Transfer course/Core course appeals. If a student has taken a course at another institution that has not been found to be equivalent on their transfer credit evaluation and the course is similar in content to a core course, the student can pursue the equivalency by obtaining a copy of the Petition of Transfer Credit at the Registrar’s Office, Hunt Hall 146, or online. A course description or syllabus should be presented with the petition if possible. The department that teaches the course will determine the equivalency. In the case where a course equivalency is not determined by the department where the course is housed, a student may appeal to the College Petition Committee; however, without support of the department the petition is not likely to be successful.

Students can petition to have up to six hours of "D" grades transfer for degree credit. The petition form is available online or at the Registrar's Office, Hunt Hall 146.

Course substitution in a major/minor. The course substitution form can be picked up in the department or the dean’s office. If the student took the class at another institution, the student should provide a detailed course description or syllabus to the department.

Financial Aid Appeals. The form may be picked up at the Financial Aid Office, Hunt Hall 114 or online. The student should complete the appeal form, attach their supporting documentation/letters, and take it to the Dean’s Office, Old Main 525. The Dean’s Office reviews the form, makes a recommendation for the college on the appeal, and forwards it to the Financial Aid Office. The student should check with the Financial Aid Office to determine when the committee will meet to hear these appeals and the deadline for turning in the appeal to the Dean’s Office.

Petition to the Committee on Academic Standards. This form is available in the Dean’s Office or the Registrar’s Office or online. This committee is charged with recommending policies concerning grading, examinations, academic probation and exclusion and related matters; reviewing the effectiveness and enforcement of these policies; and adjudicating petitions for readmission and variance to academic policies. Normal types of appeals to the committee would be for exception to academic policies, such as early readmission from suspension or dismissal, late selective drops, withdrawal after the deadline, waiver of the residency requirement (to take more than 12 hours by transfer or 6 hours by correspondence in the student’s last 30 hours).

Overload petitions. If a student wishes to take more than 18 hours but less than 22 hours in a regular semester or 7 hours in a summer session, s/he must complete a request for a semester overload in the Dean’s Office (MAIN 525). The usual rules to have these overloads approved are that the student must have a cumulative gpa >3.00. If the student does not have the required gpa, s/he must be in their last semester for graduation. The Dean’s Office may also approve 13 hours for a student who is on academic warning. Students wishing to take more than 21 hours in a regular semester or more than 7 hours in a summer session must seek the approval of the Academic Standards Committee by filling out the overload petition form.

General Petition. This form may be picked up in the Dean’s Office or online. It is used for miscellaneous appeals, such as an exception to the 8-hour rule, substitution for core, requests to have a foreign language 1003 count for degree credit when it would normally not, exceptions to the 24 or 40 hour rule. Generally speaking, a student’s chance of success is enhanced if the need for the appeal is because of a documented advising error or in some cases if a student is within 1-3 hours of graduation credit for their degree. In the case of substitution for core, successful appeals usually involve either a documented advising error or an appeal because a student has taken a similar, broad higher level course (for instance, asking to have Survey of Art History I & II count for Art Lecture credit) or a student who has more than one class in an area (such as a previous Architecture student with a couple of design classes appealing for fine art credit).

Scholarship Appeals. If at any time you suspect that a student is in danger of losing a scholarship, please send them right away to talk to the Office of Academic Scholarships, Old Main 101. Students have the opportunity to attend classes on campus during the summer to try to meet scholarship requirements. If a student has already lost a scholarship, s/he may write a letter of appeal to the Scholarship Review Committee. This committee meets irregularly and requires as much documentation as possible of things like illness, death of family member, etc. The letter should be mailed or delivered to the Office of Academic Scholarships, Old Main 101. If the appeal is denied, the committee will advise the student of what they need to do in order to have the scholarship reinstated later. If at any time a student regains the hours/gpa needed for the scholarship, they should write a letter of appeal, and the scholarship may be reinstated.

Appeals through the Office of Admissions. There are two committees through which students may appeal transfer of credit (for D’s), degree seeking status, or denial of admission based on transfer gpa or not meeting freshmen admission requirements. In some cases, a student must submit a petition form that is not currently available online but can be picked up in the Admission’s Office. Wendy Stouffer (575-6870, wstouff@uark.edu) is the contact person for these appeals. Here is additional information on what each committee determines:

FCATC (Faculty Committee on Admission of Transfer of Credit)
• Makes decisions on “Old” D Transfer Rule petitions (pre 2004)
• Makes final decisions on Transfer Freshmen (TF) denied because transfer work less than 2.0, New Transfers (NT) and Returning Transfers (RT) deny petitions
• Makes recommendations regarding admission for New Freshmen (NF) and Transfer Freshmen (TF) (who do not meet freshmen requirements) manual review files
• Makes decisions on Dually Enrolled applications where student does not meet admission requirements

Chancellor’s Third Level Committee
• Makes final decision on New Freshmen and Transfer Freshmen manual review files
• Reviews “reconsiderations” of New Freshmen and Transfer Freshmen files
• Appeals for degree-seeking status (Do not require a petition form) .