Your department head or advisor may petition the Graduate School to make an exception to a policy or procedure if you encounter extenuating circumstances beyond your control. This petition should be submitted by email electronically to [email protected]. The petition will be reviewed by a staff member and the Associate Dean of the Graduate School. We will notify the petitioner of the decision within ten business days.
General petition instructions
Your department head or advisor must include the following information in a petition emailed from a CSU affiliated (@colostate) email address to: [email protected]
- If a student has not applied or reapplied to graduate and missed a deadline, review the GS25 petition section below.
- What policy are you requesting an exception to or what procedure was not followed?
- What is the student’s extenuating circumstance prompting this request? Extenuating circumstances are described in the Petitions and Policies Due to Extenuating Circumstances section in the last section of this webpage.
- If a student has applied to graduate but missed a subsequent deadline, why is it imperative the student must graduate this semester?
- What is the proposed date that the requirements will be completed — if applicable?
- The extenuating circumstances must be documented.
- Appropriate documentation includes a letter from a medical provider, Student Case Management, or other authority (e.g. Survivor Advocacy and Feminist Education Center) with knowledge of the extenuating circumstances.
- Please do not provide medical records or other protected information.
- Please provide any additional documentation needed to support your request.
- Indicate what steps the department has taken to assure students will follow the policies and procedures in the future (e.g., educate department on policy, implement new departmental procedure, and/or follow up on signatures).
Each petition is reviewed on a case-by-case basis and the Graduate School may request additional information.
Petitions to the Graduate School to accept a GS25 Application for Graduation or Reapplication for Graduation after the deadline
Your department head or advisor may petition the Graduate School to request an exception to the GS25 Application or Reapplication for Graduation deadline policy if you encountered extenuating circumstances beyond your control. If you have not submitted a GS25, please submit through RAMweb. When in RAMweb, choose the following semester even though you are petitioning for the current semester as the GS25 for the following semester will be reviewed with the petition. The student and advisor should pay close attention to the signature workflow to ensure a timely review.
Your department head or advisor must answer the following questions in the GS25 Application or Reapplication for Graduation petition:
- Has the GS25 been submitted for the following semester? Note: The current semester is closed out after the deadline.
- Why is it imperative that the student graduate this semester?
- What is the extenuating circumstance that is the justification for this request?
- Is a final exam or required? If so, will the student meet the current semester deadline?
- Is a thesis/dissertation required? If so, will the student meet the current semester deadline?
- Is the student registered for the current semester?
- What are the steps the department has taken to assure students will follow the Graduate School policies and procedures in the future?
- 8. Submit the GS52 Discrepancy Clearance Response form and address discrepancies, if any, along with any Incompletes for courses.
Acceptance of a late GS25 does not guarantee the student’s name will be listed in the Commencement Program.
Petitions to the Graduate School regarding the 10-year Time Limit
You, your advisor, and your committee need to meet and review the coursework that falls out of the 10-year time limit. If the group decides the coursework is still relevant and that you retain a functional understanding of that body of knowledge, then the advisor and committee need to submit a petition to the Graduate School attesting to that conclusion. Petitions are valid only during the semester in which they are submitted and should be submitted in the semester the student plans to graduate or the semester they plan to submit their GS6 Program of Study. For each semester a student intends to graduate, a new petition must be submitted to address additional coursework that exceeds the 10-year limit
In addition, your department head or advisor must describe your degree completion plan and include the timeline for you to complete your degree
Petitions to the Graduate School to extend the GS6 Program of Study deadline
Your advisor or department head may petition the Graduate School to have the GS6 Program of Study deadline extended if you experienced extenuating circumstances beyond your control.
In addition to the information list in the General Petitions Instructions section above, your department head or advisor must include the estimated timeline of when you as the student will submit the GS6 form.
The Graduate School rarely approves more than one extension of the GS6 deadline or extensions of more than one semester.
Petitions to the Graduate School to readmit a student once the student has been formally dismissed
If you have been formally dismissed from the Graduate School, your department head or advisor may petition the Graduate School to reverse the dismissal and allow you one additional semester to raise your regular and overall GPAs to at least 3.000.
Your department head or advisor must include the following information in the petition:
- Justification for the readmission request, including extenuating circumstances beyond the student’s control and how the circumstances leading to the dismissal will be addressed upon readmission.
- A list of courses and grades expected in each course that will raise the student’s regular and overall GPAs to at least 3.000.
- A contract signed by the department head, the student’s advisor, and the student which:
- summarizes the list of courses and expected grades.
- includes a statement that the student will be dismissed without the opportunity to appeal if the contract requirements are not met.
- summarizes departmental support for ensuring success upon readmission.
Petitions and policies due to extenuating circumstances
A petition related to extenuating circumstances is intended to support students experiencing an exceptional, unforeseeable, short-term circumstance that affects their ability to study, take assessments, follow a procedure, and/or meet a deadline. Generally, an extenuating circumstance is a situation beyond a student’s control that has the potential to severely affect academic performance.
Extenuating circumstance examples:
- physical and mental health medical emergencies
- unanticipated caretaking responsibilities
- death in the immediate family
- large, significant and unanticipated changes in job responsibilities
- natural disaster significantly impacting the student’s home
- domestic abuse
- military deployment
Extenuating circumstances do not include:
- bad habits or poor judgment
- time management issues
- failed relationships or roommate problems
- failure to use university resources
- ignorance of university policies
- existing, diagnosed, and stable physical or mental health issues
- visa issues
- financial issues