About Petitioning for Special Consideration
The Faculty of Social Sciences has the responsibility to ensure that degree, program and course requirements are met in a manner that is equitable to all students. While the Faculty adheres strictly to all deadlines and academic regulations as stated in the University Calendar, it does wish to assist students with legitimate difficulties.
Students who seek special consideration or who wish to request that the application of a particular University or Faculty regulation be waived because of compelling medical, personal or family reasons, may submit a Petition for Special Consideration to the Office of the Associate Dean. Supporting documentation will be required but will not ensure approval of the petition. The authority to grant petitions lies with the Faculty Associate Dean’s office and is discretionary.
Students are responsible to submit Petitions for Special Consideration in a prompt and timely manner. Following receipt of the appropriate form, the Assistant Dean shall submit the petition to the appropriate individual or committee and shall secure a final decision from the individual or committee. The student will be notified in writing (by email) of the decision on his/her petition.
Petitions for Special Consideration decisions are final. In accordance with the Student Appeal Procedures, decisions made on Petitions for Special Consideration cannot be appealed to the Senate Board for Student Appeals. If a student feels his/her human rights have been violated, they may contact the Equity and Inclusion Office to initiate a complaint.
Download the Petition for Special Consideration Form
A Petition is submitted to your home faculty advising office (regardless of the course in question) and typically consists of the following 4 components:
- The petition form, which must be completed in full, including either initialing or putting "N/A" for each item of the checklist on pages 3 & 4, and signing page 4.
- A personal statement, which can be included on the form or as a separate word document (See the "Written Statement" checklist item on page 3 of the petition form for pointers on writing your personal statement.)
- Supporting documentation to confirm extenuating circumstances mentioned in the personal statement.
- Instructor statements of participation for each class when petitioning to withdraw from a course.
Please note the Petition Form must be completed in full before submitting to the Faculty of Social Sciences Academic Advising Office.
When requesting that your instructor provide the Faculty of Social Sciences with information on your participation in a class you can use the following template for your email, deleting the brackets and text inside them, then replacing the brackets and text with the required information:
Subject: (Course code for the course) - (Term the course was in): (Last Name),(First Name) - (Student number)
Hello Dr. (Instructor last name),
I am submitting a petition for (course code), (lecture section [C0?]), (tutorial/lab [T0?/L0?]) in the (term the course was in [Eg Winter 2022]) term. Could you please forward the information on what I have and have not done for this course as far as participation, assignments, essays, tests, and exams to the Faculty of Social Sciences at socscfac@mcmaster.ca as it is an important part of the petition process. Thank you.
Social Sciences has said to either simply forward this email to socscfac@mcmaster.ca with the information in the body text of your email, attach a file in a convenient format, or if you prefer, feel free to use the attached form. (Ensure the instructor statement form is attached.)
Thank you,
(Full Name)
(Student Number)
The instructor statement form can be found at the following link: Instructor Statement Form
Social Sciences students can submit their petition through socscfac@mcmaster.ca