Appeal Process

Students who are denied a Withdrawal with Extenuating Circumstances (WE), whether partial or full, or whether denied directly by Student Assistance and Support Services (SASS) or through an academic petition decided upon by a student’s academic college, are eligible to appeal that denial. Keep in mind that students who formally begin the WE process through Student Assistance and Support Services (SASS) within the relevant deadline for the specific semester but who do not supply the necessary supporting documentation, do not meet the threshold for a withdrawal with extenuating circumstances, or who do not meet SASS’s semester deadlines, are not denied a WE but rather, will receive specific notification from SASS with the recommendation to submit an academic petition for further review directly to the student’s academic college. Students who submit an academic petition will receive notification of their academic college’s decision via their UNC Charlotte email account. An undergraduate student can appeal a denial of a request to be withdrawn due to extenuating circumstances to the Provost, and a graduate student can appeal to the Dean of the Graduate School. Appeals are accepted up until the last day of the semester in which the WE was denied. The decision by the Provost (undergraduate) or Dean of the Graduate School (graduate) is final.

  1. An appeal of a denial of a request to be withdrawn due to extenuating circumstances must be based on one or more of the following criteria:
    1. Discrimination based on age, gender, race, color, national origin, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression;
    2. Failure to follow published written University procedures for a withdrawal due to extenuating circumstances; or
    3. New information that was not available to the student at the time of the original request form (Note: Medical documentation must come from a current, treating physician. Second opinions do not qualify. Students must be able to show why the medical information was not available at the time of the original request.).
  2. A written narrative and request for an appeal based on the above-listed appeal criteria for undergraduate students must be submitted to Shannon Homesley, Executive Assistant to the Provost, at shannon.homesley@charlotte.edu and for graduate students must be submitted to Christi Skerlak at cskerlak@charlotte.edu

Reviewed and Updated July 2018