Student Petitions

Students should submit an Undergraduate Student Petition (select Departmental Exceptions) to the department when they are requesting an exception or substitution to graduation requirements for their major or minor. Examples include:

• To have a transfer course reviewed for equivalency to a UC San Diego course 
• To substitute a course for a major/minor requirement
• To take major/minor coursework P/NP,  instead of for a letter grade

Each department/program processes petitions differently, so students must consult their department/program procedures for processing guidelines. Check the department's website for details, and contact the department advisor via the VAC with any questions.

Students should contact their College to request an exception to general education requirements. Examples include:

• To substitute a course for a general education (GE) requirement
• To waive a GE requirement
• To request a grade/unit exception to fulfill a GE requirement

Each College processes petitions differently, so students will need to consult their College's procedures for processing guidelines. Check the College's advising website for details, and contact your College advisors via the VAC with any questions.

International students on an F-1 or J-1 visa may request to have the American History and Institutions (AHI) requirement waived (per Academic Senate Regulation 600.F.7). In your last quarter of enrollment once you have submitted a Degree & Diploma Application, contact your College advisors via the VAC to make the request. An official petition form is not needed.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion requirement is a university-wide requirement, and only specific courses are approved to satisfy the requirement. Likewise, the Jane Teranes Climate Change Education Requirement has a list of approved courses that can fulfill it. Colleges and departments do not have the authority to make an exception as these are university requirements (not College or major requirements). Petitions are only appropriate in the below two scenarios.

Scenario #1:  If a student took a transfer course that is approximated to a course on the approved list, that course will automatically satisfy the requirement as long as it is determined to be equivalent to the UC San Diego course. Follow the steps above under "Major/Minor Requirements" to submit a petition to the course's home department for transfer course equivalency.

Scenario #2:  If a student took an approved course before it was approved for the official list, but the course was identical to the currently approved course, they can submit a petition to be reviewed by the Academic Senate. The student must submit an Undergraduate Student Petition (select University Exceptions) to the department first. The instructor of record for the course and the department chair/program director would need to verify that the content of the course taken by the student was the same as the content of the course approved for the official list. The petition then goes to the student's College. If approved, it would then go to the Academic Senate's Educational Policy Committee for the final decision.

Courses taken abroad are NOT automatically counted for your major, minor, or college GE requirements. For courses to apply to requirements, you must submit a course petition and gain official approval once the course is completed and posted to your UC San Diego transcript. Follow the steps above under "Major/Minor Requirements" to submit a petition to the course's home department for transfer course equivalency, or follow the "College/GE Requirements" steps above if you hope to use the course for a GE.

Certain departments might pre-approve courses. To better your chances of a successful petition, you should speak with your academic advisor from your department or College as part of your application process before you leave.

For more information, visit Study Abroad's Academic Planning page.

If you choose P/NP grading for a major or minor course that must be taken for a letter grade, you must contact your major/minor advisor. Follow the steps above under "Major/Minor Requirements" to submit a petition to the course's home department.

If you choose P/NP grading for a GE course that must be taken for a letter grade, you must contact your College advisors. Follow the steps above under "College/GE Requirements" to submit a petition to your College.

Academic Senate's Educational Policy Committee will not review petitions to request a change to the grading option if a student forgot, was not aware, or otherwise chose P/NP grading and later realizes they need a Letter grade to satisfy the requirement. These petitions will be denied at the College review stage. 

Incomplete grades must be finished by the end of the following quarter. Occasionally students need additional time to complete the work based on ongoing extenuating circumstances. These petitions should not be submitted if the student was just too busy the following quarter to finish the work, or if they forgot about the course until the end of the following quarter.

Students should submit an Undergraduate Student Petition (select University Exceptions). The petition must first be submitted to the instructor of record and the department chair/program director for review.

If the request is unanimously supported by the instructor and the chair/director, the petition
shall be forwarded by the department to the student’s College provost for review. If the College approves, the Academic Senate Educational Policy Committee will have final review decision.

These are exceptionally rare. Consult your College advisors. 

To take a class for the third (or more) time, you need permission from your College Dean of Academic Advising. Send your College a message via the VAC with the following information:

• the course and the quarter you want to repeat it
• why you need to repeat the class
• what caused difficulty in earlier attempts
• most importantly - what steps you will take if allowed to repeat the course.

Generally, the first 16 units of repeated classes for which you received a D, F, or NP grade at UC San Diego won't be used to calculate your UC GPA. (See Academic Senate Regulation 505.F.1)

If you repeated a course outside of UC San Diego at another UC campus, a petition requesting to replace an original D or F grade in the GPA calculation with the grade received in the outside course may be an option. This is only possible when the instructor of record for the UC San Diego course and the department chair/program director determine that the content of the repeated course is equivalent to the content of the original course. Follow the steps above under "Major/Minor Requirements" to submit a petition to the course's home department for transfer course equivalency, as well as a petition to the department for grade repeat replacement, which the department will send to the Academic Senate's Educational Policy Committee.

If you have other requests, review the Academic Senate Educational Policy Committee's PROCEDURES FOR REQUESTING EXCEPTIONS TO SENATE REGULATIONS 

Consult your College advisors with questions about your specific situation.