Petitioning

The Undergraduate Student Petition (USP) is used for the following requests:

• allowing UCSD, non-UCSD, and EAP courses listed on your transcript to count towards your major or minor requirements.
• exceptions to listed major requirements

Know How to Petition:

When filling out your petition, please be as thorough as possible, and remember to sign the form. Please list your current address, phone number, and email address on the form since this serves as a way for the department to contact you in case there is a delay in processing your petition. Completed petitions to be reviewed are to be turned in to the undergraduate advisor in CSB 140 for processing. Turn around time for petitions filed during the academic year is about 3 weeks.

Request: Your request should be stated simply and clearly, such as, "I would like to use Psych 101 as one of my Cognitive Science electives" or "I would like to substitute Math 355 taken at University X in FA04 for COGS 14".

Reason for the request: You should be explicit about the reason for the request. For example, "The content of course X I took at University Y is the same as what is presented in COGS Z ."

Additional documentaion: Depending on your request, additional documentation may be needed before your petition can be reviewed such a course syllabus, course description, or a short statement explaining your reason for the request. See the undergraduate advisor for more details as to which documentation you should submit.

Petitioning EAP Courses:

Students planning to study abroad through the University of California Education Abroad Program (EAP) are encouraged to obtain departmental approval in advance of their departure for any course work they wish to apply toward the Cognitive Science major. To initiate the petition process, students should meet with the undergraduate advisor in CSB 140 to obtain the necessary petition forms. Students should then compile a list of courses and course descriptions they would like to take during their time abroad and submit that material along with their petitions to the undergraduate advisor. It is recommended that students identify more courses than they plan to actually take, because not all courses will qualify for credit toward the Cognitive Science major.

The Cognitive Science major requires students to take a certain minimum number of courses in the department. Thus, students planning to study abroad need to anticipate that only a limited number of courses will be approved for credit toward the Cognitive Science major. Students may receive major credit for courses at foreign institutions that have been determined to be equivalent of either Cognitive Science courses or approved electives. The EAP office has a list of courses (EAP Coursefinder) with articulated equivalents for most campus departments, including Cognitive Science.

Lower Division Requirements

• If equivalent courses can be identified at the EAP campus, the student may petition to receive major credit for COGS 14 and 18.

Core Series

All students are required to take two courses in residence from each of the core series: COGS 101, 102, 107, plus they must take COGS 109. In addition, students are required to take two further core series courses such that they complete two of the core series.

• If equivalent courses can be identified, students may petition to take up to two core series courses outside the department.

Electives

• EAP students have the greatest latitude in taking their elective courses at another university. Any EAP course that is determined to be the equivalent of an approved Cognitive Science elective may be petitioned for major credit.

Request for an Incomplete Petition:

The Incomplete is intended for use when circumstances beyond a student's control prohibit taking the final exam or completing course work.

The Incomplete is not intended as a mechanism for allowing a student to retake a course. A student who has fallen substantially behind and needs to repeat a course can drop the course prior to the end of the ninth week of classes. Otherwise, the instructor will assign the appropriate final grade (D, F, NP, or U, for example). An Incomplete may not be used simply to allow a bit more time for an undergraduate student who has fallen behind for no good reason. It may be granted only to students who have a legitimate excuse.

The Process:

1. Students complete their portion of the request form, including the reason they are requesting the Incomplete. The deadline is the first working day after final examination week.
2. The instructor has the option to approve or disapprove the request and should state on the form how and when the I is to be completed. If approved, the instructor submits the form with term grade sheets.
3. Students must complete the work to remove the Incomplete on or before the date agreed upon with the instructor and in time for the instructor to assign a grade before the end of finals week the following quarter.
4. Failure to complete the work within the regulation time limit will result in the Incomplete lapsing to a permanent F, NP, or U grade.

Academic Senate regulations state that an Incomplete grade shall be disregarded in determining a student's grade-point average, except at point of graduation, when students must have an overall 2.0 (C) on all work attempted at the University of California. All work required for a degree must be completed by the end of the quarter the student filed for graduation. Students requesting an I grade the last quarter before graduation may have their graduation date delayed.