Academic Exceptions Committee

Description

• Membership

  Position and Term Length	Name	Term Expires
  Registrar; ex-officio	Ben Trout, Chairperson	*
  Staff member from Registrar's office serves as Secretary; ex-officio	TBA	*
  Dean of Graduate Studies; ex-officio	Carl J. Sheperis	*
  Financial Aid Office Representative	Lisa Schroeder	*
  Student Assistance Coordinator in the Dean of Students Office	Kelly Hojnacki, Student Advocate	*
  College of Business Representative** (3 years)	Ashwini Gangadharan	8/2028
  College of Education Representative** (3 years)	Roseanne Perkins	8/2026
  College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Representative** (3 years)	Lydia DeBiase	8/2028
  College of Visual & Performing Arts Representative** (3 years)	Russell Rober	8/2026
  Graduate Faculty Representative** (3 years)	Scott Tracy	8/2028
  Counseling Center Faculty Representative (2 years)	TBA	8/2026
  Student Representative	Richie Roccia	8/2026

  * Indefinite Term of Office
  ** Appointed by Committee on Committees

• Mission & Bylaws

  Academic Exceptions Committee Mission & Bylaws

• Meeting Times

  Meetings are scheduled as needed (see petition process below for upcoming schedule).

• Agenda & Minutes

  Minutes are confidential.

• Petition Process

  Academic Exceptions Committee Petition

  The Academic Exceptions Committee (AEC) meets once per month during the academic year.  Students are encouraged to meet with Kelly Hojnacki in Student Assistance for help in understanding the process and preparing their petition.  Ms. Hojnacki is located in 119 Stratton Administration Center and can be reached at hojnacki@kutztown.edu or 610-683-4075. Please meet with Ms. Hojnacki before submitting your petition.

  Petitions are submitted electronically through this link:  Academic Exceptions Committee Petition and must include:

  • The form, indicating your request
  • Your statement
  • Documentation to support your request
  • Support from a KU faculty or staff member
  • If you receive financial aid in grants or loans, you must meet with Financial Aid Services to ensure that the exception - if granted - will not result in financial repercussions whose severity might outweigh the positive effect of having your semester backdated

  Request:  Examples of requests include, but are not limited to:

  • An additional semester of academic probation for the (year/semester)
  • A backdated withdrawal to W grading from the (year/semester)

  Statement:  Address your statement to the "Academic Exceptions Committee" and explain:

  1. Why you wish to receive this exception;
  2. What was going on at the time that caused the need for the exception; and
  3. What you have done in the meantime or are doing now that will help you do better in the future.

  Documentation:  Must support/backup any claims you list in your statement as a reason why you are asking for an exception.

  Support:  You must get support from a KU faculty or staff member for your petition to move forward to the AEC.  Support should be emailed to Kelly Hojnacki in Student Assistance at hojnacki@kutztown.edu and include "AEC Petition Support" in the subject line. 

  Petition Deadlines:  Petitions must be submitted at least one week before the next AEC meeting.  Petitions submitted after the deadline will be deferred until the next meeting.  Petition submission deadlines for the Fall meetings:

  • September 10, 2025, for the September AEC meeting, taking place on September 17th, 2025
  • October 15, 2025, for the October AEC meeting, taking place on October 22nd, 2025
  • November 12, 2025, for the November AEC meeting, taking place on November 19th, 2025

  *An AEC appeal is not the same as a Financial Aid SAP appeal. You must appeal separately with financial aid to receive aid for the following semester, if applicable. This is extremely important.