Exceptions: Best Practices

Upon submission of a new exception request in CHER, advisors will first need to choose between two exception types: Functional and Curricular Exceptions. Following selection of the exception type, additional fields will display and format the information needed. 

Functional Exceptions

Exceptions that are verified by what is stated in the Bulletin. They are applied so that the AAR matches what is in the Bulletin.

• Example 1: A course appears on two course lists but can count toward only one requirement. The course appears on the AAR under Requirement A, but the student wants to direct it to Requirement B.
• Example 2: A student took Course X and Course Y. They can earn credit for only one of the courses. Currently, Course X carries credit hours, and Course Y does not carry credit hours. The student wants Course Y to be the course that carries credit hours.

Curricular Exceptions

Exceptions that cannot be verified by what is stated in the Bulletin. All curricular exceptions pertaining to majors, minors, and certificates must be approved by the DUS. Associated requests typically require decanal review and approval. In the majority of cases, the changes applied through curricular exceptions should be incorporated into program change proposals so that they can be included in future Bulletin entries.

• Example 1: A course is included on a major requirement's course list for the current academic year. A student completed the course during the previous academic year, and the course was not on the major requirement's course list for that academic year.
• Example 2: A new course has been offered for the first time and the DUS determines that it meets the learning objectives of a major requirement. The course is not on the course list.

Curricular Exceptions for Interdepartmental BA degrees

The College offers a range of interdepartmental majors for the BA degree. Examples include SOC/AAADS, POLS/ECON, and PHIL/REL. These majors require at least 42 hours minimum for the major and require at least 38 College Breadth hours rather than the regular 58 hours.

While a version of the major is listed under both departments (e.g., MATH/ECON and ECON/MATH), the department listed first is the governing department for the major. This means that the advisor will need to enter any exceptions for their version of the interdepartmental major regardless of what “side” of the interdepartmental major the requirement in question lands. To illustrate:

• If the student is an ENG/AAAD major: The English advisor would enter a curricular exception for a non-standard course to count toward the Literary History requirement (on the English “side” of the requirements)
• If the student is an AAAD/ENG major: The AAADS advisor would enter a curricular exception for a non-standard course to count toward the Literary History requirement (on the English “side” of the requirements)

While the governing department’s advisor needs to enter the exception, the DUS for that department’s portion of the major needs to approve the exception. This means, for an ECON/POLS or a POLS/ECON major, the ECON DUS would approve exception related to the ECON requirements of the interdepartmental major, while the POLS DUS would do so for POLS requirements.

When the interdepartmental major crosses advising offices, please include the other advising office on emails to the DUS when requesting an exception. To stick with our ECON/POLS and POLS/ECON example:

• The POLS advisor would cc the ECON advising office when asking for a POLS related exception to the ECON/POLS major
• The ECON advisor would cc the POLS advising office when asking for an exception to the POLS/ECON major

Including both advising offices on these messages ensures streamlined communication and more timely entry of the exception by the appropriate advisor.

Submitting Curricular Exception Requests

• In the Exception Request text box:
  • Explain the exception 
    • Any course directed by exception toward a major (not addenda) requirement will also be brought into the major hours and major GPA. If the exception request is to direct a course to a major requirement, it is redundant to request that the course will also be brought into major hours and major GPA.
    • When explaining the exception being requested, reference the requirement as it is listed in the Bulletin (e.g. Direct PSY-P 211 (4222) to count toward the Nature of Inquiry requirement in the CJUSBA). Please do not reference a course on a course list for a requirement (e.g. For the CJUSBA, please allow PSY-P 211 (4222) to count as an approved substitute for CJUS-P 290),  ask to allow PSY-P211 to count toward The Nature of Inquiry requirement.
• In the Exception Rationale box::
  • Why is the exception appropriate for the student?
  • Why is it appropriate for the curriculum?
• In the Additional Notes text box:
  • Optional notes

--updated April 9, 2025 / LS