Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To: The Associate Dean (Studies)

This letter serves as an appeal to waive the request to withdraw from studies for one year. My academic performance suffered during the last semester because my father became extremely ill. He and my mother were in a car accident in 2004. My mother passed away and my father became quadriplegic.
Although his condition has remained relatively stable over the last 11 years or so, he has had periods where his condition has been extremely poor and he was in and out hospitals. Since December 2015, the problems he was already facing have been escalating in nature. This includes extreme muscle spasms and pain, asthma, and sleep apnoea to name a few. These problems in combination with the almost non-existent health care facilities in Zimbabwe are deteriorating his quality of life and have made the last few months very stressful for my family as there has already been more than one occasion on which we did not think he would make it. I did get in touch with my professors last semester and was granted some extensions but I was still not able to perform academically and complete my course work because of my family situation combined with the poor internet connections in Zimbabwe. I have been working in Francistown, Botswana while also completing my degree because internet services there are far better. My father¿¿s health problems forced me to stay in Zimbabwe for an extended period of time during which I could not complete my work. Furthermore, on January 17th 2016, my personal belongings were stolen including my laptop and personal documents. I have also had to deal with this issue (i.e. making arrangements to borrow a laptop and retrieve my documents) along with these family problems. This was also very time consuming and stressful as things do not get done at a very fast pace here and the availability of alternatives like libraries or internet cafes are almost non-existent or very undeveloped. I am reluctant to withdraw from school as I would like to complete my degree by the end of the following academic year. I think I will be able to accomplish this as my marks from Fall 2015 indicate that I am capable of achieving relatively good grades and I intended to continue doing so had these difficulties not come up Please consider waiving the request to withdraw for one year as I am sure that I will be able to perform academically. I can provide documentation in the form of a police report showing that my personal belongings were stolen. I can also provide a letter from my father confirming that his health was compromised. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Yours truly,
Husbana Zulnawas
10026993