PETITION Guidelines
College of Nursing Undergraduate GEs or Prerequisite Course Requests
What it is: A petition is a brief letter, which states a specific request of the College of
Nursing’s Undergraduate Studies Committee (CoN UGS).
Why petition?
- Applicants: If you want to substitute a course for a prerequisite or to make the UGS mindful of a personal issue which impacts your application to the nursing major.
- Nursing majors: If you want to substitute a course not previously approved by the CoN for use as a General Education (GE) or Nursing major course. Only 4 credits of BSN level nursing course work may be substituted by petition
What to include: Be brief, but specific. Be sure to include demographic information such as your full name, current mailing address and phone number, and E-mail. State the reason for your request and include any supporting documentation. For GE and prerequisite substitutions, include a syllabus for the course that you would like to take or have taken and clearly indicate the GE category or prerequisite for which you are requesting the substitution so that the UGS committee may assess the equivalence of the two courses. Please include a sample of your writing from the course if you are requesting a Second Writing GE substitution.
When to complete it and where to send it: Please submit any letters of petition to the CoN. This will insure their arrival to the UGS committee.
- Applicants: Do not enclose petitions with your application, which is to be sent to The Ohio State University Professional Admissions Office and not to the College of Nursing. There is no absolute deadline for a letter of petition; however, it is your responsibility to submit the petition in a timely manner so that your request either coincides with or precedes your application submission. The major purpose of the petition letter is to allow the UGS to be mindful of your application plans, so that you are still considered as a potential candidate.
- Nursing majors: It is at your discretion when you want to petition non-College of Nursing GE(s), but remember to do this at least two semesters prior to graduation. Late petitions can be considered, but may delay your graduation. Nursing major course requirement requests should also be submitted in a timely manner, i.e., at least one, preferably two, semesters prior to the semester when the course is needed.
How will I know the decision on my petition? The UGS committee meets regularly every month during the academic year and will send you a letter or E-mail regarding their decision after the appropriate meeting. During the summer, all petitions received are answered at the end of the semester.
Other information:
Please contact the College of Nursing, Office of Student Affairs, Equity, and Inclusion at 614-292-4041 if you have additional questions. Address petitions to the Undergraduate Studies Committee:
Office of Student Affairs, Equity, and Inclusion
Newton Hall 106
1585 Neil Avenue
Columbus, Ohio, 43210-1289
Current RN to BSN student forms are found here.