Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Sir.

Please consider my request for an aegrotat standing.

I will try and keep this simple. I should have submitted this appeal within 21 days of my missed Film and Media (Film 260)exam date of June 20, 2014.

Due to circumstances beyond my control I was unable to to write the exam on the date scheduled. On the appointed morning I received a call from my mother requesting that I please come and get her from her place of employment and take her to her doctor. She suffered an anxiety attack due to circumstances which I address further down in this appeal. There is no one else for her to call because she is a single mom and my brother does not drive.

I picked her up at work and took her to the doctor. Fortunately it was not serious. This emergency caused me a lot of stress and anxiety. Worrying about my mom completely obliterated the fact that I had an exam that morning. As I mentioned, my mom is single and she is the mainstay of my brother and myself. The thought of anything happening to her made me physically ill. I realise that a situation like this may be easily managed by some people however I have ADHD and as such I do suffer more anxiety under stress than others. I am registered as a student with special needs at the disability office. In distress I did contact my professor and advise her of my dilemma the same day. My professor wrote back and advised that she would need a medical note from my mom's doctor. Two weeks later I contacted my professor again to advise that I was not able to get a note and the professor further advised me that it was too late to submit it anyway because the course was closed.

Again I wrote to professor Matrix and requested that she re-evaluate my marks because I did not feel that I should receive a failing grade due to a single missed exam and I really need to pass this course in order to continue my studies and be eligible to resume playing hockey for the Queens Gaels Varsity team. The professor in turn contacted David Youssef in the Arts and Science facility who in turn contacted me and wrote that since I had already completed 60 of the course I may be eligible for an aegrotat standing due to the above circumstances.

This is the first time I have sent an appeal such as this and I am hoping that you will grant me the aegrotat standing so that I may resume my studies.


I am submitting this request technically after the 21 day deadline as advised via e-mail from David Youssef academic advisor, Arts and Science Online. His e-mail was dated July 22, 2014 which is 32 days after the exam date. In David's e-mail there was no mention of a 21 day deadline to file an appeal and in my duress I mistakenly thought I had 60 days.

There are extenuating circumstances that have led me to missing this window of opportunity. We are in the midst of a family crisis. My brother is currently being assessed for schizophrenia. It's been a long and difficult process to get a diagnoses for his condition. There are several health care professionals working with my family to get him an accurate diagnoses and the help he desperately needs. His behaviour over the last 6 months has been so disruptive that it has been an intolerable strain on the family. His symptoms include agression, paranoia, erratic sleep habits, picking fights, mood swings, unfounded accusations etc. All during this time I was juggling two on-line summer courses and working at a summer job. Every night I am woken up by my brother coming into my bedroom to instigate an argument. At times my mother and I are frightened of him but neither of us have anywhere to go to seek respite from him.

I think you can appreciate the toll this takes on a person. If necessary, I can provide you with a medical note (in confidence) stating my brothers mental health issues.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I appreciate any consideration that can be made.
If anything further is required of me to support this appeal please let me know.

Yours sincerely,

Taryn Pilon