You have the right to petition any rule or regulation within your department, and subsequently to appeal the ruling should it not be in your favour. When you petition a regulation and win, it doesn’t mean that the regulation has changed, but that it has been waived in your particular case. None of the Faculties will allow you to petition to create new legislation.  

If your concern is with the decision of a Professor or Teaching Assistant or with how they are treating you, York generally advises that you speak with her/him directly before you file a petition. Sometimes your concern may simply arise from a clerical error such as the calculation of a grade, while sometimes there has been a minor breakdown in communication. You may find that Professors and Teaching Assistants are surprisingly receptive to you bringing forth a concern.  

If your problem is with a Teaching Assistant, you may voice your concern to the Course Director. If you feel uncomfortable doing so, you can also speak to the Department Chair, or Associate Dean of your Faculty. Regardless of what you do, be sure to document each step you take and keep detailed notes of what was said at each meeting.  

What sorts of things can be petitioned? 

Petitions are filed for various reasons, including the following: waiving academic standing regulations such as required withdrawal or debarment; adding courses after the deadline; waiving or altering degree requirements; dropping courses past the deadline; permission to take a course overload; and to take Graduate Courses. The petition form is structured in a generic way to accommodate individual requirements.  

Requests to defer work and requests for grade reappraisals have separate forms and are often dealt with by bodies other than the Faculty Petitions Committee. In the case of work deferral, you simply need have your professor sign a Deferred Standing Agreement form.  

Where do I file a petition? 

You must always file petitions to your home Faculty, not to the Faculty of the course you are having problems with. There is one exception and that is in the Faculty of Education. Students concurrently taking courses in the Faculty of Education may have to petition to that Faculty for any practicum courses and possibly others as well.  

Once I file a petition where does it go? 

Petitions staff have guidelines to indicate which petitions should or should not go to committee and simple, clear-cut petitions may be dealt with by those staff without even reaching a committee hearing. The administrative approval process works under strict guidelines, however, and even though yours may be a clear-cut petition, it does not mean that you do not have to fill out all the applicable petition forms.  

If your petition is not so simple, it will be prepared for the Petitions Committee in your Faculty to review. Though the rules may be different in each Faculty, there are certain things you can do to make your petition easier for all Petitions Committees to follow. The overall appearance, clarity and presentation of your petition could influence the way Committee Members respond to it. This is why we suggest that you have someone read over your petition before you submit it.  

Guidelines for preparing petitions 

Filing a petition is similar to writing an essay. You must clearly outline your thesis, or in this case, reason for filing the petition, and then proceed to prove it. When composing your letter, you should assume that Petitions Committee knows nothing about you and that even if they did, that they mistrust you. It is your job to convince them that you have a strong case and you are a good student.  

Try to limit the length of your petition to 1-2 pages. Your letter should be organized under two headings: 

a) regulations being petitioned

b) circumstances and grounds for the petition  

Introduction: State the regulation you are petitioning at the very beginning. Make sure everyone who will read it can identify within the first paragraph what you are about to argue. You must include your name and student number, as well as the academic session, course section, lab and term (where applicable) that the petition applies to. Finally, list all the documents which are being enclosed with your petition. 

Body: This is where you present your argument, and the circumstances or grounds for the petition. Since this may be your only opportunity to present your case, you had better make it good. A petition that just relies on the goodwill of the committee is not going to fly. You must give a reasonable argument and include all valid documentation. An item which you think is unimportant may be considered crucial to the committee. And don’t think you can always show them later. Many Petitions Committees will not ask you for documentation they feel is missing or which might aid in your petition. Many petitions have been denied due to missing documentation, and appeals are granted only if new evidence surfaces since the petition was filed.  

Conclusion: Try to close with a strong conclusion. Summarize your letter succinctly and thank the committee for their time. While you may be angry at the unjust nature of your situation, those deciding your fate may also be the colleagues of the individual/s who you are petitioning against are also the peers many of the people who will be deciding your fate are the peers of the perpetrator of the injustice.  

Additional Hints 

1. Most Faculties demand original copies of your supporting documentation but 

    you should always photocopy everything you are submitting. If important sup-

    porting documents get lost and there are not back-ups of them the only per-

    son who is really going to care in the long run is you.  

3. Attach supporting documents - If you are attaching supporting documents 

    such as a course outline or Physician’s Statement with your petition, it may

    be clearer to attach them as Appendix 1, Appendix 2 and so on. Then in the

    body of your petition, refer to the appendix number when talking about those

    documents.  

     Petitions Advisors.   

    petition is your first impression to the Committee.  
 6. Additional supporting documents may include, but need not be limited to, the following: 

- medical certificates

- psychiatric reports

- correspondence (letters, emails, etc.)

- course outlines and handouts

- assignments

- letters of reference

- letters from the Counseling and Development Centre

- travel tickets 

To a large extent, the materials submitted depend on the nature of the petition. Obviously if you are petitioning for withdrawal on medical grounds, then some sort of supporting document from a medical practitioner should support the petition. On the other hand do not submit such evidence if you are filing a petition for which your health is not an issue.