OGS 7/18 page 1 of 5
GRADUATE PETITION
INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS
A student may petition the Graduate Council for a waiver of a University graduate academic regulation or degree requirement. In no
case will a regulation be waived or an exception granted because of ignorance of the regulation or of the assertion that the student was
not informed by the adviser or other authority. Portland State University’s accreditation requires that students’ transcripts be an
accurate reflection of their academic record. The decision of the Graduate Council is final.
Any information disclosed about child abuse or sexual assault/interpersonal violence may be subject to mandatory
reporting requirements, which means that confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. To speak confidentially to a campus
advocate prior to completing this form, please contact the Women’s Resource Center at (503) 725-5672 or the Queer
Resource Center at (503) 725-9742. For more information about campus resources and reporting obligations, please visit
www.pdx.edu/sexual-assault and www.pdx.edu/ogc/mandatory-child-abuse-reporting
.
Please read these instructions carefully - they contain essential information for submitting
a complete petition. Incomplete petitions will not be reviewed by the Graduate Council.
It is the student’s responsibility to:
• initiate the petition process;
• contact the instructor(s), adviser, and Department Chair/Graduate Program Director to obtain their statements;
• submit a complete petition to the Office of Graduate Studies.
Page 2 – Student information and statement
• Complete the information on the top of page 2. This form is available at www.pdx.edu/ogs/forms and we encourage students to
fill out the form online to ensure legibility. After completing the form online, it must be printed for signature and date.
• Provide an explanatory statement in support of your petition request. Include details of the courses involved, including course
name and number, term, and CRN. Present clear and concise information about the factors that prevented University policy from
being followed in this case.
• Extenuating circumstances must be documented (please note that documentation is confidentially recycled after the petition has
been decided). Some examples of required documentation are:
• Medical documentation: letters from medical providers, hospital or clinic admission and/or discharge papers, etc.
• Legal documentation: court papers, police reports, letters from legal professionals, etc.
• Work schedules verified by employer or dated job offers
• Documentation of birth or death
• Fill in your name and PSU ID number on the top of pages 3, 4, and 5; if the form is completed online, this information will be
filled in automatically.
Pages 3 & 4 – Instructor / Adviser statements
• A petition that deals with a specific course must include a statement from the instructor of that course.
• A petition that deals with the student’s general academic program must include a statement from the student’s faculty adviser.
• A student’s faculty adviser needs to be aware of all aspects of a student’s progress in the program, so all petitions must be
reviewed and signed by the student’s faculty adviser even if the petition request deals with only one course. (Students not
admitted to a graduate program will not have a faculty adviser; in such cases, page 4 is not required.)
• See information on the top of pages 3 and 4 for information about what the instructor and adviser statements must address.
Page 5 – Department Chair or Graduate Program Director statement
• The petition should be routed to the Department Chair or Graduate Program Director only after all other materials are in place; the
Chair or Director will expect to review these materials before providing their statement.
• See information on the top of page 5 for information about what the Department Chair or Graduate Program Director statement
must address.
Submission
• A petition must be submitted in one, completed packet, NOT piecemeal.
• Petitions should be submitted in paper format to the Office of Graduate Studies, 184 Parkmill.
• If necessary, a petition can be submitted electronically to grad@pdx.edu. Electronic petitions must be submitted in one, complete
packet as a single PDF.
Incomplete petitions will not be reviewed by the Graduate Council.
