Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 11765
Submitted: April 19, 2024 at 4:33:58 PM
First Name: Joud
Last Name: Qumizakis
Pronoun: She/ her
Preferred Name: Joud
Student Number: 20305550
Email: joudqumizakis@icloud.com
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: Political Studies
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: MATH 121
Term: Summer
Year: 2023
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Level 1 Status
Status: DeniedLevel 2
Appeal Type: Level 2
ID: 271
Submitted: May 30, 2024 at 10:42:27 PM
Relevant Petition: 11765
Decision(s) Being Appealed: Drop a course after the academic deadline: MATH 121, Summer 2023
Appeal Grounds
Appeals to the Board of Studies must include a letter based on one or more of the Grounds for Appeal (Appeal Regulation 3.4). What are the grounds you are basing your appeal on?
- The Associate Dean's decision did not follow the rules of procedural fairness. A breach of procedural fairness includes such things as the Associate Dean failed to:
- Make a reasonable decision in your appeal. A “reasonable” decision is one that is based on evidence, thought out and supported by facts and logical inferences from the facts. To be reasonable, the decision must contain adequate reasons for the conclusions.
Appeal Grounds Details: The dean's decision was unreasonable due to the assumption it made about my condition during the course without adequate evidence. Despite relying on my medical documentation and personal account, the decision wrongly presumed that my disability posed a consistent challenge throughout the entirety of the course. It's important to note that my disability doesn't progress linearly; rather, it fluctuates, with periods where I am healthy and able to function normally, alternating with periods of chronic symptoms. Throughout this course, I was well and healthy, and I was capable of keeping up with my work and writing the midterm. It wasn't until July 13 (almost a month after the drop deadline), when I first started experiencing exacerbated symptoms and reached out to my QSAS advisor for assistance.
Appeal Letter
Appeal Letter: To whom this may concern,
I am writing this appeal after my appeal to the associate dean was denied.
I believe the dean’s decision makes assumptions about my state during the time of the course and my ability to complete my work. The dean stated in her decision the following: “As you were aware of the academic impacts that your circumstances had on this course prior to the drop deadline of the Summer term.” I believe this is inaccurate for the following reasons. This assumption is presumptive as it concludes that because I was aware of my medical condition prior to the deadline, I had ample time to drop the course during the drop period. This is simply not true as my disability fluctuates and I cannot predict how healthy I may be at a certain point in time. It also does not account for the complexities and challenges that I face in managing my condition, which made it difficult for me to take the necessary steps to drop the course within the allotted time frame. Although I was managing my disability throughout the summer, my symptoms did not become exacerbated until late July (as proven by emails with my QSAS advisor which I have attached with my petition for further reference). The email I sent to my QSAS advisor was following a meeting I had with her in July to discuss my exam deferral. For the first 2 months of the course, I was able to manage the workload and navigate the course material. However, it was not until the final exam period, which was well past the drop deadline, that my condition began to worsen. Had I felt like I was unable to continue the course earlier I would have definitely dropped the course at the appropriate time. As I felt capable in my abilities up until that point, I had no reason to drop the course and I believe I deserved an equal opportunity to do my best like my peers. Also, I know I would not have continued the course had I known the severity of my situation as it would have had no benefit to me. This is proven by my situation the semester prior where I knew I was not feeling well, so I dropped the course at the appropriate time. Perhaps this was not made clear enough in my petition. I always familiarize myself with the academic deadlines and up until the original drop deadline I felt good to continue the course. I now realize that my petition would have benefited from a timeline to accurately depict my situation.
The dean’s decision also states that I was appropriately accommodated by the instructor which I agree was the case during the period of the course. However, I had originally agreed with the instructor that I would defer the final and we would set a time for me to make up the exam. Shortly after, I emailed the instructor to inquire about making up the exam and never received a response (I have included a copy of the email I sent with my appeal). It was around this point that I realized I was not well enough to continue the course and the stress triggered my disability once again. I realize this is a shortcoming on my behalf as I sincerely forgot to include this in my original petition and the dean could not have known had I not mentioned it. As you can imagine all of these factors placed severe stress on me and my ability to continue the course which was when I reached out to my QSAS advisor asking her about the procedure to drop a course late (copy of this email also attached). I believe it is truly unfair to expect students to predict that they may not be well in the future and to make decisions based on that. In fact, this does not make sense to me and if we followed this belief, no one who struggles with a disability would be able to achieve anything. I truly tried my best and tried to persevere through the course and I am disappointed that a situation out of my control hindered my ability to continue the course at an inconvenient time. I think it is also important for me to mention that I struggle to express my thoughts and feelings at times so I apologize if my writing is unclear. So please let me know if anything I have said seems unclear as I am happy to clarify or expand on these points further as needed.
I am writing this appeal after my appeal to the associate dean was denied.
I believe the dean’s decision makes assumptions about my state during the time of the course and my ability to complete my work. The dean stated in her decision the following: “As you were aware of the academic impacts that your circumstances had on this course prior to the drop deadline of the Summer term.” I believe this is inaccurate for the following reasons. This assumption is presumptive as it concludes that because I was aware of my medical condition prior to the deadline, I had ample time to drop the course during the drop period. This is simply not true as my disability fluctuates and I cannot predict how healthy I may be at a certain point in time. It also does not account for the complexities and challenges that I face in managing my condition, which made it difficult for me to take the necessary steps to drop the course within the allotted time frame. Although I was managing my disability throughout the summer, my symptoms did not become exacerbated until late July (as proven by emails with my QSAS advisor which I have attached with my petition for further reference). The email I sent to my QSAS advisor was following a meeting I had with her in July to discuss my exam deferral. For the first 2 months of the course, I was able to manage the workload and navigate the course material. However, it was not until the final exam period, which was well past the drop deadline, that my condition began to worsen. Had I felt like I was unable to continue the course earlier I would have definitely dropped the course at the appropriate time. As I felt capable in my abilities up until that point, I had no reason to drop the course and I believe I deserved an equal opportunity to do my best like my peers. Also, I know I would not have continued the course had I known the severity of my situation as it would have had no benefit to me. This is proven by my situation the semester prior where I knew I was not feeling well, so I dropped the course at the appropriate time. Perhaps this was not made clear enough in my petition. I always familiarize myself with the academic deadlines and up until the original drop deadline I felt good to continue the course. I now realize that my petition would have benefited from a timeline to accurately depict my situation.
The dean’s decision also states that I was appropriately accommodated by the instructor which I agree was the case during the period of the course. However, I had originally agreed with the instructor that I would defer the final and we would set a time for me to make up the exam. Shortly after, I emailed the instructor to inquire about making up the exam and never received a response (I have included a copy of the email I sent with my appeal). It was around this point that I realized I was not well enough to continue the course and the stress triggered my disability once again. I realize this is a shortcoming on my behalf as I sincerely forgot to include this in my original petition and the dean could not have known had I not mentioned it. As you can imagine all of these factors placed severe stress on me and my ability to continue the course which was when I reached out to my QSAS advisor asking her about the procedure to drop a course late (copy of this email also attached). I believe it is truly unfair to expect students to predict that they may not be well in the future and to make decisions based on that. In fact, this does not make sense to me and if we followed this belief, no one who struggles with a disability would be able to achieve anything. I truly tried my best and tried to persevere through the course and I am disappointed that a situation out of my control hindered my ability to continue the course at an inconvenient time. I think it is also important for me to mention that I struggle to express my thoughts and feelings at times so I apologize if my writing is unclear. So please let me know if anything I have said seems unclear as I am happy to clarify or expand on these points further as needed.
Documentation
Document: Emails-3.pdf