Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Faculty of Arts & Science
94 University Avenue
Dunning Hall First Floor
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6

To the Faculty of Arts & Science,

My name is Kiana Naser, and I am a fourth year Life Sciences student at Queen’s University. I am writing to you to request your consideration in my courses from the Winter 2024 term. I am asking the Faculty to consider the following, regarding my courses this term:

• WRIT 125: Drop a course after the academic deadline
• ANAT 471: Request credit (CR)
• HSCI 270: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of term work
• GLPH 487: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of term work

Within this letter, I aim to clearly explain the situation that took place this semester, and hope that you will consider this matter with patience and understanding.

Throughout my time at Queen’s University, my academics have always been my top priority. I have been a strong student over the years, earning high marks in my courses, and balancing a major in Life Sciences, and a minor in Music throughout my undergraduate degree. Alongside my schoolwork, I have engaged in multiple extracurriculars. I have taken on leadership roles as captain of multiple intramural teams, engaged in Queen’s EDII and politics clubs, contributing to making Queen’s an even more equitable and inclusive space, and volunteering with various organizations in Kingston. I have always been able to balance the different components of my life, to ensure that I am succeeding in school, and giving back to my community at the same time.

This semester, the quality of my coursework was massively impacted by my mental health condition. I was recently diagnosed with anxiety and OCD, but I was not able to seek proper psychological and pharmacological help. Due to long waitlists with psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists, I was not able to seek help on time, to be able to help me navigate life this semester. I am dealing with severe symptoms of ADHD, and again, was not able to seek any pharmacological aid to help me deal with it properly. Alongside dealing with the loss of a loved one, I was struggling to make it through every day this term. I tried to submit as many assignments as I could, but I struggled to communicate with my family, and my professors, regarding my situation.

Even so, I thought that I was doing well in my courses, with the assignments and exams that I had submitted and written. However, I was completely in shock when Winter 2024 grades were released this term. I was stunned to see that I had not passed my courses, and I feel extreme panic in this situation. I am extremely worried about this, as I have recently accepted a spot for law school in the fall term, and it has been a dream of mine since I was young, to attend law school. With these grades, I know that I will not be able to graduate in June, which is incredibly important to me, as it will deeply affect my future.

I am writing to you as a student incredibly concerned about my future career endeavours if I am not able to graduate this June. I have worked tirelessly throughout my undergraduate degree at Queen’s University as a pre-medical student, now entering a position in a law program this fall. I am extremely worried about the state of my graduation, as I know these grades on my transcript will have my offer rescinded, despite my other course marks, extensive extracurricular work within and outside of the Queen’s Community, and LSAT score. The past couple of months have been especially challenging for me, balancing my academic and prospective career life with seeking treatment for mental health challenges that have arisen over the past year. I enrolled in IDIS 199 Mental Health and Resiliency, which helped me to take some steps in seeking both pharmacological and psychological therapy, which proved to be extremely challenging. I have been working to bring myself to a healthy mental and emotional space in order to successfully apply and be accepted in law school, and I am deeply afraid that the situation at hand will impede that.

In this situation, I am writing to you to request the following considerations for my courses. I am requesting to drop the WRIT 125 course, as this was an elective course that I took this semester, for personal interest. Earlier this semester, I had applied to change this to a personal interest credit (PIC), but upon this change not being accepted, I would greatly appreciate if I could drop this course.

Next, I am hoping to request an appeal for credit standing in my ANAT 471 course, following a recommendation to apply for this appeal. The reason behind the low mark that I acquired on this course is a direct result of my final exam in the course. I was in communication with Dr. Mackenzie at the time, as the exam took place two days after the passing of a loved one in my family – and as a result, I performed extremely poorly on this examination. I know that I would have been able to excel on this exam, had I not been in the mental and emotional state that I was in at the time.

Finally, I am hoping to request a review of instructors' decisions on my coursework, for HSCI 270 and GLPH 487. After being in communication with my professors, they recommended that I submit this appeal, to support my resubmission of assignments in their courses.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and I hope that you consider this situation with sympathy and understanding to grant these considerations regarding my courses. I look forward to hearing from you in the coming days, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding my situation.

Best regards,

Kiana Naser