depending on your circumstances, could be:
- Attending Physician’s Statement;
The Committee can accept doctors’ notes, but doctors’ notes often do not provide the exact information the Committee needs to consider, and are sometimes too invasive of your privacy. The Attending Physician’s Statement is preferred. - Attending Counsellor’s Statement;
The Committee can accept written letters from counsellors or other licensed mental health professionals, but these letters often do not provide the exact information the Committee needs to consider, and are sometimes too invasive of your privacy.
The Attending Counsellor’s Statement is preferred. - Letter of support from the Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education;
- Travel itinerary or tickets;
- Death certificate;
- Letter of support from a professional, professor, family member or friend;
- Letter of employment;
- E-mails between you and your professor;
- Your course syllabus;
- Any other type of documentation that you consider relevant to your petition.
NOTE: Normally photographs will not be considered as evidence as we cannot confirm their source.
If you are submitting your petition more than thirty days after the last day of classes of the course, you should also include any relevant supporting documentation to address the circumstances that prevented you from submitting your petition earlier.
