Emergency Withdrawal Policy
The following procedure applies to students who are unable to continue classes for extraordinary medical or other personal circumstances, such as serious illness or injury, personal physical or mental health (for example: care of a seriously ill child or spouse, or a death of a close person in the student’s life). Required/accepted documentation for medical or mental health reasons requires specific documentation from a health care provider. Depending on the situation, other required/acceptable documentation may include police reports, legal documents such as restraining orders, airline ticket receipts, newspaper articles, obituaries, copy of a death certificate, etc.
Students seeking to withdraw due to medical or mental health reasons must withdraw from all registered courses. There are rare occasions when it is appropriate for students to receive an Emergency Withdrawal for one or two courses (ex. a physical injury that prevents the individual from participating in a course that requires physical activity.) Such exceptions will be considered on an individual basis.
Once a student submits all appropriate documentation for an emergency withdrawal, a decision will be made by the Emergency Withdrawal Committee within five working days and the student will be notified through their Science & Arts student email address. In order for an Emergency Withdrawal Request to be considered for a given semester, all required documents must be completed in full, signed and submitted at any time prior to the start of final exams.
The Emergency Withdrawal Committee determines the appropriateness of an Emergency Withdrawal request and based on the documentation provided either approves or denies the request. All approved requests will result in the assignment of “W” grades for each course on the student’s academic transcript. Please note that “W” grades will not be assigned if this request process is not completed prior to the start of final examinations. In such cases, final grades will be assigned by the instructor(s). The committee also determines if an administrative hold is appropriate. If appropriate, the student will be blocked from all future registration at Science & Arts until the hold is removed. The removal of the emergency administrative hold is usually only processed after the student/healthcare provider supplies documentation by completing the Request for Re- Entry Form. The Re-Entry form explains the student is well enough to return to the university, accompanied by a personal letter written by the student stating why they feel they will be able to successfully return. Emergency Withdrawal applications and supporting documents are retained by Student Services for at least five years and filed separately from the student’s other records.