The University wishes to assist students with legitimate difficulties. It also has the responsibility to ensure that degree, program and course requirements are met in a manner that is equitable to all students. Students may submit, in a prompt and timely manner, a Petition for Special Consideration to the office of the Associate Dean of their Faculty (Faculty office) in those instances where a student acknowledges that the rules and regulations of the University have been applied fairly, but is requesting that an exception to the regulations be made because of special circumstances.
Two forms are available in the Offices of the Associate Deans (Faculty office):
Petition for Special Consideration (Form A):
The Petition for Special Consideration (Form A) is submitted for a variety of issues, including, when a student wishes to have a leave of absence or seeks to depart from University requirements based on compelling medical or personal reasons; or a student believes that an adverse ruling or decision about his/her academic performance, such as failing a course, or being required to withdraw from a program for failure to meet program requirements, should be waived because of compelling medical or personal circumstances.
Petition for Special Consideration: Request for Deferred Examination (Form B):
The Petition for Special Consideration: Request for Deferred Examination (Form B) is used when a student misses an examination because of compelling medical or personal reasons.
Notes: - Once a student has completed an examination, no special consideration will be granted. A student who misses an examination because of compelling medical or personal reasons may submit a Petition for Special Consideration: Request for Deferred Examination (Form B) to the Faculty office, normally within five working days of the missed examination.
- If the reason is medical, the approved McMaster University Medical Form must be used. The student must be seen by a doctor at the earliest possible date, normally on or before the date of the missed exam and the doctor must verify the duration of the illness. Relief will not be available for minor illnesses. If the reason is non-medical, appropriate documentation with verifiable origin covering the relevant dates must be submitted, normally within five working days.
- In deciding whether or not to grant a petition, the adequacy of the supporting documentation, including the timing in relation to the due date of the missed work and the degree of the student's incapacitation, will be taken into account.
- It is the student's responsibility to check with the Faculty office for a decision on the request for a deferred examination. If the deferred examination is granted, the student will be informed officially by means of the notation DEF which will appear against the relevant course on the student's academic record and on the student's grade report (available on MUGSI).
- Deferred examinations are written during the next official University deferred examination period. Examination and deferred examination dates appear in the Sessional Dates section of this Calendar. Default of the deferred examination will result in a fail for that examination.
- Students who have been granted more than one deferred examination may be required by their Faculty/Program office to reduce their course load during the term in which the deferred examinations are being written. The decision on a reduced load will be made and communicated with the decision on the request for deferred examinations.
- At the discretion of the Faculty/Program office, students who have been granted one or more deferred examinations, may not be allowed to register in a subsequent session until all deferred examination(s) have been completed and the Result of Session calculated. Students will be notified of this decision by their Faculty/Program office or on their End of Session Grade Report.
The authority to grant any petitions lies with the Faculty office and is discretionary. It is imperative that students make every effort to meet the originally-scheduled course requirements and it is a student's responsibility to write examinations as scheduled.
Decisions made on Petitions for Special Consideration are final. In accordance with the Student Appeal Procedures, decisions made on Petitions for Special Consideration cannot be appealed to the Senate Board for Student Appeals. However, if a student believes that a decision is a violation of his/her human rights, he or she must contact the office of Human Rights and Equity Services in room 212 of the McMaster University Student Centre, to initiate a complaint.
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