Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear the Associate Dean (Studies),

I am appealing to drop FILM 260 (Summer, 2016) and receive a credit standing in ECON 212 (Fall, 2016). I would like to waive the 21-day and one term deadline to appeal to drop a class and to appeal for a credit standing in a class. I did not appeal sooner as I was unaware that this appeal process existed in the Arts & Science department and because I was not in the proper mental state to think to do so.

After having recently transferred from the Commerce program, I was new to the rules and procedures of the Arts & Science program. I did not assume that the Arts & Science program operated similarly to the Commerce program and at the time, I did not seek regular consultation with academic advisors. It is only now, after having spoken to many academic advisors and self-educating myself on the operations of the Arts & Science program that I have a clear understanding of what is available to me as a student.

Also, since FILM 260 was taken online in the Summer, I automatically assumed that it was treated differently than other courses; even if I had known of the course drop procedures in Arts & Science, I may not have thought it would have applied to this class. Plus, I was not aware of what a 'credit standing' was until I was informed of it recently by my academic advisor.

Most notably, during the period of time that I was taking FILM 260 and ECON 212 (Summer, 2016 to Fall, 2016), I was diagnosed with depression. I had experienced depression before but had yet to find strategies and methods to overcome it and thus, it consumed me. Throughout this time, I found maintaining deadlines, relationships with friends, and finding the motivation to study to be an arduous task to say the least. My inability to operate properly due to my depression lead to poor performance on academic evaluations and fewer friends, which decreased my confidence even further, leading to a deeper depressed state, and so on. Being distraught, I was less concerned with the learning how the Arts & Science program operated or with the condition of my transcripts and was more concerned with resolving my own mental health. My mental health was my singular focus during this period. The last time my depression was at a high level of intensity was in the Summer 2016 and Fall 2016 terms, with me beginning to overcome it during the Winter 2017 term. With that said, I was not in the mental state to appeal FILM 260 and ECON 212 by the deadlines. If I had not been overcome by a depressed state of mind I may have been more likely to think how to relieve my poor marks in FILM 260 and ECON 212. Unfortunately, I was unable to do so and I hope you see my mistakes during this period as not a reflection of me personally but of my former depression.

Best regards,

Liam Weld
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