Graduate Student Academic Appeals

The Graduate Student Appeals Committee (GSAC) is comprised of graduate students and faculty members. They are tasked with reviewing and adjudicating graduate student academic appeals; that is, appeals related to academic program requirements and university regulations and policies.

There are three categories of appeals that may be granted through an academic petition:

An appeal may be filed on the grounds that the normal faculty or university rules, calendar requirements and/or Senate-approved regulations have not been properly or fairly applied to your circumstances.
An appeal may be filed to request relief from a faculty or university rule, calendar requirement and/or Senate-approved regulation because of extenuating circumstances, such as medical or compassionate grounds.
An appeal may be filed to request a grade reassessment.

In each category of appeals, the GSAC will review your circumstances and supporting documentation and exercise its discretion to decide whether or not to grant the petition. Petitions will not be considered for students who have graduated from the university or who have left their studies at Laurier for circumstances that occurred prior to the granting of their degree.

Additional Supports

If you require additional supports in the context of an appeal, there are resources and services you can access as a student.

If, after reviewing the information provided, you require assistance with your petition, or clarification on language in the Graduate Academic Calendar as may be related to an academic appeal, contact fgps@wlu.ca. This should be requested prior to submitting your petition to your program/instructor(s) for comments and signatures.

The following two offices work closely together, and can provide consultation and support concurrent to the graduate student appeals process:

The Centre for Student Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (CSEDI) provides resources, supports, systems navigation, advocacy, and educational opportunities to all Laurier students (diversity@wlu.ca).
The Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management provides facilitation of the resolution of discrimination and harassment complaints, as well as support, and education (humanrights@wlu.ca ).

As a graduate student, you can also access mental health and counselling services (wellness@wlu.ca) and financial supports including emergency funding and financial literacy and planning (moneymanagement@wlu.ca).

General Process for Submitting a Petition

If you wish to appeal, you must:

Complete, print and sign the appeals form;
Obtain all required signatures (with comments noted by program representatives) and supporting documentation; and
Submit the entire petition to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at fgps@wlu.ca.
If the package is deemed incomplete, it will be returned to you and will not be reviewed by the GSAC until all required components are received, which may result in a delay until the next month’s GSAC meeting.
Decisions of the GSAC will be sent to your Laurier student email address within 10 business days of the committee meeting

Learn more about the appeal process.

Deadlines for Submissions

Petitions must be submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies with all signatures and supporting documentation at least 10 days prior to the GSAC meeting. GSAC meetings occur on the third Thursday of each month. Petitions received after the submission due date each month are not guaranteed to be heard until the following month.

Upcoming Dates for the 2022/23 Academic Year

Appeals Committee Meetings and Deadlines
Petition Submission Due Date	GSAC Meeting Dates
Feb. 3 at 4:30 p.m.	Feb. 17 at 2:30 p.m.
Mar. 3 at 4:30 p.m.	Mar. 17 at 2:30 p.m.
Apr. 7 at 4:30 p.m.	Apr. 21 at 2:30 p.m.
May 5 at 4:30 p.m.	May. 19 at 2:30 p.m
June 9 at 4:30 p.m.	June 16 at 2:30 p.m
July 7 at 4:30 p.m.	July 21 at 2:30 p.m
Aug. 4 at 4:30 p.m.	Aug. 18 at 2:30 p.m
Sept. 8 at 4:30 p.m.	Sept. 22 at 2:30 p.m

Deadlines for Types of Appeals

If you wish to appeal an academic decision, you must do so within six weeks of the date of receiving the decision.

Changes to registration status (full-/part-time, requests for leaves of absence) must be submitted six weeks prior to the start of the applicable term.

From the Calendar

Normally, students wishing to seek any kind of extension to program timelines must submit their request at least two months prior to the date when the work is due. This deadline may be waived in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the Chair of the GSAC. This would include degree or milestone time limits and coursework extensions.

Timeline

Appeals submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will be heard within six weeks of the filing of the appeal.

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