Petitions to the Administrative Committee

The Administrative Committee of the College is made up of the dean of the College or his designate, seven faculty members (including one from the Hajim School of Engineering), and two undergraduate students. The student members are appointed by the undergraduate student body.

Students who wish to petition the Administrative Committee are advised to discuss their concern with an advisor at the Center for Advising Services.  The petition to the Administrative Committee is available at Lattimore 312 or on-line.  Petitions are presented in writing, and should specify clearly the decision desired by the individual student.

The functions of the Administrative Committee, as specified in the Rules of the Faculty, are as follows: 

A. “To establish guidelines consistent with faculty regulations for periodic review of the academic records of undergraduates.”

B. “To act on all requests for exceptions to requirements for baccalaureates.” 

C. “To raise with the Faculty Steering Committee all questions of inequity or inconsistency in faculty policy which emerge from the consideration of individual problems.”

The committee meets approximately once each month during the academic year to consider petitions (letters) from individual students, and reviews other letters from individual students on a continuing basis.  Each of these petitions involves an interpretation of the Faculty Rules. These interpretations include such questions as permitting a course to be added or dropped after the deadline, or modifying a cluster requirement. Twice each year, the Committee also considers students who may be separated from the College for academic reasons. (See Probation and Separation.) In the process of discussing these individual cases, the Committee establishes guidelines by which the Faculty Rules should be administered by the Dean of the College and his staff in the Center for Advising Services. As an additional outcome of these discussions, the Committee occasionally recommends policy changes to the Faculty Steering Committee.

In some cases, endorsement of the student’s request by some member of the faculty or staff is helpful. Students who believe that sufficient evidence of illness exists to warrant the committee to approve their request should consult with an academic advisor for the appropriate procedure. The University Health Service does not provide retroactive excuses for missed classes. Students are notified in writing of the disposition of their case shortly after the decision is reached.

Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

The composition of the Administrative Committee is the following: the dean of the school (ex-officio), the associate dean, a faculty member of professorial rank for each department, and two undergraduates, one junior and one senior. One vote may be exercised by the senior student. Voting privileges of the student member is restricted to matters concerning undergraduate affairs. The committee meets at least once a semester during the academic year.

If a student desires a waiver or exception to published degree requirements, prior permission must be obtained from the Administrative Committee. This request must be made in the form of a petition, which is available in the Dean’s Office. The completed petition must be signed by the student’s advisor and department or program chair and returned to the Dean’s Office. The advisor or the chair, or both, may indicate disagreement with the petition, and the student may still submit the petition for consideration by the committee. The student may append to the petition form material he or she feels will help the committee’s evaluation.

The committee considers the academic performance of all undergraduates each term and (1) in the case of students not yet formally admitted to a major, makes appropriate recommendations to the associate dean of the Hajim School who will cooperate with Arts and Science in taking action, and (2) in the case of students admitted to a major in the Hajim School, makes appropriate recommendations to the dean of the Hajim School.