ESS 126: The Green Petition

LAURA VOGT: Hello my name is Laura Vogt and I’m the Communications and Events Manager for Engineering Student Services. Welcome back to The (Not So) Secret Guide to Being a Berkeley Engineer. This week I’m excited to have one of our ESS advisers on the show, Olivia Chan. Olivia, please tell us a little more about yourself.

OLIVIA CHAN: Hi Laura! I’m excited to be here! So again, my name is Olivia Chan and I have been one of the Engineering Student Services advisors for 5 years now.  Actually, I just reached my 15th year of service with the UC system! Currently I advise EECS last name P-Z, Engineering Math Stat, and Environmental Engineering Science students.

LAURA: Today we want to discuss a new petition that the College introduced recently, which we call the Green Petition – for no other reason than the cover sheet is green. what is it, why would a student use it and what is the process. Why would a student use a green petition?

OLIVIA: Students would use the green petition if they want a late change to their schedule after the deadline but do not have an extenuating circumstance that would warrant using a different petition. The green petition allows for one late change to their schedule during their whole undergraduate career.  With this petition, they can request a late add or drop of a course or request to change their grading option after the deadline, if appropriate.

LAURA: What is a non-extenuating circumstance?

OLIVIA: A non-extenuating circumstance is basically something within one’s control. Forgetting to change a grading option before the deadline. Forgetting to drop a class before the deadline. The green petition was, in part, created to help alleviate stress when students enrolled in too many courses and didn’t take into account or realize the time commitment and workload of the courses on top of their non-academic interests. So…an example of why a student would use the green petition. Let’s say a student is taking 3 technical courses and a Humanities/Social Science course. The student discovers after Week 10 that the workload is not conducive to retaining information from all of the courses in order to do as well as the student had hoped.  As long as the student is still in 12 units which is the minimum units to be full-time for the College of Engineering and 2 technical courses, they can use the green petition to drop one of the technical courses or the H/SS course. Students who have been approved for a reduced course load by DSP or are in their final semester and on the degree list may take less than the 12 unit minimum.

LAURA: What do students do in emergencies or if they have an extenuating circumstance (death in the family, serious illness, etc)?

OLIVIA: They should first meet with their ESS Adviser to inform us of the situation.  Your ESS Adviser will walk you through your options.  For extenuating circumstances (basically circumstances outside of your control), you would have the ability to utilize the blue petition which is not a one-time petition.  Your ESS Adviser will let you know what you need to submit in addition to the blue petition before it will be brought to the Dean’s Committee for review.

LAURA: What is the first thing a student should do to see if they qualify to use the green petition?

OLIVIA: Make an appointment with your ESS Adviser or come by drop-in advising on Wednesdays from 9-11:30 am and 1-3:30 pm.  In your meeting, your ESS Adviser will help you determine whether you qualify for the green petition or if there are other options so you won’t have to use it.

LAURA: Once a student turns in a green petition what is the process?

OLIVIA: Once the student turns in the green petition, it is reviewed and a student will receive an answer normally within 3-5 business days by email.  Once approved, the change will be immediately entered into CalCentral and the student should verify that the change has been made. If the student has a simultaneous degree with another college, both colleges must be in agreement that the student is eligible for the change before it can be approved. The deadline for this petition is 4:45 pm on the last day of instruction.

LAURA: Is there any way for students to revoke the action of their petition and use it later?

OLIVIA: No. Not at all. This is your one time. Once students have decided to use the green petition and it has been approved, they cannot rescind the petition and ask to submit a new one. If the green petition is not approved for some reason, they may submit a new one.

LAURA: So a quick recap: The petition can only be used once during your undergraduate career, you have to meet ESS adviser to get the petition and make sure it will work for your and that there are no other special circumstances that need to be considered for your degree. Olivia, thank you for stopping by today and thank you everyone for tuning in. We’ll be back next week for the how to make the most of Dead Week.