Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the office of the Associate Dean,

My name is Chloe Reeves and I’m a second year Art-Sci student majoring in Global Development and History. I’m creating this petition for credit standing in regards to a course that I took last year in the second semester. In summary, I was very sick leading up-to and during the final exam which resulted in my failing grade.
I took HIST 105: Post-Confederation Canada and finished the course with a C+ after receiving a D- on the final. I want to state that this mark is completely out of character for me. Last year, I finished the first semester with a 4.0 GPA and I was succeeding in HIST 105 prior to the final, with the other lowest grade I received in that course being a B. Below are the grades I've received (from Solus and OnQ) on my finalized transcript for the first semester of last year (1), the second semester of last year (2), and the grade results of all my work in HIST 105 (3).

Fall 2023:
DEVS 101: A
CLST 102: A
GEOL 106: A+
HIST 108: A+
FILM 111: A-

Winter 2024:
HIST 105: C+
DEVS 102: A
RELS 137: A-
CLST 150: A+
HIST 231: A

HIST 105 Grades:
Assignment 1 “The art of the seminar question”: A
Proposal: B+
Paper: B+
weekly tutorial grades:
I received one B
I received one A-
I received seven A’s

Although my tests revealed nothing specific, the best description of the virus would be a severe and long lasting bout of stomach flu or food poisoning. I became sick early in the first week of April, 2024 and was so ill that I visited the emergency room on both the 7th and 9th for extreme pain, nausea, dehydration, and delirium. On April 9th I called my parents in my dorm room, believing that I was an intern at a hospital who needed to perform an operation on a patient; my parents immediately called me a cab to the hospital. Within the month of April I was unable to eat, drink, or properly sleep and lost over 15 pounds, prompting my parents to take me home early to recover. They brought me back to Kingston only to write the exam and move out of my dorm; I was still so sick that I was throwing up on the car ride home after move-out day. After the semester ended I saw multiple doctors about my ongoing symptoms; I’ve been diagnosed with Post-illness Irritable Bowel Syndrome and continue to have digestive issues which have prompted a referral to a gastroenterologist. Because of the severity of the sickness I did absolutely no studying or preparation for the exam; I had no energy or mental strength and was completely preoccupied. I do want to note that throughout the course I attended lectures, took detailed study notes, completed all readings, actively participated in every seminar I attended (I was absent for 1), and successfully completed all assignments, which I hope can attest to my usual standard of academic achievements.

Mr. Steven Maynard was my professor, and he’s offered me his support with this petition. I also have two separate hospital emergency records and a note from my family doctor, explaining the sickness and its impacts. I hope you can accept my petition as this failed exam has significantly affected my otherwise perfect GPA and academic record.

Thank you for your time reading this petition and for your consideration,

Chloe Reeves
23RYK@queensu.ca or chloechristianna@gmail.com