I got suspended and I’ve been out of uni for a year. Is it possible to come back the summer before fall. I just wanna be in school
hey there,
man, i’m sorry that happened. well, i have some good news: you might be able to come back to school if you’ve been suspended, by submitting a suspension petition. but before you even read this, i would highly recommend that you read through this page about suspension petitions on the artsci website.
now, i’m not sure what your exact situation is, but let’s walk through some general options that are available.
if you received a suspension due to your academic standing, there are two petition types you could look into: early return from suspension, or lift of suspension. meanwhile, if you received a suspension due to academic misconduct, you would not be able to submit either of these petitions.
1. one year suspension
if you’ve received a one-year suspension, u of t recommends that you submit a lift of suspension petition, since it’s not common to request an early return from this type of suspension. this is because the committee on standing expects that you would take a full year to reflect before you come back to school.
in order to make a strong petition to the committee on standing, make sure to reach out to your registrar, as they can help you with this petition. in the petition, you also want to show that you’ve been involved in substantial activities and academic planning, to demonstrate that you are ready to come back!
2. three-year suspension
if you’ve received a three-year suspension, you can submit either an early return or lift of suspension.
here are a few important things that the committee on standing will consider when making their decision. the first is how much of your suspension has already been served — i’m assuming that they would be more inclined to approve a petition if you’ve already served most of your suspension rather than if you’re only one year in. the second is what you’ve been up to during your suspension, and what plans you’ve set up towards academic success upon your return.
on top of the requirements described in preparing petitions, these plans and activities should be outlined in the “personal statement” part of your petition. you basically want to communicate why you got suspended in the first place, and how you won’t let that happen again if allowed to return to your studies. if you’ve taken a lot of time away from school already, you should also describe specific activities that demonstrate why you are ready to come back. this could look like taking classes somewhere else, or working to save up and free up time to focus on your studies in the future.
they also list a few questions that you should answer in your statement:
- what are the circumstances that led to your suspension? what impact did these circumstances have on you?
- if permitted to continue your studies, what is your academic plan going forward in order to be successful? consider addressing any patterns of unsuccessful terms/courses (e.g., repeated courses, credit/no credit or late withdrawal).
- have the extenuating (non-academic) circumstances that affected your performance been managed or concluded? if so, how?
- what would you change if you were permitted to continue your studies? consider addressing any campus resources or health supports you would access, or changes in your housing and/or financial situation.
- if you are petitioning for a lift of a three-year suspension, what steps did you take after your first (one-year) suspension to prevent an additional suspension?
overall, yes, it is possible to return to your studies, depending on your situation. i would say that professional academic advice is so crucial for this, so please, please, reach out to your registrar and read the full recommendations listed on the artsci websites that i’ve linked.
wishing you a successful academic comeback, i hope everything works out for you!
over and out,
aska