Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am requesting aergotat status for the following FALL 2020 courses: DEVS 392, DEVS 492, HIST 295, RELS 393. The one course from the FALL 2020 semester I am not requesting aergotat status for is FILM 303, which I was able to work with the professor previously to adjust my grade. All the classes I am requesting aergotat for have a C- or lower currently. I believe the quality of my work was good, but because of my extenuating circumstances I was not able to complete all the course work. In this letter I will first explain the circumstance which lead to my inability to complete all my course work, followed by why I am requesting to waive the appeal deadline. I firmly believe that if my appeal is granted it will make a huge impact on my ability to pursue my future academic and career goals.

During the second half of the Fall 2020 semester, I dealt with a complicated family issue. My brother had to be hospitalized and all my attention was focused on my family. Because of the pandemic I am living at home with my parents and siblings, so I was not able to remove myself at all from the situation, which grew increasingly stressful. This resulted in me not being able to complete a large portion of my course work. In January 2021, I reached out to the Academic Considerations office and was able to get approval for accommodations that would allow me until early February to complete the missing course work. My family issues caused long-term stress which made it emotionally and mentally taxing to complete all my course work. I do feel the assignments I completed more accurately reflect my level of understanding and proficiency in the courses. Many of the courses had time sensitive assignments such as discussion posts or large final papers that would normally take a long period of time to write. Because of my extenuating circumstances, these types of assignments were just not possible for me to complete while maintaining my personal wellbeing and staying on track with my Winter courses.

Although I was able to complete most of my missing coursework from the Fall semester, I was attempting to complete the missing assignments while still staying on track with my Winter courses so that I would be able to graduate on time. This essentially cause me to become extremely burnt out. Despite my extenuating circumstance being technically ¿over¿¿ in terms of paperwork, I was still struggling to cope with the trauma of it all. Once the deadline passed for me to submit assignments from Fall in early February, I had to focus all my attention on catching up in my Winter courses. By the time I got my grades back I was fully focused on my Winter courses to graduate on time this spring, which was difficult as I was behind in most of my courses due to having to focus on my Fall courses during the first month and a half of Winter semester. During the many conversations with academic advisors, aergotat was never once mentioned as an option. One of the main reasons I did not apply for aergotat sooner was simply that I had never heard of it, and I was so completely burnt out mentally from my personal and academic circumstance that I did not have the energy to dedicate to looking into my options. I was also still waiting to receive my updated grade from one of my professors. I have only just received the grade from him on June 9th, which is when he recommended, I apply for aergotat. Simply put, the chaotic start to my semester snowballed into an extremely stressful semester that was only made worse by the current pandemic. These reasons have cause me to overlook the aergotat deadline.

Since I have had some time to clear my head and restore my mental well-being, I am now hoping it is possible to waive the deadline and seek aergotat status. Because of the family issues I faced throughout the Fall, and Winter I was not able to apply to graduate school, specifically to get a Bachelor of Education. I have always wanted to be a teacher, but my circumstance in the Fall that affected my grades may prevent me from achieving this goal. I strongly believe in myself and my ability to overcome the last year of struggle and pursue a life in education and academia. If my appeal were to be approved, I would be one massive step closer to my life-long goals.