Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dean of Academics and University Personnel,

I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Luke Barnes, and I am a first-year student in the Bachelor of Arts (Honors) program, majoring in Economics. I am writing to formally petition for a potential course adjustment during this winter semester. Unfortunately, I had attempted to make a course swap in SOLUS without knowing that course registration had closed just 2 days prior. I hope that I can be reconsidered and amended due to extenuating circumstances.

To provide context for this current situation, I had initially enrolled in the DEVS 102 (3.0) course for the semester. I had attended all the required lectures and completed the required coursework. However, as the first week had concluded, I decided that I wanted to look for a course that I could swap with the DEVS 102 class. Following a lengthy search, I noticed that the online variants of IDIS 199, as well as MUSC 171, ENIN 140 and HLTH 101 still had seats available in their respective classes. Once those courses were available, I did not hesitate to drop my DEVS 102 class in the hopes of successfully enrolling in one of those online alternatives. I intended to switch from DEVS 102 to either IDIS 199, MUSC 171, ENIN 140 and HLTH 101, as adding another online course that is aligned with my major would help mitigate some of the stress that university has brought me throughout the year. However, even though I could drop my DEVS course easily when I went to enroll in one of the four classes, I was prompted by a message implying that this transaction could not be completed. As my confusion mounted, one of my friends let me know that the window to add a course had closed just two days after I tried to complete this transaction. In the moments following that interaction, I panicked as it would mean that I would only be able to enroll in four classes in the winter term, meaning that I would fall below my 30.0 unit plan that I had set for myself before the academic school year.

I would like to acknowledge and hold myself accountable for the fact that it is my responsibility to keep track of crucial deadlines and processes, and I deeply regret my oversight that has led to this difficult situation. The reason why I decided to make the switch, and why I am writing this petition now is because enrolling in one of these four courses would ensure that I can make the most out of my winter academic term. My academic studies at Queen’s have always been and will continue to be my main priority of this university experience, so ensuring that I can enroll in a fifth course would mean that I will continue to challenge myself academically and going through the petition process has taught me valuable lessons regarding time management, and the importance of staying ahead of deadlines, and closures.

I kindly would like to ask for your consideration in granting me an exception to Queen's University’s course registration deadline policy, allowing me to successfully enroll in either MUSC 171, IDIS 199, HLTH 101, or ENIN 140. I completely respect and understand the fact that these decisions are not taken lightly, and I have learned a lot of lessons from going through this procedure. However, I believe allowing this change would be in the best interest of my personal academic development, as well as Queen's University’s goal to support student success.

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter. I appreciate your understanding and support through this difficult process. If there is any documentation or further information regarding this petition, I am more than happy to provide it. Thank you very much for your consideration, and I hope to find a reasonable resolution to this matter soon.

All the best,
Luke Barnes