Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may Concern,

My name is Lauren Duffy and I am a first year student in the faculty of arts and science. On December 2nd, I dropped the first year global development course with Professor McDonald, and attempted to get into the night class for global development with Professor Rutherford. I have a hard time focusing in the morning lectures, and thought that I would be able to learn more in the night lectures. When I realized that this is not possible as it is a different section, I attempted to get back into the morning section with Professor McDonald. It would not allow me to do this on Solus, and after asking a friend who had a similar issue, I knew I had to go to the arts and science office.

With classes ending and finals approaching, I put off going into the office, because as a first year student, I was completely unaware that this was a pressing issue that had to be dealt with in a timely matter. I assumed that my spot must still be available for the winter portion of the global development course, as a student would not be able to take the winter course without the fall course.

I went into the arts and science office today during a break from studying, and I was told that I was to go into the office the day that I dropped it, and that since I waited too long, I must make an appeal. If I had known that in order to get back into a course I would have had to go in the day that I dropped it, I definitely would have. I should not have put it off this long, but again, with finals approaching I was focused on studying and put this issue to the back of my
mind. In the future, I will always go in to the arts and science office the day that a mistake like this is made to ensure I can continue in the courses that I want or need for my completion of an arts degree and Queen¿¿s University.

I had no intention of ever dropping out of global development, or discontinuing my participation in the course. I love the course, and I have submitted every assignment in a timely manner, and received good marks for all. I have great participation in my tutorial, and I will provide a supporting document from my Teaching Assistant, Renee Rogers, who will vouch for the above.

I have aspirations of majoring in Political Studies with a minor in Global Development, and following my undergrad at Queen¿¿s University, attend law school to become a Human Rights lawyer. I really enjoy the global development course and it¿¿s approach, and I really hope that I can continue to take this course so that I will have all the credits I need to continue into second year, and major and minor in the faculty of my choosing.

I am very sorry that I did not attend to this issue in a timely manner, and I hope that my appeal will be taken into consideration so that I can continue to take the first year global development course, and continue to participate fully. I have learned from my mistakes and I can honestly say that this will not happen again.

Thank you for your time and your consideration,
Lauren Duffy