Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Academic Petitions Committee,

My name is Cristina Soares and I am writing to formally petition for a late drop of ENGL 223 from my academic record, due to documented and verified extenuating circumstances that directly impacted my ability to complete the course.

On the evening of April 14th, 2025, I realized that I had mistakenly missed the final exam for ENGL 223. I had the exam scheduled for the following morning in all of my calendars, and when I checked Ventus to confirm the location that evening, I discovered that the exam had taken place earlier that day. I have never missed an exam before in my whole entire academic career, all throughout my undergraduate degree, high school and elementary school included, so I, panicked, immediately contacted my Academic Advisor, the Exams Office, my QSAS Advisor, as well as the course professor to see what could be done.

Over the following weeks, I secured professional documentation from my therapist confirming that I was experiencing high emotional and mental health distress during this time, from April 9th-19th, which included the date of the missed exam. My documentation was submitted on April 30th, and formally accepted and verified by the Academic Considerations team on May 8th, 2025.

However, despite explaining my situation clearly and expressing that documentation was in progress, my professor declined to accept any accommodations or offer an alternative path forward. I contacted her on April 30th — the official deadline for exam deferral requests — and asked if I could still write the exam now that documentation was ready. She responded that a deferred exam was “no longer possible,” despite the fact that the deadline had not yet passed at the time of my email. She then clarified that the deadline was at 9AM, when I had contacted her at 11AM. I followed all required procedures, met the deadline, and was transparent at every stage — but my professor refused to exercise any discretion, even with full knowledge that formal documentation and support were in place.

To make matters worse, my QSAS file was escalated to the Lead Advisor on April 28th, but I did not receive a response until May 15th — two weeks after the deadline had passed and after every possible resolution had been shut down. The Lead Advisor ultimately confirmed that my documentation qualified for a disability-related deferral — but by that time, there was nothing left to defer.

Despite doing everything in my power — immediately notifying all relevant offices, submitting documentation, proposing multiple solutions, and following institutional procedures — the outcome remained unchanged. The final grade of an F remains on my transcript, even though I was officially approved for consideration, support, and deferral. This experience has been incredibly demoralizing. I want to emphasize that I was never trying to avoid responsibility. I was simply trying to correct an honest mistake made under extremely difficult mental health circumstances. I engaged in good faith, acted quickly, and exhausted every available path.

Since then, I have completed a summer course (DEVS 220) that has been approved as a replacement toward my degree. I am kindly requesting that ENGL 223 be removed from my academic record so that this isolated and documented incident does not prevent me from completing my degree requirements or graduating on time.

Throughout this process, I was incredibly fortunate to have the incredible guidance and advocacy of my Academic Advisor, Jenna Kring, who helped me navigate every step, from organizing documentation to communicating with faculty and support offices. Her compassion and persistence made an otherwise isolating and stressful situation feel manageable. I truly don’t know how I would have gotten through this without her consistent support.

Thank you for your time, consideration and for reviewing the following documentation included:
Academic Consideration Approval (May 8th, 2025)
Medical documentation from my healthcare provider (April 30th, 2025)
QSAS Support Confirmation (May 15th, 2025)
And other correspondence with Academic Advising, QSAS and Professor Heather Evans.