How do I submit materials to the Academic Standards Office?
Forms and documentation should be submitted to the office via email. Please use your Buffalo State email account to send your forms and supporting documents to acadstandards@buffalostate.edu. Staff will regularly check and respond to this email account during regular business hours.
What is the deadline to file a petition?
Petitions requesting a retroactive drop of a course must be completed within one week of semester bills being sent out by the college (this deadline is flexible if there is a serious extenuating circumstance that prevents you from meeting the deadline).
Petitions requesting a change be made to:
The best way to avoid having to petition is to be aware of the college's deadlines for changes to your course schedule.
How can I speed up my petition?
You can hurry your petition along by making sure it is completely filled out, and your extenuating circumstance documentation has been submitted.
You can also seek the written support of your instructor, adviser, and/or department chair prior to submitting your petition and attach that documentation to the petition when you submit it - that way we won't have to send a referral to those folks and wait for their responses to come back before we can make a decision.
What is the turnaround time for petitions?
It can take anywhere from one day to one semester for a petition to be reviewed, but petition review time--from submission to decision--averages one month due to the number of offices involved.
The length of time it takes for a petition to be reviewed varies based on many things: time of year the petition is submitted; how long it takes for referrals to be returned by faculty and staff; how long it takes for you to submit any information that is requested of you by our office; etc.
Your petition will be reviewed in the committee meeting following your submission once all referrals and supporting documentation have been received. The Academic Appeals Committee meets monthly.
What cannot be petitioned?
There are many things that can't be petitioned.
Some items that cannot be petitioned:
I never attended a course, but it's still on my course schedule, and I want it dropped. Can I petition that?
Not unless an extenuating reason prevented you from dropping the course through BANNER. The college catalog notes that non-attendance does not drop you from a class. Requests to drop or withdraw from a course simply because you did not attend will not be approved.
What is an extenuating circumstance?
It is something beyond your control, such as a (severe) personal illness, the death or illness of an immediate family member, extreme personal emotional stress, and serious personal circumstances.
You should document the extenuating circumstance you are listing on your petition by submitting official documentation from a doctor, counselor, or legal system representative. All documents are subject to verification.
I've been attending a course all semester, but it's not on my schedule. How do I get it added?
Unless a documented extenuating circumstance explains why you were not registered by the registration deadline, you will not be permitted to register late for the course and should stop attending immediately! Please note that having access to a BlackBoard course site does not necessarily mean you are officially registered for the course; verify your registration in Banner every semester before the final registration deadline.
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