Dropping and Withdrawing Appeals

Academic Policy requires that all requests to withdraw from a course must be submitted no later than the last day of instruction of the semester in which the course is taken. 

If circumstances clearly beyond your control prevented you from meeting the deadline, you may appeal for consideration. Appeals of this nature are rare and most typically involve accident or serious illness and require documentation for consideration. 

These requests are usually to be withdrawn from all courses in a given semester and in very rare circumstances, the appeal of the deadline for withdrawal may be requested for an individual course or courses.

Please follow the steps outlined below to ensure you submit all necessary items. Your appeal should be submitted to the Registrar's Office.

• Please review the Dropping and Withdrawing page for additional information
• For exact dates and deadlines for specific semester withdrawal dates and more information
• For course information, check your SFSU Gateway account

To appeal to withdraw from a course after the deadline, please follow the steps below in preparing an appeal packet.

The student completes the Appeal to Withdraw From An Individual Course After Deadline form, provides a brief statement, collects supporting documentation, and submits the entire packet to the course instructor. 

The petition must be signed by the course instructor and department chair. 

1. Complete and sign an Appeal To Withdraw From An Individual Course After Deadline form
2. Attach a brief statement (one page or less) outlining the nature of your request, including an explanation of the circumstances that prevented you from meeting the withdrawal deadline and from completing your coursework
   1. Include the circumstances which affected your work in only one/some rather than all courses, should be clearly explained in your statement
3. Attach documentation of serious and extenuating circumstances beyond your control, such as an accident, injury or illness that clearly matches the time period for which you are requesting the withdrawal and supports your brief statement
   1. If your statement indicates serious illness, your documentation should support this and be from the period in which you are requesting an appeal
   2. Such documentation should support why you were unable to withdraw on time, as well as why you could not complete your coursework for the semester under consideration
   3. Examples of appropriate documentation: Accident/Police Report, Death Certificate or a letter from a Physician, Therapist, Social Worker or other professional who can speak to your situation in an official capacity
   4. Requests submitted without proper documentation cannot be reviewed and will be returned or denied
4. For each course, secure the approval of the instructor and department chair (Approval can be secured via SFSU email and those emails should then be included as part of your documentation)
   1. If the instructor is not available (that is, retired, no longer teaching at SFSU), please indicate this and send your appeal to the department chair
      1. In these cases, the chair is able to sign for the instructor
5. Submit all required items outlined in the Appeals Checklist to the Registrar's Office
   1. Email: registrar@sfsu.edu 
   2. Fax: (415)338 0588

Please note: Appeals that are incomplete or that are based on circumstances within your control will be denied. 

1. Complete and sign an Appeal to Withdraw From Semester (all courses) After Deadline form
2. Attach a brief statement (one page or less) outlining the nature of your request, including an explanation of the circumstances that prevented you from meeting the withdrawal deadline and completing your coursework
3. Attach documentation of serious and extenuating circumstances beyond your control, such as an accident, injury or illness, that clearly matches the time period for which you are requesting the withdrawal and supports your brief statement
   1. If your statement indicates serious illness, your documentation should support this and be from the period in which you are requesting an appeal
   2. Such documentation should support why you were unable to withdraw on time, as well as why you could not complete your coursework for the semester(s) under consideration
   3. Examples of appropriate documentation includeAccident/Police Report, Death Certificate, or a letter from a Physician, Therapist, Social Worker, or other professional who can speak to your situation in an official capacity
   4. Requests submitted without proper documentation cannot be reviewed and will be returned or denied
4. Submit all required items outlined in the Appeals Checklist to the Registrar's Office
   1. Email: registrar@sfsu.edu
   2. Fax: (415)338 0588 

After submission to the Registrar's Office, appeals for individual courses are decided upon by the academic administrator appointed by the president.

You will be notified by email about the outcome of your appeal.

An approved withdrawal will show as a grade of "W" on transcripts, future class lists and posted grades. 

If your request to withdraw from a course or courses was denied, you may appeal this decision by the last day of finals of that term. Submit a brief statement including the following to the Registrar's Office by the last day of finals: 

• Student's first and last name
• Student's SFSU ID number
• Current email and phone number
• Department(s) and course number(s) for each course that was denied that you are appealing.
• A clear statement of the rationale for your appeal. You may include documentation which you feel supports your request. 

Please submit any forms or documentation to the Registrar's Office 

• Email: registrar@sfsu.edu 
• Fax: (415)338 0588 

Depending on the basis and timing of your appeal, it may be reviewed by the Department Chair, the Registrar, the Vice Provost of Academic Planning and Dean of Undergraduate Education or the Board of Appeals and Review committee for a final determination. You will be notified by email about the outcome of your appeal. 

Undergraduate students withdrawing from all their classes due to a serious illness or accident during weeks 4-12 may appeal to have these withdrawals excluded from the withdrawal limit. For your appeal to be considered, you must: 

1. Submit requests to withdraw from each course using the online procedure described above in Request to Withdraw (weeks 4-12 of Instruction).
2. Submit a brief statement to the Registrar's Office, including the following:
   1. Student's first and last name
   2. Student's SFSU ID number
   3. Current email and phone number
   4. A statement as to the serious illness or accident which prevents you from completing any of your courses for this term
   5. Provide thorough and credible documentation supporting the serious illness or accident
3. Please submit requests and documentation to the Registrar's Office
   1. Email: registrar@sfsu.edu
   2. Fax: (415)338 0588. 

Your appeal will only be considered by the Board of Appeals and Review if all individual course withdrawals for the semester have been approved. You will be notified by email about the outcome of your appeal.