Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean Dr. Jenn Stephenson and the Board of Studies,

Thank you for taking the time to consider this appeal for my academic dismissal from Queen’s University. I cannot say I was not surprised to receive a letter containing my dismissal. I’m writing this letter to you to hopefully be reinstated for the fall semester.

My first semester at Queen’s University started off rocky, which steadily started to affect my grades for the worse. While my resulting grade could only be contingent on my poor performance academically, I hope to give an explanation for my actions due to my circumstances. I applied to Queen’s University knowing I was about four hours away from home. While the workload was good and my teachers were fair, problems started to occur for me that I, unfortunately, didn’t take care of or deal with efficiently. The problem occurred when my aunt passed away while I was moving to school and I wasn’t able to attend it due to the distance. Since I couldn’t return home, I didn’t get to properly grieve her the way my ancestors do, and I was hearing more problems cropping up at home that I allowed to distract me (my sister's hospital stay after getting caught with illicit substances as well as my mother losing her job), causing me to not focus on my schoolwork. Due to these circumstances, I grew depressed and felt more alone than ever. I understand now (and then as well) that my professors were there and had contingency plans for these situations and that proper communication could have helped me during these times, or allowed me to take a leave of absence. I overestimated my ability to distance myself from my homesickness and didn’t get the help available to me from the University, wronging myself in the process.

I never had any friends while I was in high school and never made any during my first semester, leading me to spiral more. However, during my second semester, I learned to speak more and made great friends that helped with the loneliness. I started working harder though not enough to help myself from how behind I became in my first and second semesters. Queen’s University became a second place I loved to be and it would mean the world to me to be the first person in my family to complete a university degree here at Queen’s. If I am reinstated, I have an academic plan attached to keep me on track so that I may still graduate around a reasonable time.

I will focus more on my schoolwork, and manage my time properly. By this, I mean to have a proper work time schedule hanging in my room as well as notifications to keep me on track with quizzes. I will keep in contact with my academic advisor to look over my school plan, and make sure that I am on track as well as see them once biweekly to revise over the necessary period of time I will need. If a crisis occurs in my household, I informed my family to inform me on a need-to-know base to better keep my focus. As of now, I am waiting for a response from my insurance to sign up with a therapist to better help me during my schooling to prevent any of my bad study habits to occur. During schooling, I wish to join the study hall for BIPOC to receive help from other students as well as utilize office hours with my professors to gain guidance with my coursework. If I am to be reinstated, I will utilize to use the counseling services with the school's health plan to help me along with the online therapy.

I hope this letter helps to explain that my low GPA does not represent me as a bad student and I wish to be given the opportunity to prove my worth as a student in the upcoming fall semester. Don’t hesitate to contact me for any additional questions that I haven't answered in this letter or my academic plan. Thank you for considering this appeal and I wish you well.

Sincerely,


Erin Greene