Non-Academic

If a student finds that they need to withdraw from their course/s for a non-academic reason after all the drop and withdrawal periods have closed, they may submit for a Late/Retroactive non-academic withdrawal. A late non-academic withdrawal applies to the current semester while classes are still in session while a retroactive non-academic withdrawal applies after the last day of current semester classes/for previous semesters. 

Non-academic withdrawals are considered appeals to the George Mason University policy and are reviewed carefully by the Office of Student Success and Academic Services. Non-academic withdrawals may be considered when there are extreme unforeseen and serious medical/mental health circumstances outside of the student’s control which prevented the student from dropping by the drop and selective withdrawal deadlines and/or attending all classes and completing the requirements. 

Late/Retroactive Withdrawals are NOT approved for the following cases

• Academic Reasons/Personal Preference: Students cannot request a withdrawal for reasons such as having an unsatisfactory grade or to avoid being terminated from the Costello College of Business or their specific concentration program. Students cannot request a withdrawal based on faculty member preference or time preference.
• Academic Standards/Student Conduct Violations: Students cannot request a withdrawal while having active violations on record.
• Reversal of Student’s Enrollment Choices: Students are responsible for their course registration and for all courses in which they remain officially enrolled after the drop period has ended.
• After Graduation: Withdrawals are not allowed for courses that have been applied to a completed degree. Once the degree has been conferred and the student has graduated, the transcript is sealed and not subject to alteration. 

Non-academic withdrawals are considered if the student experienced an extreme unforeseen medical/mental health or other emergency that prevented the student from dropping by the drop and selective withdrawal deadlines AND prevented the student from attending and completing assignments for the course/s. Students will need to provide verifiable, third-party documentation with the request. Such documentation is required of all students submitting requests to ensure equity and fairness. 

Withdrawals are typically allowed only for full semesters at a time (i.e., students must withdraw from all courses in the semester requested), unless the student is able to provide evidence and documentation of how the circumstance/s impact one or more courses but not all courses attempted within the semester. 

Exceptional circumstances include - but are not limited to: 

1. Medical & Mental Health Circumstances - Requests for withdrawals due to severe medical and mental health circumstances must be supported by relevant, dated, and signed medical documentation. The documentation must show a substantial medical change that arose unexpectedly after the drop AND selective withdrawal period has ended. If a student is seeking a partial withdrawal, the student must provide documented medical support of why the condition has only affected that one course (or courses) specifically and why it is not affecting the other courses. Otherwise, only a full withdrawal from all courses in a semester will be considered. If the medical condition occurred after the drop and selective withdrawal deadline, the documentation must provide evidence of what prevented the student from attending class and completing assignments. 
2. Employment - Requests for withdrawals due to increased or more stressful work-related reasons, including conferences and travel, are not considered valid. Only unanticipated and unavoidable changes in employment (for example company headquarters relocating out-of- state or a military or other deployment) that occur after the drop date and selective withdrawal deadline and which result in a direct scheduling conflict with all courses will be considered. These requests must be documented by the employer on company letterhead. An increased or more stressful workload is not considered a valid reason to request a withdrawal (see the University Catalog under "Academic Load"). NOTE: No course may be dropped for work reasons after 12 weeks or 4/5 of the term have passed. 
3. Other Extenuating Circumstances – Withdrawal requests for other types of extenuating circumstances may be considered. The student should describe the issue, and provide any third- party documentation that would corroborate the reason for the request. 

Requesting a Non-Academic Withdrawal 

1. Review the above guide and deadlines for non-academic withdrawals:
   • Completed requests must be submitted by the degree conferral date in the semester in which the withdrawal is requested.
   • Late requests, with supporting essay of what prevented the student from submitted the request by the degree conferral date, will be considered within three weeks of the degree conferral date deadline.
   • Requests submitted after three weeks of the degree conferral date deadline will automatically be denied, unless the student has verifiable documentation that extreme circumstances prevented them from meeting this deadline. 
2. Meet with a Business Academic Advisor to discuss the situation; we recommend that students do not wait until the end of the semester or further to discuss the possibility of withdrawals and they are free to meet with any of our advisors via appointment, drop-ins and email. 
3. All non-academic withdrawals require the following:
   • The Late/Retroactive Withdrawal Request Form
   • A written statement explains why you want/need to withdraw from your course(s); this would include extenuating circumstances and include a relevant timeline of dates of events which prevented you from either dropping or withdrawing from your course(s) by the semester deadlines.
   • All supporting documentation should also be included. Only written materials and verifiable, third-party documentation can be used to reach a decision. 
4. Submit your completed request with supporting documentation to busreqst@gmu.edu; incomplete requests will be automatically denied after 30 days. 

While requests are being reviewed, we recommend that students continue attending all classes in which they are officially enrolled and complete the required coursework unless they have received written approval that their withdrawal request was approved. If permission is granted, they will need to confirm that there are no holds on their record for the withdrawal to be processed. If denied, the student will receive an email notification regarding reasoning for denial and present the opportunity to appeal based on what areas need to be addressed or clarified. 

If granted a withdrawal, it will result in a "W" on your permanent record. These non-academic withdrawals do not count towards your allowed selective withdrawals or towards the Costello College of Business Termination Policies. Non-academic withdrawals do count towards attempted hours and may impact GPA and standing. Non-academic withdrawals are also not subject to tuition reimbursement; students are required to work with the Office of Student Accounts regarding tuition and fees.