Petitions

All student requests that deviate from the degree curriculum requirements outlined in the Guidebook must be made on a Petition form. The Petition form is available on the EpiCh Student Shared Drive or can be requested by emailing epichstu@umn.edu . Students should note that the process for approving a course substitution or waiver could take up to one month, so plan accordingly. 

Petition Procedure:

1. Obtain the course syllabi of the required course in your degree program and the proposed substitute course and a transcript on which the proposed course grade has been posted (if the proposed course has already been completed). 

2. Complete the Petition form with the following information in each section: • Briefly state the exception or approval to be considered: describe the course requested for substitution including the course title, number of credits, term and year taken, and the name of the institution where the course was taken. Also list the course/requirement in your degree program for which you are asking for the substitution. • Provide an explanation or reason to grant your request below: Indicate what skills and/or content overlaps between the required course(s) and the proposed substitute course(s). 

3. Compile the above materials and submit these materials to the EpiCH Student Services staff (epichstu@umn.edu) who will forward it to the appropriate Credentials Committee for review. The student will be notified via e-mail of the committee’s decision. 

4. If the substitute course is to replace a School of Public Health Core course (administration—PubH 6751, behavioral/social science—PubH 6020, biostatistics—PubH 6414/6450, environmental health—PubH 6102, epidemiology—PubH 6320/6341, ethics—PubH 6741, Foundations of Public Health— PubH 6250, there is an additional step to get School-level approval. To complete this next step, provide the materials to your EpiCH Student Services staff. Upon receipt of those materials, the staff will review the request with the Program Director and then if approved by the Program Director, the request will be forwarded to the SPH Student Services Center to be presented to the appropriate SPH Educational Policy committee members. The student will be notified via e-mail of the committee’s decision. If the Program Director does not approve of the request, the EpiCH Student Services staff will inform the student that the request will not be forwarded to the SPH Educational Policy Committee for review. 

For more information or to submit a petitions, please contact Epidemiology and Community Health Student Services at 612-626-8802 or epichstu@umn.edu