Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dr. Johanne Bénard
Associate Dean (Studies)
Faculty of Arts & Science
Student Services, First Floor Dunning Hall
Queen¿¿s University
Kingston, ON

October 21st, 2016

RE: Patrick Hoy ¿¿ Request an extension of an incomplete grade (HIST 313 - FW 2015-2016; HIST 286 ¿¿ F 2014; MUSC 171 ¿¿ Summer 2009)
Student : 5106675
DOB: 08/09/1986


Dear Dr. Bénard,

My name is Patrick Hoy (Student No. 5106675), and I am a mature undergraduate student majoring in the History program at Queen¿¿s. I am writing to you to request an extension of an incomplete grade for three courses (HIST 313 - FW 2015-2016; HIST 286 ¿¿ F 2014; MUSC 171 -Summer 2009), all of which I am very close to completing and in which I have received excellent grades on the coursework and assessments completed thus far.

In each course I have received marks on tests and papers in the B+ to A+ range, although my well-documented medical issues with bipolar disorder, anxiety and OCD resulted in situations where I was unable to complete all of the necessary coursework in a timely and efficient manner. In each case I have merely a few small assignments remaining to be submitted, or simply need to sit an exam.

For each of the three courses, I have received the support of the relevant professors to be allowed to complete the remaining assessments, which should serve as significant testimonial to the quality of my work, and their belief that I am fully capable of completing the necessary assignments.

Also noteworthy is the fact that two of these professors who support my completion of the courses hold significant administrative faculty positions in the Department of History, namely Prof. Jeffrey McNairn (HIST 313; Associate Chair of the History Department), and Prof. David Parker (HIST 286; Chair of Undergraduate Studies of the History Department).

I am incredibly grateful and encouraged by their support, and in their belief that I can complete these courses which are critical in terms of both improving my GPA from an abysmal 1.72, and also enabling me to eventually graduate as a History student. HIST 313 is my core seminar, and without completing it I will be unable to register in the necessary upper year seminars.

Since returning to Queen¿¿s in the winter of 2013, I have made significant improvements in my personal health, which has enabled me to be more successful in my academic endeavours. While my grades from previous years were sub-par due to a history of mental health issues, since re-enrolling in classes I earned a B in HIST 252 (Winter 2013), a B+ in PSYC 241 (Winter 2013), an A in HIST 296 (Fall 2013), and an A+ in HIST 274 (Winter 2014). Marks like these should certainly indicate that when I am well, I excel academically. Further, this should be corroborated by the professors who are supporting my appeal, based on the coursework they have already marked.

However, with chronic health issues such as those that I deal with, there are always intermittent periods of instability which can interfere with my performance in school. While last year and over the summer I was not able to complete all of the work necessary to complete HIST 313 and HIST 286, I did submit a considerable amount of work.

This past summer while I was working to complete HIST 313, I experienced an adverse reaction to medications I had been prescribed to deal with my Bipolar Disorder and anxiety which ended up destabilizing me for a period of about three months, which made it very difficult to complete work in an efficient manner, or according to the parameters of the assignments. For instance, the last piece of work I ended up submitting to Professor McNairn before the September 15th deadline was a thirty page, 10,000+ word submission of a book review which was supposed to be between five to seven pages and 1400-1800 words in length.

Similarly, the previous year I submitted a nineteen-page-long iteration of my final essay assignment for Prof. Parker¿¿s HIST 286 class, when the requirements were for a six to seven page long assignment. The purpose of my stating this is to indicate that with these courses, my inability to complete the required assignments was not at all due to issues of laziness, but that in reality I worked exceptionally long and hard on these papers ¿¿ too long in fact, as a result of my inability to reign in and channel my thoughts on the subject matter at the time due to difficulties with my illnesses.

Nevertheless, in the past two months I have been able to become completely re-stabilize myself with the help of my psychiatrist at Queen¿¿s (Dr. Stephen McNevin) and my family¿¿s support. My family has been particularly supportive and insightful because my father is a physician, my mother has a nursing degree, and my brother shares my bipolar diagnosis, and in fact they were all instrumental in getting me to discuss my medication issues with my psychiatrist when it was clear that the combination I was taking had destabilized me.

In terms of specifics regarding outstanding coursework, for HIST 313 I merely have to submit half of one take-home exam (3 pages double-spaced; I already completed and submitted the other half and have made substantial progress on the remaining segment), a second take-home exam (two 3 page mini essays, double spaced; here I have also completed all the necessary readings multiple times, have extensive notes, and have already begun writing), and then finally a short 8 page research paper for which I already have been provided the sources. My marks in the course thus far have been excellent, and Prof. McNairn is in full support of my completing the assignments.

Regarding HIST 286, technically I merely have to write the final exam to complete the course, and Prof. Parker has already said he would certainly be willing to arrange to let me do so in December, as he is actually in the midst of teaching the same course this semester. However, he has also said he would I could have the option of re-editing the 19-page draft of the essay I had already submitted in order to earn a better grade. I am thrilled with that prospect as I have already completed 90 of the work necessary to finish the essay, and just need to make cuts and make some minor changes. I earned an A- on the midterm in this course, so the 0 which is currently on my transcript bears not the slightest reflection to my actual performance. And for the final exam, I have all of my original notes for every single lecture, and would merely need to review them to be able to write the exam in December.

Finally, for MUSC 171, I only have one remaining 6 page (double-spaced) book review assignment that still needs to be submitted, and have already completed a significant amount of work on the assignment from when I was originally taking the course. While again this course is listed as a 0 on my transcript, I actually earned an A+ on my midterm and marks of that caliber on the other assignments. Similarly, Prof. MacKay has already said he would be willing to mark my short review assignment and change my grade accordingly.

Therefore in each case, I have merely a few small assignments (sometimes as few as one per course) that need to be completed, and have been given the full support of the relevant professors to do so. In addition, the work I have already finished in these courses has been stellar, and completing these short remaining assessments will not only mean that I can earn credits for courses in which I have already finished considerable amounts of work, but also in which I am poised to earn very high marks, which will have a profound effect on revitalizing my transcript and enabling me to graduate with the sort of GPA that will allow me to pursue graduate work at Queen¿¿s after I finish my B.A. (Hons.).

As I merely have 3.5-4 short papers to finish/edit in total and a December exam to sit in order to complete all three of these courses, as I have already made significant progress on each assignment, and as I am currently only taking one 2nd-year level lecture which only entails a three hour time commitment per week in terms of classes, I am absolutely certain I can complete this work by the end of this present fall term.

Still, although it is critical to finish HIST 313 and HIST 286 this semester, I am open to the possibility of pushing the completion of the MUSC 171 assignment to next term, since I do not need that course as a prerequisite for anything in the winter. So I would be happy to have an IN status for that course extended to the end of the winter term, if that would meant I could focus exclusively on the remaining 2.5 HIST 313 assignments and the HIST 286 exam.

I have a remarkable support network in place at the moment, thanks to my parents, and to the fantastic resources that Queen¿¿s has made available to students who deal with mental health concerns. I am fortunate enough to have Dr. Stephen McNevin, Director of the Division of Psychiatry at Queen¿¿s, as my personal psychiatrist. In addition to my weekly sessions with him at the Health and Wellness, last fall he referred me to an incredibly useful 16-week group therapy program through Providence Care based on Dialectical Behaviour Therapy entitled ¿¿Managing Powerful Emotions,¿ which I completed. I also went on to participate in a group there on Mindfulness and another on People Skills, and in January I will be retaking the Mindfulness course (I am presently on the waiting list). I am looking forward to participating in the program again, and am happy that it will be occurring next term, meaning that it won¿¿t eat into time I have allocated for completing these incomplete courses. (As previously mentioned, my schedule is incredibly open as I am only taking a single course).

Also, I have already re-registered with Disability Services and the office has re-approved a number of academic accommodations for me, including being given extra time on exams and assignments, as well as the option to write in a separate room during tests. I have already met with my new Professor for HIST 241 (Ariel Salzmann) on multiple occasions to discuss these issues, and have provided her with the necessary accommodation forms so that the two of us will be able to stay on top of things should any difficulties develop. Further, I have attended every single class since I was able to enroll in the course, and am not only on top of the readings, but participate the most out of every student in the lecture, demonstrating my excellent grasp of the material. And in terms of course assessments, they will certainly not impact my ability to complete the work for the three incomplete courses. For instance, I will already have written the midterm for the new course by this coming Wednesday, and the first two assignments that I will submit shortly after that are both merely 1-2 pages in length.

Finally, I have re-established my working relationship with Linda Williams at Learning Strategies at Stauffer Library, who over the years has provided me with invaluable guidance in terms of learning how to manage time effectively, complete assignments more efficiently and in a more focused manner by using mind mapping, and on how to structure my day. I am so grateful to have her guidance, and in fact have seen her countless times going back at least 8 or 9 years.

At a later date, I would also appreciate an opportunity to work with an Academic Advisor, perhaps on an ongoing basis, in order to more fully develop an Academic Plan that will help structure my next 6-12 months at Queen¿¿s, and with whom I could meet semi-regularly in order to ensure I am staying on task and making progress. I also met with an Occupational Therapist last year on an ongoing basis, which my parents have said they would arrange again if necessary.

Additionally, once I have further proven my academic ability by completing HIST 313, HIST 286 and (potentially) MUSC 171 at the end of this semester, I would also appreciate the chance to discuss the possibility of removing the large number of failing grades on my transcript through an Appeal to Drop Past the Drop Deadline, since these marks are, in my opinion, unfairly having a massively damaging impact on my G.P.A. Clearly these failures were the result of ongoing extenuating circumstances beyond my control (my well-documented medical issues), and do not conform to an accurate representation of my academic abilities (as seen in my numerous high grades).

In both cases (i.e. creating an academic plan and discussing an appeal to late drop my failing courses), if at all possible, I would be very interested in working once again with Ms. Haley Everson, as I have met with her on a number of occasions and found her to be remarkably helpful and understanding.

I would also be very happy to meet in person to answer any further questions that you may have. I am reachable at 4ph2@queensu.ca, or by phone at (905) 243-6691.

Thank you for your time,

Patrick Hoy (Student No. 5106675)