Handling Student Petitions

by Kari Ward

In May, UF Student Petitions Committee Chair Lou Powers and Petitions Coordinator Colin Yokomi held a university-wide training session on student petitions (previously referred to as "Senate Petitions"). The session covered the criterion used to evaluate student petitions, the petitions review process, and recent changes to petition forms. Some of this information can be gleaned from the UF student petitions website.

One objective of the training session was to give advisors a better understanding of how the UF Student Petitions Committee works and what they look for when evaluating petitions. First and foremost, we learned that the committee can only approve a petition if 1) a department made an administrative error and accepts full responsibility or 2) a student experienced a significant extenuating circumstance that prevented successful completion of the semester. Petitions involving other circumstances are not routinely approved. For example, the committee doesn't approve petitions for students who were unaware of university deadlines or when an instructor legitimately objects to the petition.

We also learned that we should refer students who want to petition for a current or retroactive full term medical withdrawal to the Dean of Students Office (DSO). The DSO medical petitions committee serves as the Interviewing Officer for these petitions and evaluates the severity of the medical circumstance. Strep throat, flu, etc. are not considered severe. Diagnosed depression, death of an immediate family member (mother, father, sibling, spouse, or child), as well as significant medical conditions, are more likely to meet the committee’s standards. Petitions to drop a specific course for medical reasons (and to obtain a refund of fees) are not processed through the DSO—these require an Interviewing Officer Statement from an advisor and are submitted directly to the Student Petitions Committee like other non-medical petitions.

Throughout the petitions training session, advisors were encouraged to hold to a few basic principles. Academic integrity should be foremost in our minds--as much as we would like to see bad grades removed from students' transcripts, UF does not offer grade forgiveness. In other words, if a student's petition doesn't fit into one of the two categories listed above, then we really need to question whether it should be supported. Advisors should also strive to be consistent in their decisions to support or not support student petitions and to treat each petition as an individual case, making every effort to be fair. Our goal should be to fully understand the student’s circumstances and viewpoint without allowing our emotions to affect our judgment. To increase our objectivity, advisors are encouraged to complete the Interviewing Officer Statement after meeting with the student, so as to have ample time to reflect.

The UF Student Petitions Committee will be offering other workshops in the fall, so keep an ear out!