Submitting an Appeal

The appeals process provides students an opportunity to request an exception to a college policy or procedure due to extraordinary personal circumstances. The college will accept an appeal in rare situations involving:

1. prolonged hospitalization or other serious illness
2. extreme emergency
3. death of an immediate family member
4. non-voluntary military activation.

Apart from these four situations, students are not eligible for appeals to be granted based on the Board of Trustees Policy of the college.

To submit an appeal, students must:

1. write a personal statement of the circumstances surrounding the situation, and
2. attach proof from health providers, clergy, attorneys or other professionals to the appeal application to verify the extraordinary circumstance.

Appeals may be submitted for the following reasons:

1. financial aid suspension
2. waiver of full cost of tuition for the third attempt of a course
3. permission for a fourth attempt of a course
4. withdrawal from a class after the posted deadline to receive a "W" grade
5. request for grade change from "F" to "W"
6. refund of tuition after the posted drop period

The appeal application must be complete with all supporting information attached.

It must be submitted in the Question & Answer Center, Daytona Beach Campus, (Bldg. 100, Rm. 112) or in the Falcon Center on any campus.

Incomplete applications without supporting documentation WILL BE DENIED.

Examples of acceptable documentation include:

• Dated and signed statements on official letterhead from an attorney, physician, or clergy verifying the extenuating circumstances and explaining why the student could not complete the course or semester.
• Legal documents such as:
• Court documents
• A death certificate
• Military orders

Issues involving the following circumstances ARE NOT considered extraordinary circumstances and will not be valid situations for appeal:

1. child care
2. transportation
3. employment changes
4. normal pregnancy
5. incarceration
6. disagreement with the instructor
7. difficulty learning the course material

Each student making an appeal must check with the Office of Financial Aid BEFORE submitting an appeal. This is necessary to be sure that the requested appeal will not cause unintended problems for their financial aid. Federal financial aid is governed by separate laws and rules. The actions requested by appeal may create problems for the student as it impacts financial aid.

Appeals Decisions

All appeals will be reviewed and processed in the order they are received provided:

1. The appeal application is complete
2. It is submitted by the deadline
3. All relevant supporting documentation is attached to the application.

Appeal decisions will be made as quickly as possible. Review of an appeal cannot begin until it is complete. Lack of documentation may delay an appeal from being reviewed. Some appeal decisions will require contact and verification with multiple members of the college community.

Appeal decisions will be sent to the student's FalconMail account.

Part of the decision process will be to review each appeal in relation to the disbursement of financial aid. State and federal financial regulations regarding student enrollment may impact an appeal.

All appeal applications and supporting information used as documentation are subject to verification for authenticity. If it is determined that documents have been forged or misrepresent the facts, disciplinary action will be taken.