Academic Policies and Standards Committee (ACPOL)

The process for petitioning the Committee for a waiver of the rules delineated in the Catalog is as follows:

1. Discuss your situation with your advisor and the Chair of your Department (unless they are the same person);

2. Have your advisor prepare and send a letter describing whether sh/e supports your petition;

3. Have the Department Chair prepare and send a letter indicating that sh/e knows that the petition is being made (any commentary about support of the petition is at the discretion of the Department Chair);

4. Prepare and submit a letter of petition to the ACPOL (see below). Only when ACPOL receives all three letters (two if the Chair and advisor are the same person) will the Committee consider the request.

5. The Committee typically meets the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Tuesday of the month. Petitions and supporting documents must be submitted by NOON on the Friday prior to when the Committee meets for it to be considered otherwise it may not be considered until the following meeting.

6. Once all letters are received and the Committee has met and discussed your petition, you can expect a response to your request via electronic mail. If you have not received a response within 3 weeks, please reach out to the chair(s) of ACPOL regarding your petition. Again, the Committee will consider appeals only intermittently during the summer and winter terms.

         
Preparing and Sending Letters
Students should use the model letter (see below) and submit the letter online. Please ensure you have all information needed when submitting your petition, as all information is required, otherwise your petition will not submit.

Submit a Petition
 

Committee Consideration of Petition
The ACPOL will consider rationale for requests to waive requirements according to the following criteria:

1. That the request is based upon action taken by the College or one of its representatives, such as having a required class cancelled or removed from the curriculum, or an advisor error that is explained in the letter by the petitioner's advisor;
   
2. That the request is based on some action by an agency outside the College, such as the State or Federal government if a student is deployed by the military or National Guard;
3. That the request is based upon need (such as when a course is needed to complete requirements) rather than optional choice (such as when a choice is an elective);
4. That the request is for a personal convenience or circumstance.

         
Decision 
A letter indicating the ACPOL's decision will be sent to your campus e-mail address, with a copy sent to the advisor and Dept Chair. Regularly check your mail for the letter; letters returned because e-mail boxes are too full will not be resent.

Policy for Handling Requests for a Foreign Language Waiver 

The Student Academic Success Coordinator (SASC) will determine, based on a written request from the student and documentation from a medical provider, whether modifications to the foreign language requirement are warranted. Such modifications would take one of three forms:

1. A full waiver of the required courses;
2. A partial waiver of one or two courses;
3. No course waiver, but appropriate accommodations provided as deemed necessary by the SASC.

In all cases, the student will be required to complete a plan of 9 credits in foreign language and/or in courses chosen from an approved list maintained by the GEAR committee. For students waiving two or more courses, the courses chosen from the GEAR list must include one designated cultural course and one designated language course. Unless precluded by the reasons for the accommodation, the courses substituted should be at or above the level of the course being waived (1000 level for waiver of elementary language and 2000-level for waiver of intermediate language). This plan will be developed by the SASC and approved by both the student’s academic advisor and by the ACPOL committee.

Approved Lists