Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of Academics,
My name is Aminah Beg and I am a Global Development major and Genders minor going into my fourth year. My student number is 20062159. I am appealing to late drop DEVS 305 from the Winter/Spring 2020 semester on recommendation from the DEVS department.
I wish to drop the course due to the extenuating circumstances of my mother being diagnosed with Stage 4 inflammatory breast cancer approximately around the end of March/beginning April, the results of which have directly affected my academic performance. At the time of her diagnosis, classes had just begun to move online and I was not able to initially go home to her for the period of end March-beginning July due to international travel restrictions placed in the United Arab Emirates, where she currently is. The severity of my mother¿¿s illness, the transfer to remote courses because of COVID, and the fact that I was isolated away from my family cause an insurmountable amount of stress, and I found myself being withdrawn from the DEVS 305 course. I am choosing to appeal only this course due to its coinciding timeline with my mother¿¿s diagnosis; whereas my other summer term courses had not yet started, or extended across the entirety of summer, giving me some more time to process the events going on. As it was around the end of the Winter semester, and the start of the Spring semester, this DEVS 305 was picking up in assignments and work and I couldn¿¿t mentally or emotionally keep up with all the submissions. I really thought that I would be able to keep up and hand things in on time, but I was not able to and it resulted in an overall ¿¿F¿ grade in the course.
My request is so delayed as my initial plan was to retake the course, but as the course has switched for the upcoming school year, I would be unable to do so and therefore am requesting an appeal to drop it entirely from my transcript on recommendation of the DEVS department during course enrolment. In regard to my course credits, I have already planned out my next steps as to how I am going to make up the credits lost from DEVS 305 in my upcoming final year of study. My mother¿¿s doctor has written a letter of supporting documentation, and while it was written while I was initially considering an appeal in July, she may be contacted to verify dates. Although the circumstance is still going on, now that I am with my mother and able to help take care of her, I am able to maintain a less anxious state of mind and have been able to focus on my studies more, in comparison to when I was separated from her at the beginning of her illness and treatments.

Thank you for your consideration,
Aminah Beg (20062159)