Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Associate Dean (Studies) Charles Madeira-Shapiro
Arts and Sciences 384 Beresford Ave.
Student Services, Toronto, Ontario
First Floor Dunning Hall M6S 3B6
Kingston, Ontario Student Number: 20026370
Student email: 16cdsm@queensu.ca


Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

This appeals purpose is to request an extension for my INC grade in CHEM211 (Fall, 2017) and to drop MICR221 (Winter, 2018).

This past school year I was ill and had difficulty getting help. This school year I was living out of residency in second year and due to unforeseen circumstances my I was forced to live with complete strangers for this school year. Due to our arrangement, it was difficult for me to get help from them when I was sick because of how unfamiliar we were with each other, culminating to when I became ill on Dec 19th, 2017(date of CHEM211 exam, see supporting documentation for note). It was difficult for me to ask for help during this exam period because they were very busy and I didn¿¿t want to bother them. After communicating my illness with Prof. Jessop, he rescheduled the exam for Jan 26th, 2018 at 3:30pm, but I was unfortunately still ill and hadn¿¿t fully recovered by then (see supporting documentation). Prof. Jessop then informed me that the next time he would be holding the exam would be in September 2018, which is when I have agreed to write it. Given that a make-up exam is scheduled, I would greatly appreciate the grade to stay INC as I plan to switch majors and a ¿F¿¿ would lower my GPA and make it incredibly difficult.

As the semester went on, I took steps to get better by taking my medicine and meeting with my doctor, but I had still not fully recovered. This accumulated in me missing the MICR221 midterm exam on Feb 14th (see supporting documentation). As I tried to get better, re-arranging the midterm with Prof. Jarrell was difficult. Unfortunately, the midterm exam was pushed so far back I wrote it April 6th, which was well past the course drop date. On April 10th, I found out I failed the exam worth 40 of my grade and it would be extremely difficult to do well or even pass the course. Still I studied but as the final exam grew near, I got sick again (see supporting documentation)and missed the exam. Currently, the exam is postponed for September 2018. Given that I found out my poor midterm mark so late after the drop date, I hope it is acceptable for me to drop the course now without academic penalty.

My plan for future academic success will involve me setting up more support systems for next school year so I do not miss an exam due to illness and working on creating networks of friends so I am not alone during difficult times again. Additionally, I have planned to write the final exam and finish CHEM211 in September and I will be planning to retake MICR221 in the winter semester of 2019.

I appreciate you taking the time and consideration to review this appeal and if you require any further documentation, do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Charles Madeira-Shapiro