The following terms are used throughout the Academic Policies and Procedures section.

Urgent. An event that happened after or immediately before the deadline, typically mid-semester or shortly thereafter, that was reasonably unforeseeable and beyond the student’s control. This event must have either prevented the student from meeting the deadline or significantly altered the student’s ability to successfully complete the class. Consideration will be given if the event or condition occurred before the deadline but significantly worsened after the deadline and the worsening of the condition prohibited the student from successfully completing the class.

Substantiated. The student must have credible documentation to corroborate the claims made in the appeal. This documentation may include, but is not limited to, documents from a law enforcement agency, court, or other governmental agency, hospital records or signed statements from physicians, and the bereavement records or obituaries.

Non-academic. The reason must be related to some issue outside the normal academic work, such as the onset of a major illness, accident, or sudden death of a family member. Any reasons having to do with the actual performance in the class will be considered academic.