A student may petition for a Backdated Withdrawal from a course(s) or from the University (all courses taken during a term or session) if circumstances of a serious and compelling nature prevented the completion of course work and extenuating circumstances prevented a withdrawal by the deadlines on the Academic Calendar. If submitting a Backdated Withdrawal, withdrawal from all courses taken during the term in question is normally expected since extenuating circumstances are not course-specific.
Backdated withdrawal petition must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar with this form within 90 calendar days of the last date of examinations. Requests cannot be made for courses in which the final exam (or equivalent) has been completed. Requests submitted without supporting documentation, or incomplete requests, will not be submitted. Requests submitted outside 90 calendar days will not be considered.
For more information, see the “Academic Regulations and University Policies” section II. Registration, subsection J. Requests for Retroactive Registration/Backdated Withdrawals in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Deadlines to withdraw from a course without academic penalty are published in the “Undergraduate Sessional Dates” section of the Undergraduate Calendar.
A backdated withdrawal is a petition for an academic consideration. Students who are also requesting/petitioning for fee considerations must review the financial appeal procedure found at https://brocku.ca/safa/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2018_09_05_Fee_Appeal_FINAL.pdf
Please note, the academic petition and financial petition are two separate procedures. Once a decision on the academic petition has been made by the Office of the Registrar, requests for fee considerations will be sent by the Office of the Registrar to the Financial Appeals Committee.
All withdrawals are subject to a withdrawal charge, assessed as per the University’s withdrawals and refunds policies and procedures outlined at https://brocku.ca/safa/drops-withdrawals-and-refunds/
Please read all sections prior to submitting your backdated withdrawal request.
The following are not acceptable reasons for a backdated withdrawal and will be denied:
- You are not satisfied with your grade.
- You neglected to formally withdraw from the course(s) in question.
- You were not aware of the deadlines.
- You changed your major and are now working towards a major or degree that does not require this course.
- You chose to participate in non-academic activities which restricted your time for adequately managing the course expectations.
- You wish to obtain tuition relief (a backdated withdrawal is not a mechanism to appeal tuition charges).
If any of these situations match your circumstances, you will be automatically denied for a backdated withdrawal request.
Students may be a candidate for a backdated withdrawal if any of the following conditions are true:
- There was a documented administrative error that affected your enrollment.
- You have documentation of a serious illness after the withdrawal date that affected your ability to complete all of your coursework (note: an outline of your functional limitations must be included).
- You encountered a documented extreme and unusual circumstance which
- was beyond your control
- occurred after the withdrawal date
- could not have been addressed during the term in which the course(s) were taken
A request for a backdated withdrawal will be considered within 12 weeks of the last day of classes and must be supported by documentation for requests made on any grounds, including compassionate. Documentation must be official, substantive and clearly show why you were unable to meet the deadline to withdraw from your course(s). Acceptable documentation can potentially include one or a combination of the following:
- A letter from a division of Student Wellness & Accessibility Centre (ie. Student Accessibility Services, Student Health Services, Personal Counselling Services)
- A letter from your doctor (not a prescription) or recognized health professional
- An official death certificate, published obituary notice or original note from a funeral home citing your relationship to the deceased
- A copy of an airline ticket in your name
- An eviction notice
A letter explaining your circumstances is not acceptable documentation. Failure to provide any documentation will result in an automatic denial for your request. For health (including mental health) related circumstances, written statements and supporting documentation must outline your functional limitations keep you from completing your course(s), not simply that you couldn’t complete them.
Decisions are communicated to the student via their Brock email account. Generally, students should receive a reply within 30 working days.
Following a denial of a request, students wishing to appeal must submit a request for appeal to the Associate Dean of their Faculty. Requests for appeal must be submitted within 30 calendar days of the decision rendered and communicated by the Office of the Registrar to the student’s Brock email account.
Please use the following fillable webform to petition for Backdated Withdrawal: Backdated Withdrawal Form. Read the form over carefully before submission and be sure to have the following documentation ready. We highlight encourage students to write their written statement and scan all supporting documentation into one file for attachment. You must include the following:
- A written statement outlining the reasons for the Backdated Withdrawal request, including the reasons you were unable to withdraw from the course(s) before the academic deadline (including any functional limitations if you have a health/mental health condition);
- Steps taken to avoid a withdrawal request;
- Clearly indicate which course(s) the backdated withdrawal is requested from;
- Supporting documentation that directly supports the reasons you are claiming, and in accordance with the criteria noted on the form and in the Documentation section of this site.
You will receive a confirmation e-mail upon proper submission of the webform. If you do not receive this, you have not submitted correctly. Any follow-up questions can be sent to records@brocku.ca.
All Backdated Withdrawal requests must be signed and dated. Typing your name into the signature line in the fillable form is deemed to be a signature for digital submission purposes.
Acceptable documentation includes: scanned copies of original documents; documents produced with MS Word; PDF documents, and/or clear photos of documents. Again, please scan all documentation as one attachment and only submit one webform.