Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Office of the Associate Dean (Academic),
My name is Caitlin Nowak, student number: 20040304, and I am writing this letter to petition to drop a course past the official drop date. Due to my (continued) extenuating circumstances, I request to drop DEVS 280, winter term 2023, without academic or financial penalty. I understand that this petition is to request to drop the course without academic penalty, and that a separate request to appeal for a tuition refund will have to be made. I am only able to submit partial documentation of my extenuating circumstance at the moment of writing this petition and will explain the reason below. If needed, I will be able to submit further documentation of how these circumstances have affected my ability to address this situation in a timely matter.
February 22nd I received news that my father had died unexpectedly. I live in Spain, and, as the adult child of my father, had to travel to Canada in order to make necessary arrangements. I see, by referring back to my emails, that I initially reached out to my instructor, academic advising, as well as QSAS to communicate my extenuating circumstance between February 23rd to 26th. It was my initial intention to communicate my extenuating circumstances in order to see if it would be possible to continue at a later date, which is why I didn??t drop the course at that moment. But, I now feel that I won??t be able to continue my studies for some time. I realize now that I was in time to drop the course, but at the time I neither knew the cut-off date nor how impacted by this situation I would be.
February 26th I flew to Vancouver and the following day I traveled to my father??s place of residence where I was virtually without internet connection, as his home is in a rural area. In the time that I was there, I was trying to manage many things, and my health became an added issue. Due to my pre-existing medical condition(s), for which I am registered with QSAS, my health care specialist recommended a change to my medications, which, along with the expected stress of this type of situation, caused a significant lack in mental clarity and my ability to make decisions. This combination of factors led me to prioritize certain responsibilities in order to ensure specific issues were attended to. I decided to address the course at a later date, when I had arrived back to Spain. However, now that I have returned, I find that I continue to struggle significantly with the situation and the implications it has had on my health. I have been unable to concentrate sufficiently to request (or understand) information on how to proceed, and, until today, I have been lacking the ability to gather information in order to make this petition.
Attached, I can provide a copy of my father??s death certificate, which indicates the date I consider to be the last day I participated in the course. I can also provide my travel itinerary to demonstrate dates I was traveling and away from my usual routine and place of study. I am currently waiting to see my health care specialist, and any documentation that is needed related to medication changes and impacts this situation has had on my health will have to be submitted at a later date. My next appointment is April 11th, and I imagine it would take at least a week for her to provide a letter documenting everything from a medical perspective. However, I think the death of a close family member would likely make it difficult for anyone to manage all necessary details as well as their other responsibilities (family, work, school, etc.). In my case I feel the addition of travel and my medical issues have further complicated an already difficult situation, and, as I stated, I still feel I am unable to judge when I will be able to return to my studies, although I hope to be sufficiently recovered to start again in the fall semester of 2023.
Caitlin Nowak