Home > Offices > Class Deans > Guidelines & Forms

INFORMATION ABOUT PETITIONS TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD

Students may petition the Administrative Board for an exception to an academic regulation. Petitions must be completed and submitted to the Class Dean for presentation to the Board. The Board reviews petitions every Tuesday.

Petition deadline is Fridays at noon (for consideration on following Tuesday).

Petition Procedures

Complete the student information section (please type or write in ink).

• Check the appropriate box next to your request.
• Provide the course reference number (CRN) and the department and number (COURSE).
• Write a brief reason for your request.
• Sign and date the petition.
• Obtain signatures from the appropriate faculty members:
  
  
  • Your adviser must sign all petitions.
  • The instructor must sign petitions dealing with specific courses.
  • Petitions involving a year-long course, seminar or special studies must also be signed by the Department Chair. 
    
    
• Submit the petition to your Class Dean, who will present your petition to the Administrative Board.

Once the petition is reviewed, you will receive notification of the action taken through campus mail or by e-mail.

• There is a $35 fine for filing late registrations. In addition, any approved petition to add a course or drop a course after the deadline is subject to a registration fine of $35.
• Any fine assessed will be contributed to the Smith College Scholarship Fund.

Additional Information needed for the following requests:

To enroll in/withdraw from a course after the deadline:

• Explain the reason you are requesting to do this after the deadline.
• Have you been attending the course on a regular basis? Have you ever attended the course?

To enroll in two courses with a time conflict:

List all meeting times for courses in conflict.

• Explain how much of each course you will miss and how you will make up the time/course work.
• Explain if the instructor will need to do additional preparation.
• Obtain signature of the instructor of the course you will be missing; if you will miss part of both courses, then you need the signatures of both instructors.

To enter a special studies before the sophomore year:

• Explain the reason you need to enroll in the course before the sopomore year.
• Obtain signatures of instructor, Adviser and Department Chair.

To enter a seminar before the junior year:

• Explain the reason you need to enroll in the course before the junior year.
• Obtain signatures of instructor, Adviser and Department Chair.

Foreign Languages: To receive credit for most introductory language course taken during the fall, a student must complete the full year (2 semesters).