Council on Curriculum

Petition Policies


Guidelines for Curriculum Changes

A petition is defined as a request to add or delete a confirmed rotation or elective, or vacation block in the student’s curriculum.

By the beginning of Block 12 each year, all curriculum plans for the upcoming academic year should be finalized. These guidelines have been written to address ONLY changes requested after Block 12 preceding the new academic year (example: April 2, 2018 for the 2018-2019 academic year). The goal of these guidelines is to provide a procedure for the students to follow when a change in a scheduled rotation or elective is requested.

All students are expected to carefully review their curriculum plans for the upcoming year with their Education Team Coordinator. Students are expected to follow their curriculum plans as written

 

Curriculum Revisions that Require a Formal Petition
  1. To waive a required vacation block
  2. To modify required confirmed clerkships, electives or courses
  3. To modify curriculum in response to academic failure
  4. To request a summer Arts and Science campus

Some revision(s) in a student curriculum may be considered without a petition. Any such revisions will be made and approved only by the Associate Dean of Curriculum. The following are the circumstances in which a student’s curriculum may be revised without a petition:

  1. Illness or injury to the student; illness, injury or death in the student’s immediate family which would compromise the student’s ability to fully participate in the scheduled course(s)
  2. Administrative Leave of Absence granted by Council on Evaluation
  3. When it is evident that the student needs additional basic science course-work, due to failure or withdrawal from the course
  4. Revised curriculum plan due to insufficient performance on CBSE (see Step I Policy)
  5. Revised curriculum plan due to failure on Step 1 (see Step I Policy)
  6. Other emergency circumstances as determined by the Associate Dean of Curriculum

 

Process to Petition to Change Scheduled Rotations, Electives, or Vacations


Criteria for Petitions

  1. The request must be submitted to the Council on Curriculum on a “Petition to Change Curriculum” form.
  2. Student petitions requesting changes to curriculum must be submitted prior to the first calendar day of the block prior to the start date of the rotation or elective. Exceptions to this policy will be made only in the following instances:
  • An elective that is cancelled, that was previously confirmed by the institution.
  • A request to change curriculum that is based on an academic need that was not identified until after the one block deadline (e.g., Student drops a course due to academic reasons and needs to change curriculum for the next block).
  • A situation that is deemed an emergency by the Associate Dean of Curriculum.
  1. The change requested must not affect the minimum or maximum required numbers for the rotation/elective.
  2. The change requested must not compromise established Curriculum Policies.

Any petition placed on the Council on Curriculum agenda will be subject to final approval/denial by the Coordinating Council.

Process for Petitioning

  1. See your Education Team Coordinator to obtain a petition form.
  2. Complete the form with your request; obtain your Docent’s signature and return the form to your Education Team Coordinator.
  3. Have your ETC sign the petition.
  4. Your ETC will forward the petition to the Council on Curriculum.
  5. The Council on Curriculum will note thereceived date as the date the completed petition is received in the Curriculum office.
  6. The petition will be executively approved or denied by the Associate Dean of Curriculum, and the student’s ETC will be notified.
  7. The petition will be placed on the consent agenda for the next meeting of the Council on Curriculum.

 

Docent or Unit Rotation Petitions

The current policy from Docent Council is that a student CANNOT change his/her Docent Rotation, except in the following situations:

    • Changing the rotation will allow the student to graduate on time
    • A required move by the Council on Curriculum due to student’s withdrawal or failure in a required course or rotation
    • Individual emergency situations

A student requesting to change a Docent Unit or Docent Rotation must complete a “Petition to Change Docent Unit or Docent Rotation” form. The form must be signed by appropriate parties and then forwarded to the Council on Curriculum for final approval or disapproval.

 

Appeal Process for Denied Petitions

The following is the appeal process for student petitions:

    1. The petition will be reviewed by the Associate Dean of Curriculum and approved, denied or referred to the full Council for discussion. In the case of referral or denial, the student may request to be invited to the next Council meeting and allowed to make a personal appeal.
    2. If the petition is denied by the Council, the student may make a final appeal to the Student Appeals Subcommittee.
    3. If an emergency appeal is needed, due to time constraints, this will be made to the Senior Associate Dean.