Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

My name is Sophie Stevenson and I am a fourth year student in Economics. I am appealing the Faculty of Arts and Science to request an Aegrotat standing in ECON 232, request an Aegrotat standing in HIST 214, and request an extension of an incomplete grade in ECON 390 due to a severe concussion that I suffered last semester.

I suffered a concussion on January 14th 2017 at my track meet at St. Lawrence. University, New York. I was representing Queen¿¿s because I am a member of the Queen¿¿s Varsity Track team. At the time of the incident, my coach and I were sitting down on the sidelines watching one of the events. One of the runners from University of Ottawa ran off the track uncontrollably and kicked me in the side of my head, knocking me unconscious. During the 2017 winter semester, I was dealing with symptoms of nausea, intense pressure on the left and right side of my brain, chronic migraines, extreme fatigue and confusion. Throughout the semester and final exams, I was unable to do more than one hour of work per day. While some of my symptoms have started to alleviate, I have been dealing with serious lingering symptoms that prevented me from completing a final essay in HIST 214, a final essay in ECON 232 and writing my final make-up exam for ECON 390.

My first appeal request is for an extension of an incomplete grade in ECON 390. I suffer from a debilitating syndrome of eye pain and vision loss that is currently under investigation and management from several neurologists. My eye pain has made it extremely difficult for me to take tests and achieve the desired grades that I know I am capable of. The condition started after a severe concussion in grade 11 (2012) and has become worse ever since. No matter how much I study or feel completely prepared for a test, if the eye pain occurs, it takes away my thinking process, vision and causes excruciating pain. Because of this eye migraine condition, I was unable to write my ECON 390 final exam in the Fall 2016 semester. My grade going into the final exam was a 90 and I had studied extremely hard to try and maintain that mark. I had made arrangements with Jennine Ball and my Professor to write the make-up exam the first week back at school after the December break and was given an incomplete in the course. I was taking the first week of school to review the material for the exam, and my make-up exam was scheduled for January 20th at 3:00. Unfortunately, I suffered my head injury that weekend (January 14th) at the track meet and was unable to write the exam the following week. Since I missed the majority of the winter semester, I was very behind in my winter semester schoolwork and was unable to write the ECON 390 exam before the deadline. The situation was very unfortunate and I cannot comprehend how bad the timing was of everything. While I am still experiencing some mild symptoms, I would really like the chance to write the exam at the beginning of this term so that I can complete the course that I thoroughly enjoyed taking and have a chance to succeed. I have been on a strict academic plan and have been slowly reviewing the material towards the end of the summer as my concussion symptoms have slowly started subsiding. I am aware of the severity of my situation and I am taking very serious medical precautions to ensure that I have a healthy final year at Queen¿¿s.

My second appeal request is for an Aegrotat standing in ECON 232 and HIST 214. My winter term was extremely difficult because I was unable to attend classes for the majority of the semester and could not do work for more than one hour a day throughout the entire winter term. I went to numerous neurologist, Physiotherapy and doctor appointments and did everything in my power to try and heal my concussion as quickly as possible. I met with the student wellness services and received a letter of accommodation from the school. Student wellness services suggested that I might want to consider dropping out of the term but I tried my best to catch up in all of my courses despite all of the pain that I was in. I managed to catch up in my lectures during the end of the term and completed my final exams on time. While I was hoping that I could complete all of my course material this past semester, it was physically impossible for me to complete my two final essays in HIST 214 and ECON 232. It took me a long time to type out my final essays because I could not look at a computer screen without intense amounts of pain so they were completed past the final deadlines. I contacted my ECON 232 Professor, Ian Keay about the situation and he said in an email: ¿¿I would enthusiastically support your appeal for AG standing in 232 if the associate dean required my support for the appeal.¿ My concussion severely limited me this past semester and I tried as hard as I could to complete all of my assignments on time. I do not believe that I am deserving of these grades because if I did not have this accident, I would have been able to complete both final assignments on time and received marks that truly reflect my knowledge in these courses.

This summer I have seen numerous doctors and taken the appropriate steps to prepare myself for a healthy final year at Queen¿¿s. I have massage therapy (for my neck and head) and Physiotherapy appointments set up in advance to prevent migraines from coming on and I have been prescribed painkillers that help with the lingering pain while I am studying.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my appeal and for considering my application. Please let me know if there is any more information that I can provide you with to help reach a decision for my case.

Thank you again,

Sincerely,

Sophie Stevenson (10138313)