Students with disabilities may petition the College for an exception to academic policies when all of the following criteria have been met:

1.  Appropriate documentation stating a clearly diagnosed disability must be on file in the Office of Disability Services and the designated support department (Academic Resource Center, Student Health Services, or the Counseling Services Office). A clear connection between the request for exception to academic policy and the disability must be established.

2.  Significant difficulty or extraordinary effort in the course or sequence of courses in question must be documented, either at the high school or college level. Previous grades or statements from tutors, teachers, learning specialist, and/or test data could evidence verification of difficulty.

3.  In the case where a student is currently enrolled in the course in question, students must demonstrate a good faith effort by regularly attending class, enlisting the support of faculty and/or tutors, completing all assignments on schedule, and disclosing and requesting accommodations from the outset. If, despite a good faith effort, the student’s performance in the course in question falls significantly below other courses in the given semester, or in the sequence of courses, a petition request is considered.

4.  A student must have accumulated 8 course units and have achieved a 2.0 overall grade point average in order to petition. Petitions for first-year students will be heard only if the student is currently enrolled in the class in question. All petitions should be submitted as soon as possible, but petitions for adjustments to the General Reasoning and Foreign Language requirements should be submitted no later than the end of the sophomore year.

Student Procedures

1.   Submit all appropriate records and documentation to the designated professional.

2. Write a letter of petition to the Dean of the College for Academic Life requesting the exception to policy. The letter and one copy must be delivered to the Director of the Office of Disability Services in order to activate the petition process.

3.  The letter should include the following information: the student’s name, address, the exception being requested, an explanation of the disability, how it affects this particular course, history of difficulty in this course of study, description of the student’s good faith effort, and any recommendations from the instructor or evaluator. The letter must be properly signed and dated. Supporting documentation, such as assignments or examinations, may be included.

General Information

1.  Courses enrolled on a pass/fail basis will not be used in computing the GPA but will be counted as units towards graduation. Students may take a maximum of 3 courses on a pass/fail basis inclusive of any course granted a pass/fail based on a Request for Exception to Academic Policies. Courses required in a declared major or minor are not eligible for pass/fail designation except those which are cognate or prerequisites.

2.  The Dean’s Ad Hoc Committee will review student data at a petition meeting within the given semester. Petitions can be heard until the end of the semester but must be requested in writing no later than twenty-one (21) calendar days prior to the start of the final exam period.

3.  Decisions will be mailed to the student within one week of the Committee’s decision. If the request is granted, the student will schedule an appointment with the Dean of the College for Academic Life to discuss appropriate courses.

4.  For good cause, such as illness, closings, or other circumstances, the College may extend the timeframe for hearing a petition and rendering a decision.

5.  A student may appeal any decision by writing a Letter of Appeal to the Vice President of Human Resources (see Grievance and Appeal Procedures for Students with Disabilities).

6. Although the requested exception to academic policy will fulfill the requirements for Muhlenberg College, it may impact future applications to graduate school and employment.

Muhlenberg College ODS 2007