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Petition Type: New
ID: 1782
Submitted: January 20, 2016 at 5:28:13 PM
First Name: Maria
Last Name: Nadeem
Student Number: 10123402
Degree Program: Bachelor of Arts
Plan: Global Development Studies
Level of Study: 3

Petition Categories

Petition Categories: Waive the 21-day or one term deadline

Petition Letter

Petition Letter: Dear Queen¿¿s Faculty,

I am writing this appeal letter to explain the reasons behind the circumstances that have led to me not completing my courses which led to my Winter 2015 being incomplete, and along with this led to a debt on my account as well as incomplete work.

The problem began when I ordered my books from the Queen¿¿s Bookstore back in January 4th, 2015 for my Winter 2015 term. They were supposed to arrive to Pakistan within 2-3 days but instead they did not arrive until the beginning of March. During this ordeal I not only faced sheer panic and anxiety over not having completed my work, I was diagnosed with anxiety and started showing physical symptoms which never appeared before such as insomnia, panic attacks at night, breathing problems and depression. My father¿¿s sudden passing in 2013 led us to move to Pakistan very suddenly so I was still in the process of recovering from that loss and the change in environment. I have never been this stressed as I was this past semester from this ordeal. I developed 3 alopecia patches on my head which are triggered from stress. Overall, it was the second worst time of my life after losing my father. This distance program is my only hope at this point to complete my degree from a Canadian university while still staying with my mother and younger brother here in Pakistan. So when my books finally did arrive 2 months late I was extremely overwhelmed that I did not even know where to begin. I had stacks of books to read and to prepare for my exams. I spoke to my academic advisor who suggested I talk to professors to work out a schedule. 2 of the 4 only agreed and this only made my situation worse. Not only was I stuck with the course that I could no longer drop, I also could not complete it in the time remaining. Both of these courses are by the same professor, Mark Hostetler, who did not offer much support in this regard. I have completed one-half of DEVS100 and could not complete DEVS 230 or the 2nd half of DEVS100 because of the circumstances I faced.

The other 2 courses of which the professors were really accommodating did help me figure out a schedule and I was on a good track until my laptop broke down and needed to be serviced. I had to mail this out to my brother in Michigan who had to take this to the apple bookstore to figure out what the issue was. It was shipped back and ended up getting stuck in customs. I at that point could not do anything with the remaining courses but I have gotten my laptop back and plan on working on those courses in this semester of Winter 2016. At this point I can only appeal that I be granted the remaining credits for DEVS100 (as advised by my academic advisor) and appeal to drop DEVS230 so I can retake it.

I am also appealing for the tuition and the 21-deadline because I cannot afford to live in Pakistan without any financial support and pay for a course that I could not complete. The issue with DEVS 230 and HIST252 was solely due to my textbooks not arriving on time, and I have already begun the process of enrollment and need your help so I can make up for lost time. I also think it is not fair to be expected to pay for courses I that knew I would not be able to complete, and at not being advised to drop the courses despite being in touch with the registrar and student services. My plan is to re-enroll in the 3 courses which luckily are being offered this 2016 Winter term: HIST 252, DEVS 221 and DEVS 230. I am appealing to get my debt waived off for my term so I can re-enroll and finish my degree. Please consider my circumstances and the difficulties I have faced in the last two years. I will list the repayment plan below.

Please consider my appeal. I am very grateful to have the opportunity thanks to Queen¿¿s and OSAP to be able to get my degree from such an institution. However, due to these unforeseen circumstances and an absolute nightmare of things going wrong, I could not complete my work as I previously could. Please consider my case and allow me to prove myself another time.

Many, many thanks.

Regards,
Maria NadeemDear Queen¿¿s Faculty,

I am writing this appeal letter to explain the reasons behind the circumstances that have led to me not completing my courses which led to my Winter 2015 being incomplete, and along with this led to a debt on my account as well as incomplete work.

The problem began when I ordered my books from the Queen¿¿s Bookstore back in January 4th, 2015 for my Winter 2015 term. They were supposed to arrive to Pakistan within 2-3 days but instead they did not arrive until the beginning of March. During this ordeal I not only faced sheer panic and anxiety over not having completed my work, I was diagnosed with anxiety and started showing physical symptoms which never appeared before such as insomnia, panic attacks at night, breathing problems and depression. My father¿¿s sudden passing in 2013 led us to move to Pakistan very suddenly so I was still in the process of recovering from that loss and the change in environment. I have never been this stressed as I was this past semester from this ordeal. I developed 3 alopecia patches on my head which are triggered from stress. Overall, it was the second worst time of my life after losing my father. This distance program is my only hope at this point to complete my degree from a Canadian university while still staying with my mother and younger brother here in Pakistan. So when my books finally did arrive 2 months late I was extremely overwhelmed that I did not even know where to begin. I had stacks of books to read and to prepare for my exams. I spoke to my academic advisor who suggested I talk to professors to work out a schedule. 2 of the 4 only agreed and this only made my situation worse. Not only was I stuck with the course that I could no longer drop, I also could not complete it in the time remaining. Both of these courses are by the same professor, Mark Hostetler, who did not offer much support in this regard. I have completed one-half of DEVS100 and could not complete DEVS 230 or the 2nd half of DEVS100 because of the circumstances I faced.

The other 2 courses of which the professors were really accommodating did help me figure out a schedule and I was on a good track until my laptop broke down and needed to be serviced. I had to mail this out to my brother in Michigan who had to take this to the apple bookstore to figure out what the issue was. It was shipped back and ended up getting stuck in customs. I at that point could not do anything with the remaining courses but I have gotten my laptop back and plan on working on those courses in this semester of Winter 2016. At this point I can only appeal that I be granted the remaining credits for DEVS100 (as advised by my academic advisor) and appeal to drop DEVS230 so I can retake it.

I am also appealing for the tuition and the 21-deadline because I cannot afford to live in Pakistan without any financial support and pay for a course that I could not complete. The issue with DEVS 230 and HIST252 was solely due to my textbooks not arriving on time, and I have already begun the process of enrollment and need your help so I can make up for lost time. I also think it is not fair to be expected to pay for courses I that knew I would not be able to complete, and at not being advised to drop the courses despite being in touch with the registrar and student services. My plan is to re-enroll in the 3 courses which luckily are being offered this 2016 Winter term: HIST 252, DEVS 221 and DEVS 230. I am appealing to get my debt waived off for my term so I can re-enroll and finish my degree. Please consider my circumstances and the difficulties I have faced in the last two years.

Please consider my appeal. I am very grateful to have the opportunity thanks to Queen¿¿s and OSAP to be able to get my degree from such an institution. However, due to these unforeseen circumstances and an absolute nightmare of things going wrong, I could not complete my work as I previously could. Please consider my case and allow me to prove myself another time.

Many, many thanks.

Regards,
Maria Nadeem

Documentation

Professional Letter: Death Cert Nadeem English-0.pdf
Professional Letter Detail: Father's death certificate indication his death in Saudi Arabia which led to our move to Pakistan.

Amendment to Appeal 1782

Petition Type: 3
ID: 2075
Submitted: April 15, 2016 at 4:21:12 AM
Relevant Petition: 1782
First Name: Maria
Last Name: Nadeem
Student Number: 10123402
Degree Program: BA
Plan: DEVS
Level of Study: 2

Petition Categories

Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: DEVS 220
Term: Winter
Year: 2015
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: HIST 252
Term: Winter
Year: 2015
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: DEVS 230
Term: Winter
Year: 2015
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: DEVS 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2015
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Petition Letter

Petition Letter: Dear Queen¿¿s Faculty,

I am writing this appeal letter to explain the reasons behind the circumstances that have led to me not drop my courses within the deadline which has led to my Winter 2015 being incomplete, and along with this led a debt of approximately 2000 on my account due to it.

The problem began when I ordered my books from the Queen¿¿s Bookstore back in January 4th, 2015 for my Winter 2015 term. They were supposed to arrive to Pakistan within 2-3 days but instead they did not arrive until the end of February (Here is the tracking from FedEx where you can see when the textbooks finally arrived to me in Lahore: https://www.fedex.com/apps/fedextrack/actiontrack&trackingnumber6200203900200042&cntry_codeca_english). During this ordeal I not only faced sheer panic and anxiety over not having completed my work, I was diagnosed with anxiety and started showing physical symptoms which never appeared before such as insomnia, panic attacks at night, breathing problems, alopecia and depression. My father¿¿s sudden passing in 2013 led us to move to Pakistan very suddenly so I was still in the process of recovering from that loss and the change in environment. I have never been this stressed as I was this past semester from this ordeal. Overall, it was the second worst time of my life after losing my father. This distance program is my only hope at this point to complete my degree from a Canadian university while still staying with my mother and younger brother here in Pakistan. When my books finally did arrive 2 months late I was extremely overwhelmed that I did not even know where to begin, I spoke to my academic advisor who suggested I talk to professors to work out a schedule. 2 of the 4 only agreed and this only made my situation worse. Not only was I stuck with the course that I could no longer drop, I also could not complete it in the time remaining. Both of these courses are by the same professor, Mark Hostetler, who did not offer much support in this regard. I have completed one-half of DEVS100 but was unable to finish the remainder of my 3 other courses because of the circumstances I faced. I have never faced such a situation and did not understand the protocol of how dropping courses by a deadline work as I have never attended a university before.

At this point I can only appeal to drop all 4 courses so I can retake them, including the DEVS 100 unless I can get a aegrotat standing for DEVS100 because I completed one semester (and was granted 3 of the 6 credits for it). If not, I will gladly retake it given that I am refunded for all the courses. This is so my debt with the university can be waived off as the courses I am being charged for are courses I did not participate in except for the first half of DEVS100, and so I can enroll in future classes. I also think it is not fair to be expected to pay for courses I that knew I would not be able to complete, and at not being advised to drop the courses despite being in touch with the registrar and student services. My plan is to re-enroll in the courses which luckily are being offered this 2016 Winter term: HIST 252, DEVS 221 and DEVS 230. Please consider my circumstances and the difficulties I have faced in the last two years, and also consider the fact that I have a good standing with my previous classes, and most importantly that I have never attended a university before so I never understood the severity of dropping courses on time.

I am very grateful to have the opportunity thanks to Queen¿¿s and OSAP to be able to get my degree from such an institution. Please consider my case and allow me to prove myself another time.

Many, many thanks.

Regards,
Maria Nadeem

Documentation

Professional Letter: DoctorsNote.jpg
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History

Originally submitted January 20, 2016 at 5:28:13 PM.

FieldReferenceOld ValueNew ValueNoteUserDate/Time
statusN/AReceivedPrepared for ReviewCarrie Roosenmaalen2016-01-21 9:34:28 AM
statusN/APrepared for ReviewIncompleteHaley Everson2016-01-22 11:27:43 AM
statusN/AIncompleteIn ReviewSpring Forsberg2016-01-26 2:23:32 PM
statusN/AIn ReviewGrantedHaley Everson2016-02-26 2:27:59 PM
associate_deanN/ASue BlakeHaley Everson2016-02-26 2:27:59 PM
decision_letterN/AN/ADecision letter sentHaley Everson2016-02-26 2:28:10 PM