Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean (Academic)

Dear Dean Stephenson,

I am appealing to drop the course CISC 223 that I took in the Winter 2021 semester. In this letter I will outline and address why I am appealing this specific course. The main reason being I fell sick during one of the coronavirus waves in Pakistan while a lockdown was being enforced. This happened in early March, not long after one of the employees in my house tested positive for coronavirus and was immediately let go. A few days later, I developed symptoms, thus I was put in isolation for 2 weeks under the assumption that I was probably positive for COVID-19. I was unable to get tested immediately due to the extreme wave of coronavirus cases in Lahore and a backlog at the testing facilities. During this time in isolation I was cut off from my family, extremely unwell & also had to submit two short term academic appeals for extenuating circumstances. Since I couldn??t really leave the house and get supporting documentation, I had to use the attestation form. I was unable to drop CISC 223 prior to the deadline mainly because I was doing well in the course and did not have any reason to drop it. However, due to the back to back absences being very close to the end of the term, a lot of work had piled up in 223 and also in my other classes. Despite my best efforts, I was not successful in catching up with all of it on time. I had to prioritize my immediate deadlines and the classes with bigger upcoming assignments/tests and try to work through the physical / mental pain. Subsequently, my work suffered in CISC 223. I am unable to list exactly what I missed because the onQ page is closed now, but from what I remember I missed two written assignments. Although my grade wasn??t completely doomed, I needed a certain final grade (CISC 223 is a prerequisite to multiple 3rd year classes) which could only now be achieved with an insanely high exam score. I decided to redirect the rest of my efforts to my other courses.

Regarding the matter of applying for this appeal earlier, I had not done so because of the sheer mental stress I had endured over the past few months. I wanted to catch a breather after my semester finished and thought I'd write this when I got back to Canada in the summer. However, my grandparents in Pakistan contracted COVID-19 a few days after my family and I returned to Canada. My father had to immediately catch a flight to Pakistan and since then I??ve had to take up his responsibilities like driving around my mom and siblings, or applying for my brother??s student visa for the UK.

I am not entirely sure what supporting documentation to provide, since my two academic consideration appeals were processed using a personal attestation. Kindly let me know how to proceed with this appeal. Although I am sadly not eligible to make the Dean??s List again, I??d still like to save my second year GPA.

Ahsan