Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Date: Thursday, April 14, 2016

To: Dr. Johanne Bénard
Associate Dean (Studies)
Queen¿¿s University
Student Services
First Floor Dunning Hall
Kingston, ON


Dear Dr. Bénard:

My name is Nathan Ford, and I was a student at Queen¿¿s University from the fall of 2002 until the winter of 2010. On May 28, 2010, I was informed by the Office of the Associate Dean (Studies) and Director of Student Services that I would be required to withdraw for a minimum of three years due to Regulation 20c, effective said date.

I am now writing at this time to request that my requirement to withdraw be waived, given that the three year time period has elapsed, my financial situation has dramatically improved, and that I now have a comprehensive Academic Plan that will allow me to achieve my goal of obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree with a General (POLS ¿¿ G) Plan from Queen¿¿s University.

I request that I be allowed to resume my studies as a Part time student in the Faculty of Arts and Science with the intention of acquiring Bachelor of Arts degree with a General (POLS ¿¿ G) Plan. According to my ¿What-if Advisement Report¿¿ provided to me by my Academic Advisor, I have accumulated 75.0 units out of the 90.0 required for this specific Bachelor of Arts degree, meaning I must still acquire 15.0 units in order to achieve my goal. I have already satisfied the requirement to obtain 30.0 POLS units to get a Bachelor of Arts with Political Studies focus ¿¿ General (Arts) Plan, meaning the remainder of the 15.0 units can be taken as electives. My plan is to obtain the remaining 15.0 units through Online and Distance Studies by registering in upcoming 100 or 200 level HIST courses.

As I mentioned above, I wish to return as a Part time student in order to remain truly focused on one course at a time. My plan includes me taking a maximum of one 6.0 unit per semester. I am committed to returning as a Part time rather than Full time student in order to ensure that I will not be susceptible to becoming academically overwhelmed at any point in time.

I believe that I am in this unfortunate situation due to my prior lack of academic focus, which was based on my real need to work in order to pay my tuition. My focus on working at that point took valuable time away from my studies, and my grades suffered heavily as a result. My failure to properly balance studies and work indicated an immaturity at the time on my part. I have matured much as a person since my last time as a student 6 years ago. I have maintained steady employment, and as such I am financially stable which will allow me to pay for the applicable educational costs without worry. I have attached a reference letter from my employer to solidify this claim.

My strategy for academic success is based on 3 key elements; my maturity, the use of academic resources afforded to me as a Queen¿¿s student, and relying on an Academic Plan that I¿¿ve laid out with the help of Spring Forsberg, who has helped me immensely throughout this process. I will make continued use of the Queen¿¿s Writing Centre and my Academic Advisor if I ever feel overwhelmed. They are important resources that I plan on utilizing in order to successfully complete my studies.

My Academic Plan is explicit in its requirement for a Part time rather than Full time workload. I intend to register in HIST 125 (6.0 units) or HIST 263 (3.0 units) for the 2016 summer term if I am allowed to return for the upcoming session. If my return were to begin in the Fall of 2016, I would register in HIST 125 or RELS 131 with the intention of improving upon my GPA, as per Spring¿¿s recommendation. Spring mentioned that as of this date there is space in all courses mentioned above. I believe this to be an entirely feasible and wise Academic Plan.

On a final note, I must stress how important resuming my studies is to me personally. Though I have been steadily employed since temporarily leaving Queen¿¿s University, my inability to obtain this degree thus far has acted as a barrier, one that I am committed to overcome. I now have the required finances and motivation necessary for the successful completion of my studies. I am dedicated to finishing what I began, and I humbly ask that I be allowed to do so.


Sincerely,

Nathan Ford
0479 0167
Net ID: 2nsf
nford@iname.com
(613) 700 0740