Administration Committee

Submitting a Petition

The Administration Committee meets weekly during the Fall and Spring semesters. All complete Administration Committee petitions should be accompanied by an Administration Committee Petition Cover Sheet.

Prior to submitting your petition, please gather the following documents for your petition packet.

• A completed Administration Committee Petition Cover Sheet
• Your 3 paragraph petition (in doc, txt or pdf format) outlining the details of your request. Please be specific in outlining the details of the request, including signing and dating the petition using the following format:
  • Paragraph 1: Clearly state your request.
  • Paragraph 2: Give a brief explanation as to why the request is being made.
  • Paragraph 3: Reference any accompanying documents. To see which documents are required for your petition, please see the  Petition Cover Form and the information below.
• All documents referenced in paragraph 3 of your petition.

To submit your completed petition packet, you will need to complete a form by following this LINK . Items accompanied by a red asterisk must be completed prior to submitting this form. Not all requested information is required.

Once in the form, you will need to:

• Select the role of “student” in the first drop down menu “Affiliation with Middlebury.”
• Select “Administrative Committee Petition” in the second drop down menu “Student Report Type.”
• Under “Description” briefly note what you are requesting in your petition. Please reference any documents that will be sent directly by someone else along with that person’s contact information. You may enter any additional information that you think may be relevant.
• Under Administration Committee Petition Details, select “yes” or “no” as appropriate to indicate what you are requesting in your petition. If you do not see your petition type listed, please indicate what you are asking for in the box “Petition Type not Listed.”
• Drag and drop all files you reference in Paragraph 3 of your petition. If any of the items referenced in paragraph 3 will be sent by someone else (e.g., letter of support from your Class Dean), please include a statement indicating the documents that will be sent under separate cover in the “Description” text box located at the top of this form along with the contact information of the person who is sending it. Documents sent in separately may be emailed directly to admincommittee@middlebury.edu.

The 2023-2024 Administration Committee is Co-chaired by Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Derek Doucet and Professor Marta Manrique-Gomez. Additional members, both voting and non-voting, include the following:

• Professor Erik Bleich
• Professor Erin Eggleston
• Registrar Jennifer Thompson
• Associate Registrar Claire Wilkinson
• Administration Committee Coordinator Angela Rheaume

Late Course Drop

This could be due to administrative error, exceptional personal circumstances, and/or significant injuries and non-chronic illness.

The deadline for dropping a class in the fall and spring semester is 5:00 p.m. on the final day of the eighth week of classes, and by 5:00 p.m. on the third day of winter term. After that, late course drops are only approved when truly exceptional personal circumstances are present; when temporary but exceptional medical circumstances are present (e.g. other than those that may be considered a documented disability, such as a significant injury or an extreme non-chronic illness); or when due to administrative error, the student is still technically enrolled in a class they have not attended past the first week. Students who wish to pursue a late course drop based on a documented disability (which may include conditions for which the student has received professional care but is not yet registered with the Disability Resource Center) should contact the Disability Resource Center. All students pursuing late drops should continue to attend their class until they receive an outcome from the Administration Committee.

Approvals for late drop request petitions are intended to provide relief from one academic course per semester, and are ordinarily only considered when a term is in progress.  Requests for late course drops as a way to remove an undesirable grade from the transcript will not be considered.

If you are considering pursuing a late drop, we encourage you to talk with your Class Dean and with your professor prior to submitting your petition if at all possible. Both can help you to determine if there are any other options that exist for you other than dropping the course. Your Class Dean can also give you some sense of the likelihood that your petition will be granted, and can help you plan accordingly. International students please consult with ISSS before submitting your petition.

If you do decide to petition for a late drop, your petition should be accompanied by the Administration Committee Petition Cover Sheet, and should include a thorough explanation of your situation, which will be treated with care and with respect for your privacy. The petition must also be accompanied by materials from the appropriate professionals with whom you have been working who can confirm your circumstances, such as your Class Dean, counselor, or medical caregiver.  It is not possible to approve late drops for exceptional personal or exceptional temporary medical circumstances without this verification. There is no fee charged for late drops under these circumstances.

Students who are petitioning for late drops of classes which they never actually attended (generally defined as having not attended after the first week) should have the course professor and advisor (just the professor for seniors) send a brief note to admincommittee@middlebury.edu confirming the last day of attendance in the class.  There will be a $50 charge for this late drop.

Reduced Course Load for Exceptional Personal Circumstances

Students who have exceptional non-medical/non-disability related circumstances who wish to petition to take two or fewer courses in a fall or spring semester do not need a drop card, but need to submit the Administration Committee Petition Cover Sheet, a petition clearly stating the request, a brief explanation as to why the request is being made, and reference to any accompanying documents. Depending on the circumstances, the petition should be accompanied by additional brief letter(s) confirming your circumstances from the appropriate professional(s), such as your student life dean or counselor. Students who wish to pursue two or fewer courses for disability-related reasons should contact the Disability Resource Center. International students who wish to take two or fewer courses in a fall or spring semester must also submit approval from International Student and Scholar Services.

Grade Change

Students who wish to pursue grade changes must meet with their professor. It is the professor who submits a grade change request, not the student. Grade change forms to be filled out by the professor and department head/chair can be found on the Registrar’s web site under Forms for Faculty. It is important to note that grade changes are not always granted by the Administration Committee, even with support from the professor. More information about the grade change process can be found in the Handbook under Academics: Grades and Transcripts. 

Waiver of Senior Year in Residence Requirement

An Administration Committee Petition Cover Sheet and petition are needed with a brief explanation of the request, statement of support from the adviser, approval from the Class Dean and a degree audit (found on the Registrar’s Web site under Forms for Students).

Key Deadlines to Remember

• Students may drop a course without penalty for any reason up until the end of the fifth week of classes in the fall or spring semester, and the end of the third day of winter term. Course drops for any reason after that date must submit their request to the proper office.
• Requests for readmission after academic failure or suspension must be received by June 15 for fall term and by November 1 for winter or spring term. This earlier deadline provides the needed time to process the request so that approved students can meet the November 15 registration deadline. Students found to be in academic failure in the spring semester and who request immediate readmission for the following fall must apply by July 1. Normally readmission is for fall or spring semester only. 

Readmission

When students have been withdrawn from the College for academic reasons, or have been suspended for conduct violations, they must petition for readmission to the Administration Committee (not the admissions office). The petition should clearly describe the circumstances that led to your withdrawal, what you have done since leaving Middlebury to address these issues, why you feel you’re  ready to return now, and what you will do if similar issues arise again. 

When petitioning for readmission after academic failure, you should also include an official transcript from an accredited 4-year college showing that you have been enrolled in a full course load of liberal arts courses (generally four) and have earned grades of B- or better in each course. 

When a student has been suspended for non-academic infractions, in some cases we only need a petition; in other cases, counseling or alcohol assessments may be required, and we’ll need to review this information with the counseling center and Class Dean to ensure readiness to return, and to develop plans to provide whatever additional support is recommended. 

Request for readmission after academic failure or suspension must be received by June 15 for fall term and November 1 for spring term. This earlier deadline provides the needed time to process the request so that approved students can meet the November 15 registration for spring term. It is important to note that these deadlines are extremely firm. As in many cases, a student’s difficulty at Middlebury is not based on academic ability but on ability to behave responsibly, communicate about challenges proactively, and meet deadlines, meeting the readmission deadline is generally seen as an important indicator of readiness to return. In cases where a student applying for fall readmission is planning to take summer classes, and therefore does not have a transcript to submit by the June 15 deadline, the petition should still be submitted by June 15; the decision will be tabled until the transcript is received later in the summer.  

Reinstatement

Students who are withdrawn from Middlebury and want to transfer in their remaining credits in order to graduate must apply for reinstatement (not readmission), as well as for a waiver of the Senior Year in Residence requirement. Required materials include a petition stating the request and a brief explanation of circumstances, and official transcripts for all remaining credits.

Outcomes

There are several possible outcomes of Administration Committee petitions.

1. Requests may be approved.
2. Requests may be conditionally approved; for example, Special Student status may only be approved on the condition that outstanding transfer credits must be submitted and finalized.
3. Requests may also be tabled. This means that the Committee is postponing a decision until they have more information about the request. They may require the student to provide additional information, or the Committee may seek it themselves.
4. Requests can be denied.

There is no external appeals process for Administration Committee decisions, but students whose petitions have been denied may revise and resubmit them to provide new information for the Committee to consider for subsequent review. Once the Administration Committee has reviewed the petitions, the Admin Committee Coordinator of the committee will notify each student of the outcome by letter, usually within a week. If time permits, the coordinator will contact the students with especially time-sensitive requests by email immediately after the meeting to share the outcome.