An exception to any rule may be requested for cause by petition to the Faculty or to the Graduate School. Students should consult a faculty advisor who will present the petition to the faculty or route it appropriately. (Some petitions must be presented to a departmental committee (often, the Graduate Studies Committee) for a recommendation before going to the full faculty.)

Decisions made by individual faculty members or by committees may be appealed to the whole Department faculty. Normally, such petitions are brought to the faculty by the program advisor or by the Director of Graduate Studies.

Common petitions include the following:

• to take an exam (M.S. Comprehensive, Ph.D. Oral, Ph.D. Qual) for the third time.
• to be admitted to the Ph.D. program (if the student was not admitted at the time of the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam).
• to be allowed to retake a program exam without the required three-month waiting period.