Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,
I am appealing for the credit standing in CHEM 311 (Fall, 2020) and CHEM 313 (Fall, 2020). The current grades are D- and D, respectively. The reason why I find it necessary to apply for the credit standing is that I consider my situation while taking this course compromised by my father's medical condition and was beyond my control.
My extenuating circumstance is the medical condition of my father during the fall semester, 2020. Around mid-August my father was diagnosed with Spinal disc herniation and Hyperuricemia, and was soon accepted to the hospital on August 16th. By that time, I had not started my semester, and his condition was still in control. He was discharged from hospital later. In September while my remote courses started, I was able to perform normally academically. However, in late September, my father's condition did not become better. He was advised to have people looking after him during the day time. I was in China back then and am still in China now, and there is a thirteen-hour time lag during September and October, and a twelve-hour time lag after November 1st. Therefore, the daytime was supposedly free of remote courses for me, and I was able to collaborate with the doctor's orders to care for my father. There were some sensitive issues via my father's physical condition, and he insisted on having close family members looking after him only. Due to this, I did not hesitate to help my father when he was in such a special condition. I did not sleep enough during the day and felt sleepy getting up at night for zoom meetings. But since the courses were still in the beginning phase, I still managed to do well as usual.
However, it is hard to fully recover from Spinal disc herniation only by surgery. He is advised to rest for at least two months. I had to watch him more closely during the day when my mom was working. While he was sleeping at night, we could have gotten some rest too, but I had to stay awake most of the time to have classes and study. Still, I tried to balance my daytime task looking after dad and my academic career, but at that time, I had been falling asleep in classes, thus having problems understanding some of the course material. I did not excel well in the following examinations either, and nearly fell asleep while taking quizzes. This led to the lowered grades of both CHEM 311 and CHEM 313, because they take steps to have a good grasp on knowledge, and I had a relatively poor basis due to sleep deprivation. Both CHEM 311 and CHEM 313 are core courses and prerequisites to other courses, so I could not drop them but have to try to finish them. If I had dropped them, I could not take the following courses in the winter semester and some advanced 4th-year courses as well. Consequently, I would have to delay graduation.
I did not think about quitting looking after my father to gain more time for study, because I was afraid he might not recover from his surgeries. Even when I was preparing for the final examinations, I knew I would possibly fail, but still tried my best to finish everything while prioritizing my father's health. I do not consider my Fall term failure because I managed to look after him and see him recover eventually.
The reason why I did not apply for this now instead of right after the semester is that, on one hand, I was not aware that my condition qualifies for requesting the credit standing; on the other hand, I did not have enough time looking for a solution to my extenuating circumstance until my father's recovery. The documents are all in Chinese but contains valid information for my father's medical condition.
There is no further work to be done regarding my father's health, as he showed signs of recovery since February, and was able to get his life back on track. I understand that normally my grade of CHEM311 and CHEM 313 may not be altered because they have come out in a few months. However, I do consider myself qualified for credit standing. Moreover, I have been doing well since my father's recovery, and gained better grades during the following Winter term. I sincerely hope to switch my grades of these two courses to credit standing. Lastly, no matter if I have acquired it successfully, my future plan will be to keep pursuing an excellent academic performance with my maximum effort.