Requests for Academic Relief: Policies and Guidelines
Thomas E. Cook Counseling Center
Virginia Tech
240 McComas Hall
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0108
Phone: (540) 231-6557 Fax: (540) 231-2104
Requests for Academic Relief: Policies and
Guidelines
• Requests for academic relief will be reviewed
by the Academic Relief Committee at the Thomas
E. Cook Counseling Center.
• In order to qualify for a recommendation the
student must have documentation showing that he
or she has a significant psychiatric or
psychological problem which has substantially
interfered with the student meeting his/her
academic responsibilities.
• Extended illness with evidence of psychiatric
or psychological treatment on campus or off,
periods of hospitalization for psychiatric
treatment, or evidence of psychiatric illness
with related treatment by a qualified health
professional may justify a recommendation for
academic relief.
• It is understood that students may be involved
in many situations that are stressful or
distracting that interfere with studying and
other academic responsibilities. Stressful
events such as a death in the family, ending a
significant relationship or anxiety about family
problems or other major life decisions may
affect the student’s academic efficiency or may
have led the student to seek counseling.
However, this does not assure that the student
will qualify for a recommendation for academic
relief. If the student does not qualify, the
committee will notify him/her.
• The deadline for applications for academic
relief is one week before the last day of
classes. Under most circumstances
recommendations for retroactive course drops or
resignations are not considered. The committee
will consider circumstances where the student
was hospitalized or otherwise disabled at the
time when this decision would have been made and
missed the application deadline during the
previous semester. The student can apply for
retroactive academic relief within 30 days of
the beginning of the subsequent semester or 30
days after the student returns to the
university. Former students who do not plan to
return to Virginia Tech can also apply for
retroactive relief.
• The committee reviews records at the Cook
Counseling Center. Other documentation from off
campus professionals should be provided to the
Chair of the Academic Relief Committee for
consideration prior to the committee meeting.
Applicants may be interviewed by the committee
to clarify information in their request or to
consider other alternatives.
• If the committee decides that the student
qualifies for academic relief, a recommendation
letter will be written to the student’s dean.
The committee may offer suggestions as to what
action the dean might take such as dropping a
course, being allowed to take incompletes,
delaying exams or in some cases resigning from
school, while the final authority and decision
for academic relief remains with the dean.
• Before a request for academic relief can be
considered, students are required to have the
“Advisement for Academic Relief” form signed by
their academic advisors to determine the impact
this academic relief may have on academic plans.
• Further information about academic relief as
well as all necessary forms can be found at:
www.ucc.vt.edu.
Revised 12/04/06