Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: 18 January 2017
Associate Dean (Studies)
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Dunning Hall, Main Floor
94 University Avenue
Queen¿¿s University
Kingston, ON
K7L 3N6

Dear Associate Dean (Studies):

My name is Dantae Gagnier and I am currently in my third year of my undergraduate degree in Political Studies at Queen¿¿s University. I am writing this appeal requesting the final grade of D received in POLS 310 Canadian Constitution in fall semester 2016 be replaced with Credit Standing due to a family issue, resulting in a personal psychological challenge.

I consider myself to be a hard-working and high-achieving student. Throughout last semester I applied myself to my courses and during the exam period had finished my final essays for three of my courses by December 4th, receiving an A in each class. I had two exams during the examination period: POLS 384 on December 9th; and POLS 310 on December 10th. On December 7th I received a suicide note via Facebook message from my Aunt Doris Thompson. My Aunt has suffered from bipolar depressive disorder her entire life, leading up to this she had been increasingly manic in her communications made through Facebook and phone calls. Upon receiving the note, I contacted my family who called medical professionals in my Aunt¿¿s town, who then admitted her to Psychiatric Emergency Services at the General Hospital. My Aunt is still in the hospital, but appears stable and is growing stronger every day.

I have a history of struggling with anxiety since the age of 14, particularly when playing sports. At the time I went to counseling for a year and it aided in my ability to focus and overcome having panic attacks. From December 8th to December 11th I was in an anxious state. However, it did not trigger a panic attack but instead caused a new response resulting in me freezing and not be able to complete my exam preparation. On December 12th I flew home to Calgary to be with my family.

The course work that was affected includes my final exams for POLS 384 and POLS 310. In POLS 384 I had an A- going into the final worth 30 and received a final grade of B. Upon entering my 50 final for POLS 310 I had a B, and I received a final grade of D. POLS 310 is significant to my degree as it counts as one of my third year credit courses.

I have met with my POLS 310 Professor Janet Hiebert and she has notified me that she is willing to support my request for a CR standing in this course if required.

Now that I have returned to campus I have started seeing a counselor from Queen¿¿s Student Wellness Services Centre to discuss new coping mechanisms and ideas that can help me understand and control my anxiety. I am planning on continuing to visit with my counselor for as long as I feel it necessary.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,




Dantae Gagnier