Petition & Appeals

A petition is a formal request for an exception to the normal rules and regulations of the Faculty of Music.  A student seeking exemption or other variations from degree requirements, academic regulations, examinations, and administrative rules should petition to the Committee on Academic Standing through the Registrar's Office to the Committee on Academic Standing by specified deadlines. The Faculty recognizes that an exception may be required in the face of unpredictable, exceptional circumstances.  In submitting a petition to have regulations waived or varied, students must present compelling reasons and relevant documentation. The Committee has the authority to grant exceptions and to attach conditions to its decisions. Students must consult with the Registrar's Office to ensure that a petition is clearly worded and appropriate. 

Petitions pertaining to Arts & Science courses should also be submitted to the Faculty of Music Registrar's Office. 

Students may petition their final grade and other matters concerning academic standing, such as a suspension from the Faculty of Music; this process is referred to as an Appeal.  Issues arising within a course that concern the pedagogical relationship of the instructor and the student, such as essays, term work, term tests, grading practices, or conduct of instructors, can also be petitioned. Students have 30 days from the release of the final grades to submit the petition.  Students are strongly advised to consult with the Registrar around the feasibility of filing an appeal.  All appeals require supporting documentation. 

Petition Form and Procedure

  • The student prepares a written statement, using the Petition form: 

    • stating clearly the special consideration requested;
    • stating clearly the reason(s) why the student believes an exception to regulations is appropriate;
    • and appending supporting documents (letters, medical certificates, etc.)

    The statement of the reasons should be clear and concise and should be no more than two pages long typed or legibly hand-written. This, along with the supporting documentation, should be submitted to the Registrar’s Office for consideration.

    Supporting Documents

  • The Faculty of Music will only accept medical documentation on the Verification of Illness or Injury Form.
  • If illness is being presented as the reason for the request for an exception or an accommodation, the claim of illness itself is not necessarily sufficient grounds to guarantee approval of the request. All cases are examined in their entirety before a decision is made:  an illness or injury’s duration and resulting incapacitation are taken into account along with other relevant factors in the context of the course at issue.  You should seek assistance from your medical care provider as soon as possible to validate the relevant day(s) of illness or injury on the VOI form.
  • If the reason for your petition is related to a disability, health concern or injury for which you are registered with Accessibility Services, you should submit a letter from your accessibility advisor. Students with chronic illnesses must provide medical documentation for the specific date on which the illness was acute, or a letter from Accessibility Services for those registered with them, confirming that they were seen at the time of the flare-up.
  • If you are submitting a petition due to a death, provide a death certificate or other proof of passing (e.g., newspaper article or obituary).
  • If you are submitting a petition due to an automobile collision, provide a collision report or police report.
  • If you chose not to report the incident to the police, you could provide a photo of the collision with the licence plate of your vehicle visible and a copy of your provincial vehicle/licence permit that includes your name, vehicle description and licence plate number. The photo of the collision must be the original photo file that includes metadata with the date the photo was taken and the camera information.
  • Non-Medical Documentation to Accompany Student Petitions
    • (This is not for use by Physicians, Surgeons, Nurse Practitioners, Dentists or Clinical Psychologists. Those practitioners must use the UofT Verification of Student Illness or Injury form.)
    • Non-Medical Verification for petitions

Deadlines

  • Extensions on Term Work – five business days after the last day of the examination period for the term in question (for term work during the Fall term, the deadline is five business days after the University reopens in January).
  • Missed Examinations – five business days after the last day of the examination period for the term in question (for December examinations, the deadline is five business days after the University reopens in January).
  • Withdrawal from course – Last day of the relevant exam period.
  • Final Mark/Academic Standing – Within 30 days of the release of final grades for the session.

Types of Petitions/Appeals

Re-marking Pieces of Term Work
An individual item of term work:
A student who believes that an individual item of term work has been unfairly marked may ask the instructor who marked the work for re-evaluation, within one month from the date of return of the item. In cases where the work was graded by a teaching assistant, the re-evaluation must be requested with the instructor. This process applies to any Music coursework completed during the term, including the following: mid-term tests, quizzes, presentations and assignments. The request to be re-evaluated must explicitly state the part(s) of the evaluation where they think additional marks are warranted and provide a rationale to support the request. The student must do more than simply assert that, “I disagree with the marking”, or that “I believe I deserve more marks”. The instructor’s re-evaluation may involve the entire piece of work and can result in a raised mark, a lowered mark or no change. 
 

Broader complaints about all the work and the instructor of the course
Any concerns beyond the instructor of the course for an individual item of term work, or for one that concerns the pedagogical relationship of the instructor and the student, are made by the student to the Committee on Academic Standing within 30 days of the final mark being released.
In cases of requesting a re-evaluation of an assessment, students will be asked to state explicitly the part(s) of the evaluation where they have evidence that additional marks are warranted and to provide a rationale for the request. In addition, the petition must include a summary of all previous communications with the marker and/or instructor. The Committee on Academic Standing will solicit an independent reader for the re-evaluation. In this case, the independent reader will be given a clean, anonymous copy of the work and will not know the mark previously assigned. The independent reader’s evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the marker/instructor’s original grading scheme and take into account the nature and level of the course. The independent reader’s evaluation will involve the entire piece of work and can result in a raised mark, a lowered mark or no change. The Committee on Academic Standing then has discretion in determining how this additional evaluation will be used in determining the final mark for the assessment in question.