Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Dr. Johanne Bénard, Associate Dean February 7, 2016

I am appealing to waive the 21 day deadline for my courses in 2015. If granted, I will then submit a late appeal for credit standings for select courses in the winter and fall terms of 2015.

I was unable to meet the deadline to appeal due to severe psychological difficulties. From January 2015 to December 2015, I was suffering from a major episode of depression and binge eating disorder. Some of my symptoms included extreme isolation and dissociation. As a result, I did not make myself aware of my option to appeal earlier in the winter term of 2015. My lack of motivation during this time period is what caused me to miss classes, score lower grades, and, ultimately, miss my chance to appeal. In addition, I enrolled myself into the Wellbeing Institute, a holistic and residential treatment center, on January 3rd of 2016. While at the institute, I did not have access to my cellphone, the internet, or any other personal online accounts. Therefore, although I was seeking treatment, I was unable to create an appeal within the deadline for the fall term of 2015.

I have greatly benefitted from the in-patient treatment that I received at the Wellbeing Institute. In the future, I will continue to apply the healthy lifestyle tips that I learned there to my daily life. In addition, I have cancelled my enrolment for this winter term of 2016. I plan on gradually reintroducing a summer course into my academic career and, moving forward, I will take only 3 courses per term so that I remain on top of the workload. I am also in the process of setting up weekly counselling sessions with Queen¿¿s Student Wellness Services.

Thank you for considering this appeal.

Regards,
Cristina Gonçalves