Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am an Arts & Science Online non-degree continuing student registered with QSAS and currently living in Germany. I took an incomplete grade for WRIT 125 in Summer 2020, with the intention of finishing the work this semester (Fall 2020). I am asking for an additional term to complete the work, so that it will be due on April 30, 2021.

I have been dealing with autistic burnout since September, as well as quite a bit of stress from seeing numerous (mostly American) friends get sick in the pandemic. I have been able to complete the bare minimum of work for PSYC 100, my only Fall 2020 course, but I have not been able to complete the WRIT 125 work this term.

Additionally, I developed symptoms of COVID-19 on the evening of Wednesday, December 9 and tested positive for COVID on Friday, December 11. I was extremely careful to avoid infection, wearing masks whenever I left my apartment building. My husband was careful as well. However, we suspect that one of us was infected due to aerosol transmission or due to droplets hanging in the air that we inhaled. I am the only one who is clearly symptomatic, but my husband has been unable to get a test, so we¿¿re not sure whether I got sick from an unknown person, or whether he got an asymptomatic infection from an unknown person and then unknowingly infected me.

I am still sick with COVID now. I had to defer my PSYC 100 fall exam, which was scheduled for Thursday, December 10, because due to COVID, I had a headache so severe that I couldn¿¿t stand to look at the computer screen. I was barely able to email my professor and QSAS advisor. I am still experiencing quite a bit of brain fog, among other symptoms, and I am not able to complete schoolwork at this time. I do not know how long I will continue to be symptomatic. I am also required to isolate from my husband until 10 days since my positive test, so Dec. 21, which is extremely stressful for both of us.

I am attaching the letter that was given to me by the German public health authorities to confirm my positive COVID-19 diagnosis. Unfortunately, it is in German; I am not sure whether I need to find a translator, or whether you have a way to get it translated. QSAS can confirm that I have been experiencing burnout this semester, and that I have not been able to manage anything more than my PSYC 100 work.

I would appreciate it very much if you could give me until April 30, 2021 to complete my WRIT 125 work. I currently have an A+ in the course, and I would rather not see my hard work go to waste. I am aware that my instructors support my appeal. If I cannot have the deadline extended, I would like to get Aegrotat standing in the course, if that is possible. I have completed three of the five assignments in the course. I will have to write my PSYC 100 fall exam sometime on January 13-16, and I need to study quite a bit for that, because the burnout has interfered with my ability to take the comprehensive notes that I should be taking for PSYC 100. Having until the end of April to finish the WRIT 125 work would take quite a bit of pressure off and would make it easier for me to complete both the WRIT 125 work and the PSYC 100 studying.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Christine Hughes-Wiklund