Petitions to University Exploration

From Ohio State's Faculty Rules:

"3335-8-32 Withdrawal from courses or from the university.

(E) Until five p.m. on the following days, student may submit a form in their enrollment unit to drop a course or withdraw from the university:

(1) During a semester or summer term: the tenth Friday

(2) During a seven-week session in an autumn or spring semester: the fifth Friday

(3) During a four-week session in summer term: the third Friday

(4) During a six-week session in summer term: the fourth Friday

(5) During an eight-week session in summer term: the sixth Friday

After those dates, a student, who because of circumstances beyond his or her control finds it necessary to withdraw from any or all courses, must file the appropriate petition with the authorized representative of the dean or director of the enrollment unit. Reasons not acceptable include (but are not limited to) the student's performance in the course(s), lack of preparation for the course(s), or dissatisfaction with the subject matter offered in the course(s). If the petition is approved, a copy will be filed with the university registrar who is then authorized to enter the mark "W" on the student's official permanent record and the instructor(s) of the course(s) will be so notified. If the petition is not approved, the student continues to be enrolled in the course(s) and a final mark must be submitted by the instructor(s). Withdrawal from any and all courses shall not be permitted after the last day of regularly scheduled classes except when the student experiences a genuine emergency after the regularly scheduled classes end and prior to sitting for the final examination in a given course or courses.

(F) Withdrawal from any or all courses shall not be permitted after the final examination in that course has been given."

What this means for Ohio State students:

Students who want to drop a class or withdraw from all classes in a term can do so by the term's final drop deadlines.
After the final drop deadline and until the final exam of a given class has taken place, students who experience extraordinary circumstances and who are accordingly seeking to drop a class can submit a Registration Petition to their college advising unit.
After the final exam for a class has taken place, a student can no longer seek to drop a class. In very limited circumstances, a petition can still be pursued, but only if (A) the student did not complete the final exam/project for the class and (B) if a grade has been posted, the grade is not a passing grade.

The process of seeking to drop a class post-drop deadline, as described in 2. and 3. above, is called a Registration Petition.

If you are a University Exploration student and decide to go forward with a Registration Petition

To make a strong case for a petition to be approved, a student should:

describe how circumstances leading to the request to drop or withdraw were unexpected and outside of their control.
describe how circumstances (before the deadlines) prevented them from acting in time.
provide documentation that corroborates the circumstances described in the petition, as well as provide a description of any steps taken to prevent those circumstances from continuing to affect future academic goals, if applicable.

Please also read through this one-page summary of registration petitions for students provided by Academic Advising at Ohio State.

Registration petition form for University Exploration students

It is often helpful though not required to meet with a University Exploration advisor to discuss your circumstances before completing Exploration's Registration Petition form.

The petition form needs to be completed in one online session so we recommend that you draft your responses in a separate document before entering them on the online form. You should also have your accompanying documentation ready to upload when you go to fill out the online form.

Does your petition include all classes you took in the relevant term? Yes / No
- If No… what was different about the classes you took but did not include in this petition? Were these classes not affected by your extenuating circumstances?
Describe the extenuating circumstances that affected the classes on your petition. For a petition to be approvable, students needs to describe extenuating circumstances--generally unforeseeable and outside of student’s control--that prevented them from being successful.
When did you experience these extenuating circumstances? Provide the range of dates when circumstances affected your ability to succeed in the classes included in your petition. Please mention any specific periods of time where the extenuating circumstances you experienced were especially disruptive to your academic success.
How did these extenuating circumstances affect you academically? Please describe how your participation and engagement with the classes included in this petition were impacted.
Students are expected to make use of the university's drop deadline if circumstances arise prior to the drop deadline. Did these extenuating circumstances begin before the final drop deadline? Yes / No
- If Yes… what prevented you from dropping the course(s) prior to the final drop deadline?
Are these circumstances likely to recur? Why or why not? What is your plan and what resources will you incorporate? Petitions cannot be repeated in future terms citing the same circumstances so we do not want to set you up for a situation in which you will struggle to reach your academic goals again.
Will the experience of the petition term affect your academic planning going forward? For example, will you plan to take a break from school, reduce your course load, change the type of classes you are taking or make any other adjustments?
What are your current plans with regards to a major?

Go to University Exploration's Registration Petition form.

(Note: this form is only for use by current University Exploration - Columbus students and former students whose most recent enrolled term was with University Exploration - Columbus.)