Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 1350
Submitted: August 11, 2015 at 11:42:47 AM
First Name: Robert
Last Name: Barnett-Kemper
Student Number: 6298953
Email: 9rb38@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BComp
Plan: CISC
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Waive the 21-day or one term deadline
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Robbie Barnett-Kemper, and I am a fifth year Computing student here at Queen's. I'm submitting this appeal for the 21 day deadline in connection with my appeal to be allowed to remain in my plan and graduate this year. It's been a difficult and busy summer that has kept me over-occupied.
When I received my grades for the past semester, I was assuming I would have enough credits to graduate. I was deeply involved in my sisters wedding as well as starting a summer business and didn't realize I would have to write an appeal in order to be allowed to come back and finish my last course this coming year. The letter of withdrawal arrived, and that was when I knew that I would have to appeal to remain in my plan. I contacted Spring Forsberg who was incredible at helping me create a plan of action to finish my degree. She has been instrumental in helping me and I thank her for it.
My appeal was also pushed further back because of my financial situation. My parents decided not to fund my room and board during the summer which has pushed me to work more at my business and find new sources of income to pay for rent and food. It's been a source of stress within my family that we haven't resolved and likely won't. I was working my normal job as a web developer, but I over-extended to include web design to get more jobs, which meant I had to learn how to do it in a professional context. This took a lot of trial and error in June and July to finish the work I took on.
This summer has been a learning experience of time-management and financial management. I'm hoping you will accept this appeal and allow me to present my appeal to remain in my plan for this fall to graduate with the one course I have left.
My name is Robbie Barnett-Kemper, and I am a fifth year Computing student here at Queen's. I'm submitting this appeal for the 21 day deadline in connection with my appeal to be allowed to remain in my plan and graduate this year. It's been a difficult and busy summer that has kept me over-occupied.
When I received my grades for the past semester, I was assuming I would have enough credits to graduate. I was deeply involved in my sisters wedding as well as starting a summer business and didn't realize I would have to write an appeal in order to be allowed to come back and finish my last course this coming year. The letter of withdrawal arrived, and that was when I knew that I would have to appeal to remain in my plan. I contacted Spring Forsberg who was incredible at helping me create a plan of action to finish my degree. She has been instrumental in helping me and I thank her for it.
My appeal was also pushed further back because of my financial situation. My parents decided not to fund my room and board during the summer which has pushed me to work more at my business and find new sources of income to pay for rent and food. It's been a source of stress within my family that we haven't resolved and likely won't. I was working my normal job as a web developer, but I over-extended to include web design to get more jobs, which meant I had to learn how to do it in a professional context. This took a lot of trial and error in June and July to finish the work I took on.
This summer has been a learning experience of time-management and financial management. I'm hoping you will accept this appeal and allow me to present my appeal to remain in my plan for this fall to graduate with the one course I have left.
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: No documentation for 21 day appeal
Decision Letters
Amendment to Appeal 1350
Relevant Petition: 1350
First Name: Robert
Last Name: Barnett-Kemper
Student Number: 6298953
Email: 9rb38@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BComp
Plan: CISC
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Waive the requirement to withdraw for one year
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: My name is Robbie Barnett-Kemper, and I am a fifth year Computing student here at Queen's. I'd like to ask to remain in my plan to graduate next year with a degree in Computer Science. I am appealing to the associate deans to be allowed to return to Queen's in September and take the course I need in order to graduate. It's been a difficult year in what was supposed to be my final year here at Queen's and I'd like to give you some information regarding the circumstances as to why my year went poorly.
In September of last year, I started taking medication to help with my documented memory and attention difficulties. I had discussed what it would be like to start on the drugs with my psychiatrist and my doctor but I was unprepared for how they would affect my body and mind. At first, I was getting my work done without delay in a timely manner, but I would find myself not eating for days and staying awake until the wee hours of the morning, unable to fall asleep. I would try and balance this by spending a day on, a day off, in an effort to come to some sort of equilibrium, but often I would forget to go back on and end up going days without it and then days on it.
One of the unintended consequences of drugs that affect your ability to keep focus, is that they are undiscerning of where your focus should be tasked. I would often end up working on a side project for 6 hours, only to realize I had three more assignments to write up, or I had missed an important test by getting distracted in cleaning my apartment.
By January I had two courses going quite well, one course going ok and one course going quite poorly. Instead of dropping it before the deadline, I made a concerted effort to double down on the courses I knew would be trouble in the semester, but unfortunately it was too late for one of them, and the other I passed by the skin of my teeth. I understand that I should have refocused my efforts and realized when to bow out, but I was hoping to graduate this year.
In September of last year, I started taking medication to help with my documented memory and attention difficulties. I had discussed what it would be like to start on the drugs with my psychiatrist and my doctor but I was unprepared for how they would affect my body and mind. At first, I was getting my work done without delay in a timely manner, but I would find myself not eating for days and staying awake until the wee hours of the morning, unable to fall asleep. I would try and balance this by spending a day on, a day off, in an effort to come to some sort of equilibrium, but often I would forget to go back on and end up going days without it and then days on it.
One of the unintended consequences of drugs that affect your ability to keep focus, is that they are undiscerning of where your focus should be tasked. I would often end up working on a side project for 6 hours, only to realize I had three more assignments to write up, or I had missed an important test by getting distracted in cleaning my apartment.
By January I had two courses going quite well, one course going ok and one course going quite poorly. Instead of dropping it before the deadline, I made a concerted effort to double down on the courses I knew would be trouble in the semester, but unfortunately it was too late for one of them, and the other I passed by the skin of my teeth. I understand that I should have refocused my efforts and realized when to bow out, but I was hoping to graduate this year.
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: My plan in the following year will be to take the one course I need to graduate (MATH 111) and enlist the help of a tutor if need be. I've had many friends who have gone through this course without nearly as much difficulty as I've had so I have a great amount of support to fall back on. I've worked this summer at finding a balance with the medication and I believe I have acclimated to the changes it's made. I've had success before with attending the learning strategies workshops at the Learning Commons and will continue to attend the workshops. I believe I can and will be successful in this effort and will be able to graduate at the end of the year.
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: NO DOC
History
Originally submitted August 11, 2015 at 11:42:47 AM.
| Field | Reference | Old Value | New Value | Note | User | Date/Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| status | N/A | Received | Prepared for Review | Kerri Andrews | 2015-08-20 9:01:11 AM | |
| status | N/A | Prepared for Review | Granted | Haley Everson | 2015-08-26 3:17:04 PM | |
| associate_dean | N/A | Sue Blake | Haley Everson | 2015-08-26 3:17:04 PM | ||
| decision_letter | N/A | N/A | Decision letter sent | Haley Everson | 2015-08-26 3:17:42 PM |