Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,
Due to extenuating circumstances beyond my control, I am appealing to drop:
• RELS 250 (Fall, 2022)
• POLS 457 (Fall, 2022)
• POLS 383 (Winter, 2023)
• POLS 327 (Summer, 2023)
and to petition for a credit standing in:
• EMPR 210 (Fall, 2022)
• POLS 471 (Winter, 2023)
• POLS 402 (Summer, 2023)

After months of not seeing my family due to the 2022 covid restrictions, I saw them for the first time on May 2nd. On May 3rd, 2022, my dad was found in bed unconscious and taken to the hospital for liver failure. Doctors informed us that he was essentially brain dead and was only being kept alive by machines. Even with the unlikely chance of him waking up someday, he would have serious brain damage, and in need of 24/7 assistance, overall having a significantly poorer quality of life. Doctors informed us that we needed to consider what decision my Dad would want us to make and as a family, we all individually needed to agree to the same decision. In the end, he was taken off life support and passed away within a few hours on May 11, 2022.

For a long time, I blamed myself for his death, wishing that I had gotten him help sooner. The circumstances of my father’s death greatly affected my academic performance throughout the 2022-2023 school year. While I was grieving the loss of my father, it exacerbated my anxiety and ADHD symptoms, which significantly impacted my academic abilities. I was dealing with intense feelings of loneliness, sadness, fear and shame. This left me emotionally exhausted and burnt-out, leading to physical symptoms, like frequent headaches, insomnia, decreased appetite, and chronic fatigue.

I made efforts to reach out to professors during the school year to explain my extenuating circumstances, but felt that that there was not enough available support to help myself meet my academic potential. Usually, Professors would not provide accommodations if it meant going beyond the QSAS 7-day extension. For instance, in EMPR 210, I had received an A on all my tests and assignments, up until one assignment that I struggled to submit on time, which I ended up receiving a zero on, dropping my grade in the course from an A to a C. Similarly, in POLS 383, there was one assignment I struggled to submit on time, when I contacted the professor and explained the scenario, he told me I would need to contact a QSAS advisor, which I did, and then when I informed my professor that the QSAS advisor believed it was acceptable to allow a late submission, the Professor never contacted me again, so I was unable to submit an assignment that would have helped me pass the course. When professors view the 7-day extension as an advantage over other students, rather than providing fair treatment, it is difficult for them to understand that the QSAS extension isn’t in place to accommodate traumatic events. The 7-day extension is in place for students with disabilities under ordinary circumstances. The presence of anxiety and ADHD symptoms are ordinary circumstances, but these symptoms in combination with grieving the loss of a loved one are not ordinary circumstances. Another effort I made during the school year was dropping a course each semester so that I was only taking 4 courses each semester instead of my initial plan of taking 5 courses each semester, which I was hoping to make up for with summer courses. Then in January, I had an appointment with my family doctor where we discussed my difficulty managing my anxiety and ADHD symptoms, to which I was put on an increased dosage of my medication.

My future plan is to graduate by the end of the 2023-2024 school year. I made efforts this term to try to retake the courses I did not do well in last year, but there were only two courses I was able to successfully enrol in. I am on track to pass all my courses this semester, including the two courses I am retaking. I am still regularly meeting with a therapist to continue managing my anxiety and ADHD symptoms. I have noticed a significant improvement in my mental health during this semester compared to the last school year (when I was extremely burnt-out and feeling stuck), as now I am actively looking forward and feeling self-motivated towards my school work, and I feel confident about my academic abilities. After completing my planned courses in the Winter 2024 semester I will have completed the required number of credits to graduate.

Sincerely,
Allyson Hunt