Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Assistant Dean of Studies,

I am requesting to have two of my fall semester courses, BIOL 102 as well as GEOL 106, changed to credit standing. I have completed all of the coursework in both classes and I received a passing grade below a C.
I am requesting to have CR standing for these two courses because I encountered very serious extenuating circumstances this year when my father passed away. My father was sick in the month of September and part of the summer and he ended up passing away unexpectedly in October. On Wednesday September 27th I received a phone call that my father was critically ill and that I had to return to my hometown in BC. Three days after my arrival my father passed away on October 1st. I then stayed home with my family for three short days and I was back at school on the 5th of October, all together missing only five days of classes. Later in November on the 4th I returned home for the celebration of life, which was also a very stressful time. Prior to his passing I was in excellent academic standing with an A in all of my courses. After he passed, my grades dropped significantly in the two previously named classes. This drop in my academic performance was due to my impaired memory and focus as a result of my extenuating circumstances. My midterms and final exams in both GEOL 106 as well as BIOL 102 were seriously impacted by my impaired memory. The reason that only the two grades were significantly impacted is because two of my other courses are linear and their grades may still change. In addition, I have already taken AP psychology in high school so Psych 100 is mostly review, and health 102 was primarily application based and not so much impacted by memory. Those two courses also demonstrate that the grades below a C are not normal for me and that I typically perform much higher as a student. Even after the extenuating circumstance occurred I still continued to work extremely hard in all of my classes and I completed all of the coursework on time. Which is a pattern I plan to continue in this new semester.
This extenuating circumstance was very serious and will continue to affect me for a long time. That being said, my memory and focus are continually improving, and I am confident that over time I will be back to my typical academic level of achievement. Additionally, I have met with an academic advisor, and I plan to start to see a personal councillor to make sure that this semester is more successful academically. I also have many academic goals for this year as well as the rest of my years at queens. As a Loran scholar I have an average that I am striving to meet in addition to the average required by my program. A CR standing for these courses will allow me to pursue my future goals without being negatively impacted by the extenuating circumstance which I was faced with.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter,

Respectfully,

Cheyenne Brown