Qualifying Circumstances

Do I Qualify for a Petition?

The petition process is designed to help students who experienced qualifying non-academic circumstances during the semester that prevented them from successfully completing their coursework with a passing grade, resulting in E, UW, or NC grades. This petition process may not be used to address academic circumstances such as course difficulty. The university has a generous retake policy in which the new WSU grade will replace the old grade in students' GPA.

Students may petition for a change in their academic record in cases involving the following qualifying non-academic circumstances:

Non-Academic Emergency

Non-Academic Emergency: Serious unexpected circumstances that prevented students from (1) withdrawing from their courses by the withdrawal deadline or (2) successfully completing their courses after the withdrawal deadline.

Death in immediate family (parents, siblings, spouses, or children)
Medical or psychological issue
Legal issue
Victim of crime
Emergency (including fire or car accident)
Military obligation (including deployment or temporary duty)
Personal/family issue (including divorce, safety issues, or the above qualifying circumstances for immediate family members under students' care)
Other (including emergency travel outside the country, homelessness/being unhoused)

One-Time Exception

Students who have never previously withdrawn from WSU coursework and who earned failing grades in a semester may use the one-time exception to request complete withdrawal from all courses in that semester.

Students who have withdrawn from Concurrent Enrollment high school courses or coursework prior to 2005 still qualify. Students who have one or more withdrawals in the same semester they want to petition also still qualify.

The one-time exception is designed to help students who lacked understanding of university policies, processes, or deadlines, including how to withdraw, withdrawal deadlines, start dates for second block courses, or the difference between W and UW grades. The one-time exception may not be used for selective withdrawal from one or more courses based on academic circumstances like course difficulty.

Other Circumstances

Attendance at another institution and non-attendance at WSU despite enrollment
Registration system error (this circumstance is extremely rare and must be verified using the registration system's audit trail)
Misadvisement claims

Third-party documentation demonstrating proof of qualifying circumstances must be submitted in all of the above circumstances. Please see How to Submit a Petition for more information.

A one-year statute of limitations applies to petitions. Students may not submit a petition for events or semesters older than one year unless they can provide evidence of serious extenuating circumstances that prevented them from filing their petition within the required timeframe, such as incarceration, military deployment, extended hospitalization, homelessness/being unhoused, or extended travel outside the country. These extenuating circumstances must have been an ongoing and persistent barrier that kept a student from being able to engage with the petition process in a timely manner.