Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

My name is Savannah Summers. I have been awarded a position at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre as part of the Political Studies internship program taking place in the winter semester; however, I am doing a joint-honours degree in pols and psyc and have realized there is an overlap in the POLS 598 (internship) seminar time with one of the two weekly lectures in PSYC 203, an important prerequisite research methods course. The PSYC 203 lecture is at 11:30-1pm on Thursday and the POLS598 seminar is from 11:30-2:00pm, meaning I would be missing the PSYC203 lecture on Thursdays. Important to note; however, is that these POLS598 seminars will be occurring roughly 3-4 times in total meaning I’m only missing a few PSYC203 lectures. I have spoken with peers who have done PSYC203 and they have said that much of the course information is online. As well, I am more than willing to go in for extra help and put in the extra work to make sure those couple of missed lectures do not have any detriment on my ability to participate and do well in PSYC203.

I am very excited for the opportunity this internship presents, and it is very unlikely next year will have the same outcome. Equally, as a third-year psychology student, it is necessary that I take PSYC203, as it is a prerequisite for the majority of third year classes, and it is not offered at any other time of the year. I tried to take it last year but couldn’t due to my major not being declared properly, and it is impacting my courses this year.

I have emailed with the undergraduate chair of psychology and they will not allow me to enrol in solus while there is an overlap. I understand their position but find that my situation is unique and could be accommodated. This internship could affect my decisions and career after Queen’s, so I would greatly appreciate your help.

Thank you for your consideration,
Savannah Summers