Retroactive Academic Relief Policy

Students who have compelling reasons, namely medical need, family emergency, death in the immediate family, or other significant circumstances resulting in unforeseen hardship for the student (see Withdrawal Policy) and who provide appropriate support documentation that would have led to approval of a total withdrawal without academic penalty in the course of the semester, but who did not come forward to obtain a total withdrawal during the semester, may petition the Committee on Academic Standards for retroactive academic relief. Normally, students may apply for and receive retroactive academic relief for one semester only during their career in Emory College of Arts and Sciences.

If the Committee on Academic Standards grants the petition, the student’s letter grades for the relevant term will be converted to Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grades. The term will not count towards the grade-point average. A notation will be made on the official student transcript indicating the student was granted academic relief for that term due to extenuating circumstances. In addition, the term will not count towards the College’s continuation/promotion requirements. Courses in which the student receives a “Satisfactory” grade will count as elective credit toward the overall credit hours requirement for graduation. Students who receive academic relief from any term are prohibited from petitioning the Committee on Academic Standards to have any of the courses with a “Satisfactory” grade count in the General Education Requirements (GERs) of the College. In no instance may these “Satisfactory” grades fulfill a GER, except as specified in the general stipulations regarding Area IX: Physical Education.

Grades assigned as part of a sanction for an Honor Code violation cannot be changed through the academic relief process, but only through the Honor Code process.

Transcript Note: Student approved for academic relief during this term based on extenuating circumstances.