Mental Health Appeal Instructions for Students

Follow these directions if you would like to submit a mental health appeal for the following situations: late withdrawal, retroactive withdrawal, reversal of dismissal or readmission. 

• Obtain required supporting documentation:
  • Obtain written documentation (i.e., a letter) to support your mental health appeal from your licensed mental health provider (therapist/counselor, psychiatrist, psychologist, primary care physician, etc.). The letter must be on official letterhead and should state the following:
    • Time period during which the student was treated.
    • Frequency of treatment (i.e., appointments took place once a week, once a month, in-person, or virtually)
    • Diagnosis or presenting problem
    • Explanation as to how the diagnosis/presenting problem impacted the student’s ability to attend class or successfully complete course(s) for the semester(s) appealed. If the student is appealing only some courses within the same semester, the letter should explain how/why their mental health condition impacted their performance in some courses and not others.
  • If student was admitted to a hospital where treatment was received, then student should provide a copy of the hospital record showing dates of admission.
• Complete the appropriate form:
  • Fill out the following form: Committee on Course and Standing Appeal or Readmissions Application.
• Submit form and supporting documentation:
  • If student has an assigned counselor, then they should email all of the above documentation back to their counselor.
  • If student has not been assigned to a counselor yet, then email all of the above documentation back to the Counseling Center at counseling@qcc.cuny.edu . The Counseling Center will reach out to the student and will assign a counselor to the student, who will virtually “meet” (i.e., via Zoom) with the student and will review the documentation and any other required paperwork.
• Submitting the appeal:
  • Once the Counseling Center (i.e., counselor) deems that the student’s mental health appeal is complete, the Counseling Center will email the appeal form along with a Letter of Support and Letter of Confirmation to the appropriate committee. The supporting documentation will remain in a secure remote (online) location, which will be accessible only to the Counseling Center. Supporting documentation will be released to the Appeal Committee upon request.
• Checking the status of the appeal:
  • The student will be notified of the outcome of their appeal by the appropriate committee.
  • The committee will email/call the student on the contact information provided in the appeal form.
  • The Counseling Center will not have any knowledge of the status of the appeal.