Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am Madeleine McNamara, a fourth year Religious Studies major, writing in hopes to add RELS 252 to my 2018 winter courses. I understand that at January 29th, it is well beyond the add/drop period for the semester and thus, this is not an easy task. I will explain the extenuating circumstances that prevented me from adding this course within the add/drop period, as well as providing supporting information that will instil confidence that I will be able to make the transition into this class as easily and quickly as possible.
I have always been drawn to classes that interest me and that I believe I can gain the most knowledge and experience from. At Queen¿¿s, finding these classes has rarely been a problem. However, after my second class in Religion and Democracy (RELS 340) I knew I was going to have problems engaging in this class because the professor¿¿s learning style did not suit my visual learning style. I spent the rest of this week searching for classes that would suit my schedule and interests until I finally discovered Mysticism (RELS 252) early on in the third week of the semester. Although I am usually aware of the add/drop dates, I made the mistake of dropping RELS 340 without first trying to add RELS 252. I immediately contacted Professor William Morrow, who directed me towards Professor James Kelly, the professor of RELS 252. Despite several emails that I had sent throughout the week, it was unbeknownst to me Professor Kelly was unable to respond to his emails and it was only on that Friday, January 26th after class when I was able to discuss this with him. With that in mind, I have attained approval of both Professor Kelly and Professor Morrow to enter this class. In the meantime, I will be attending lectures and office hours to meet with both Professor Kelly and the course¿¿s TA Kasey Doole in order prevent falling any further behind and to catch up on any missed material.
I must stress that over my four years at Queen¿¿s I have demonstrated that I am a very strong student who is highly organized and has a great capacity to understand and retain a lot of information in a short period of time. This is clearly demonstrated by considering the marks that I have earned over the course of the past three years as well as the responsibilities that I have taken on outside of the classroom in order to better the Queen¿¿s community. I have worked incredibly hard to graduate on time and in strong academic standing, and in order to do so I must attain the three credits that RELS 252 offers. I am a very responsible, conscious, and attentive student and with the exception of this instance, have never made any similar mistakes. I am sincerely apologetic for this lapse and any inconveniences it has caused, but would be deeply grateful to be granted admission to this class.