Administrative Appeals

Administrative appeals are requests by students to the College administration to consider making an exception to policy or procedure due to extraordinary circumstances. Administrative appeals consist primarily of two types of appeals, detailed below, Administrative Withdrawals and Refund Requests.

The College is under no obligation to grant an appeal as any appeal is an exception to the policy or standard operating procedures. Circumstances that support an administrative appeal may include, but are not limited to unexpected/unscheduled:

significant illness, injury;
significant illness, injury, or death of an immediate family member;
legal matters that require students to be absent for significant periods during the term;
change in employment status or increased workload; and
other significant life events that impacted student ability to complete coursework or otherwise meet requirements of the College’s policies and procedures.

Administrative Withdrawal

An administrative withdrawal is a request to withdraw from coursework after the last day to withdraw and receive a grade of “W” as listed on the Academic Calendar (https://mercycollege.edu/academics/academic-calendar). An administrative withdrawal request may be considered in cases when a student can provide evidence of having experienced exceptional circumstances that significantly impaired their ability to complete coursework and prevented withdrawal from courses as described in the Withdrawal from a Course section in the College Catalog.

A request for administrative withdrawal will not be considered while a grade appeal, program dismissal appeal, or college dismissal appeal is in process.

Prior to requesting an administrative withdrawal, students will:

consult with their academic advisor, to discuss how this will impact their time of completion
consult with the office of financial aid, to understand any implications on their financial aid
review the Course Repeat section in the College Catalog
review the Student Military Leave Policy (if applicable) in the College Catalog
review the Voluntary Leaves of Absence section in the College Catalog

To request an administrative withdrawal students must:

complete the Administrative Appeal Request Form.
provide a letter that describes the extraordinary circumstances that prevented the student from requesting to withdraw in accordance with the current withdrawal policy. So that the College is able to properly analyze the appeal, it is important that this letter gives accurate details about the circumstances resulting in the appeal, the date(s) of the emergency situation, and an account of how the situation specifically prevented the student from withdrawing in accordance with the current withdrawal policy.
Provide objective supporting documentation as indicated below.

If students are requesting an administrative withdrawal from some but not all courses, the documentation must provide sufficient and appropriate rationale for the request.

Refund Request

Students may request a refund after the refund deadlines listed on the Academic Calendar (https://mercycollege.edu/academics/academic-calendar). A refund request may be considered in cases when students can provide evidence of having experienced exceptional circumstances that significantly impaired their ability to complete coursework and prevented withdrawal from courses as described in the Withdrawal from a Course section in the College Catalog.

A request for a refund will not be considered unless students have successfully dropped or withdrawn from the course in question.

To request a refund students must:

complete the Administrative Appeal Request Form.
provide a letter that describes the extraordinary circumstances that prevented the student from submitting a withdrawal request in the appropriate time to receive a refund. So that the College is able to properly analyze the appeal, it is important that this letter gives accurate details about the circumstances resulting in the appeal, the date(s) of the emergency situation, and an account of how the situation specifically prevented the student from submitting a withdrawal request in the appropriate time to receive a refund.
Provide objective supporting documentation as indicated below.

Required Documentation ALL documentation must: - be objective supporting documentation from a source other than students, a relative, or friend of the students; - indicate the event occurred or impacted students during the term students are seeking the appeal; and - include an email address or phone number that will allow verification of the authenticity of the document.
Circumstance	Required Documentation
Illness or injury to students	Documentation or a dated letter on letterhead from the attending physician containing: 1) nature of illness/injury; 2) dates; 3) severity of illness; 4) inability to attend school due to the condition; and 5) the date the physician recommended students stop attending classes.
Illness, injury, or death of immediate family emergency	Documentation or a dated letter on letterhead from the attending physician or hospital containing the nature of relative’s illness/injury, dates, and severity; or A death certificate or obituary notice.
Legal matters	Documentation or a dated letter on letterhead from a lawyer, court, or other professional/entity indicating the date of legal incident or proceeding that required students to be absent; or Documentation indicating dates of incarceration; etc.
Change in employment	Documentation or a dated letter on letterhead indicating change in employment status; or Documentation or a dated letter on letterhead from an employer indicating unexpected increase in workload.
Other significant life event	Documentation or a dated letter on letterhead that would prove an unexpected and serious life event occurred that impacted student ability to complete coursework or otherwise meet requirements of the College’s policies and procedures. An example is an Eviction/Evacuation letter or other documentation proving an unexpected change in residence.

Circumstances Not Sufficient to Support an ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL Include, But Are Not Limited to:

Dropping courses to avoid low grades
Dissatisfaction with instructor of course
Not being aware of add/drop deadlines
Late payment fees/charges
Lack of reasonable planning on the part of the student

College representatives from the Offices of Financial Aid, Business/Bursar, Student Records, Academic Affairs, or College Administration may be involved in the review of administrative appeals.