How to Fill Out and Submit the USF ARC Petition Form

The USF ARC petition form is the online request undergraduates use to ask the Academic Regulations Committee for an exception to an enrollment deadline or academic standing rule. You file it through the Archivum portal inside MyUSF, attach a personal statement and supporting documents, and the ARC in your college decides. One thing to settle before you start: an approved petition changes your academic record only. It does not refund tuition, protect scholarships, or waive federal aid repayment. Those are separate processes with their own forms and deadlines.

What the ARC Can Actually Decide

The committee’s authority comes from USF Policy 10-006 and USF Regulation 3.018, and it is limited to a specific list of requests.¹ Grade disputes, degree audit changes, and fee refunds go elsewhere.

Late add, for adding a course after drop/add. These are only processed during the second week of classes; nothing is reviewed after that.¹
Late withdrawal from one or more courses after the withdrawal deadline (typically around the tenth week of fall or spring) due to extenuating circumstances.²
Total withdrawal from all courses in a semester.¹
Withdrawal limit exemption if you have already used your allowed course withdrawals and the standard withdrawal deadline has not passed.³
Reinstatement after academic dismissal or when your USF GPA is below 2.0. You must be reinstated through this petition before you can register again.¹

What to Gather Before You Open Archivum

An incomplete packet gets kicked back for more information, and that restarts the clock. Pull everything together first.

Personal Statement

Explain what happened, when it happened relative to the semester, and why normal channels could not solve it. Be specific with dates and tie the circumstances to the exact courses you are petitioning about. A general description of stress or a heavy schedule will not carry the petition.

Instructor Documentation Form

For a late add, this form captures the instructor’s approval to join the class after the deadline. For a withdrawal, it records your last date of attendance and participation. Download it from the ARC forms page and send it to your instructor with enough lead time for them to complete it before you submit.⁴

Medical Documentation Form

If health is part of the reason, the ARC medical documentation form must be completed and signed by a medical doctor, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, psychologist, counselor, or social worker.⁵ You can flag the petition as containing sensitive personal information so it is handled through the confidential SOCAT process rather than routed through the usual college reviewers.⁴

Other Supporting Evidence

Not every hardship is medical. The committee also accepts documentation of transportation difficulties, homelessness, family crisis, or the death of a close family member.⁴ Police reports, court documents, letters from employers, obituaries, or eviction notices all work when they line up with the timeline in your statement.

Submitting Through Archivum

All undergraduate ARC petitions are filed online through the Archivum portal, which you reach through MyUSF.⁴ The student information section asks for your USF ID (U-number), your name, an external email, and a phone number.⁶

When you start the petition, select the type and the term it applies to. Upload the personal statement, the instructor form, the medical form if relevant, and any other evidence in one submission. Once filed, the petition routes to your college’s ARC representative, who checks the packet and sends it to the committee. You receive the decision by USF email, and approved changes are processed to your record.¹

Money the Petition Does Not Fix

This is where students get caught off guard. An approved ARC petition adjusts your academic record. It does not touch tuition, Bright Futures, federal aid, or Florida’s excess credit hour rule.

Fee Refunds Need a Separate Petition

The Fee Adjustment Committee is a different body. If you want fees reversed after an approved withdrawal, submit a Fee Adjustment Request Form to aa-far@usf.edu within six months of the semester, with the signed, dated form and proof of the circumstances. Not knowing about the form, the process, or the time frame is not accepted as an excuse for missing the six-month window.⁷

Bright Futures Repayment

If you receive Bright Futures and drop or withdraw after disbursement, you owe money back based on the credits dropped, even if the ARC approved the withdrawal. You cannot receive future Bright Futures disbursements until the balance is cleared. Once you repay, the hours become available for future coursework. A Bright Futures/Florida Scholarship Petition can seek repayment relief in truly extenuating circumstances, but a waived repayment also means those hours are not restored for later use.⁸

Federal Aid and the Return of Title IV

A total withdrawal triggers a Return of Title IV Funds calculation. USF divides the calendar days you attended by the total calendar days in the enrollment period, excluding breaks of five days or more. Withdraw after the 60-percent point and you keep all your federal aid. Withdraw before it and the unearned portion is sent back to the federal government, which can leave you owing USF the difference.⁹ A “W” also counts as attempted but not completed credits, which pulls down the completion rate used for Satisfactory Academic Progress; falling below the SAP threshold suspends aid eligibility.

Excess Credit Hour Surcharge

Florida law adds a surcharge on undergraduate credits over a set threshold, and withdrawn credits can still count toward that threshold. USF warns against withdrawing after drop/add without talking to an academic advisor first, because the surcharge is set by statute and the university cannot waive it.¹⁰

If the Petition Is Denied

Late withdrawal, total withdrawal, and withdrawal limit denials can be appealed at the college level and then the university level. Reinstatement denials cannot be appealed through this process.¹¹

College Appeal

You have 15 academic days from the denial date to file a written appeal. An academic day is any day USF is open for business and delivering academic services, so holidays and official closures do not count. The appeal must include new documentation or show that an error happened during the initial review. Simply resubmitting your original argument will not succeed. Send materials to the same college ARC contact. For medical petitions handled through SOCAT, the Dean of Students or a designated confidential representative reviews the first-level appeal instead of the college.¹¹

University Appeal

If the college appeal is denied, you can escalate to the Dean of Undergraduate Studies by emailing ugs-arcappeals@usf.edu within 15 academic days of that decision. Include everything from the original petition and the college appeal, plus a new personal statement describing your current academic progress, your goals, a response to the college decision, and your argument for why the appeal should succeed. The Dean may request a meeting. This decision is final.¹¹

Veterans and Military-Connected Students

If you use GI Bill or other VA education benefits, contact USF’s Office of Veteran Success before filing an ARC petition. A withdrawal can change your enrollment status and trigger a VA overpayment. Students withdrawing because of military orders — deployment, reassignment, or training — should use the Military Withdrawal Form rather than a standard ARC petition and send a copy of the orders to the Office of Veteran Success. Activated National Guard and Reserve members use the Military Activation Form through the same office.¹²

1
University of South Florida. Academic Regulations Committee
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University of South Florida. ARC Petitions
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University of South Florida. How to Withdraw
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University of South Florida. ARC Student Resources
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University of South Florida. Academic Regulations Committee – Forms
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University of South Florida. USF Academic Regulations Committee (ARC) Petition Form
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University of South Florida. Fee Adjustment Requests
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University of South Florida. What Happens To My Bright Futures if I Drop Classes?
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University of South Florida. What Happens If I Drop, Withdraw Or Stop Attending?
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University of South Florida. Excess Hour Surcharge
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University of South Florida. ARC Appeals Process
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University of South Florida. Office of Veteran Success Forms