Advising and Petition Forms

This form is for students with a primary major in the College of Humanities & Fine Arts (including exploratory track students).

Late Course Add Petition Form

This form is for students with a primary major in the College of Humanities & Fine Arts (including exploratory track students).

Prior to submitting this form, please review and explore the following:
If you are a full time student and this course withdrawal will put you below 12 credits, you should speak with the following applicable campus offices to understand the possible implications for your student status:

• University Health Services
• Bursar’s Office
• Financial Aid

Late Course Withdrawal Petition Form

Attendance and Performance Verification Forms may be requested by emailing the HFA Advising & Career Center at advising@hfa.umass.edu.

This form is for students with a primary major in the College of Humanities & Fine Arts (including exploratory track students).

When to Use This Form

Fall/Spring: If you wish to take more than 19 credits. (Dance and Music majors have special exceptions and are allowed to register for 20 and 21 credits respectively without an Overload Petition.)
Summer: If you wish to take more than 8 credits in any session.
Winter: If you wish to take more than 4 credits.

Instructions

Please fill out this form completely and make sure to include the personal statement. This should explain why the overload is both desirable and possible. An academic dean will consider your GPA, the number of credits you have successfully completed in the past, the specific courses you wish to take, and how close you are to graduation.

Qualifications

Cumulative GPA of at least 3.0; no unresolved INCs; no academic sanctions (academic warning, probation, reinstatement from suspension or dismissal); additional course(s) must be appropriate. Students in the first semester of their first year are NOT eligible for a credit overload.

IMPORTANT

This petition will not affect the 19-credit limit for confirmed registration prior to the start of the fall/spring semester. Even if your request is approved, the request can’t be activated in SPIRE until closer to the beginning of the fall/spring semester (August/December); thus, you will not be able to add the overload course(s) before then. Spring semester requests may be held until after grades are posted, so petitions reviewed in December may be tabled until January.

Further Information

You are advised to add the courses that may be most important to your academic plan now in case they are full by the time a decision is made. You will receive the dean's response via your UMass email. Please email advising@hfa.umass.edu if you have any technical issues and/or are concerned about whether the form went through. Do not resend unless instructed to do so; submitting multiple forms slows down the processing of your request.

Petition for Overload of Credit Form

This form is for students with a primary major in the College of Humanities & Fine Arts (including exploratory track students).

Note: The following do not constitute grounds for a late elective pass/fail:

• Concern over academic performance in the class, effect on GPA, and prospects for acceptance to other institutions such as law school, medical school, graduate school, etc.
• The course is not/no longer being taken to fulfill any specific requirement(s)
• Medical or family emergency (a late withdrawal may be possible)
• Instructor support for the request
• Change of major
• Lack of awareness of the deadline
• No previous history of utilizing the elective pass/fail option

Petition for an Exception to Pass/Fail Regulations Form

Please know this is a Foreign Language Proficiency Test request form, we are not able to test in all languages, and some languages restrict the testing process. Email advising@hfa.umass.edu if you have questions.  Request for a Foreign Language Proficiency Test Form