Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern:

I hope you are well. I am writing this letter today to appeal two things: 1) I would like to drop the course CISC 320 past the deadline and receive a DR on my transcript. 2) I would like to be able to submit an appeal to receive credit standings for courses I took in Winter of 2017.

1) The first half of my appeal is in regards to a course I took last semester (Fall 2017). The course was entitled CISC 320: Fundamentals of Software Development. I would like to appeal to ¿¿drop¿ this course. During the final examination which took place on December 20th, I began to hallucinate. During this time period I was suffering from various health conditions. For one, I have narcolepsy which causes excessive day time sleepiness and sleep paralysis. In addition to this, I was having severe back and knee pain, I would later come to know that this was due to a herniated disc. I am not sure if I was hallucinating due to either of these illnesses or due to another cause. Regardless, I could not concentrate on the words on the page as they moved around. At times I also could not stay awake or remain in a normal state of consciousness. The reason I chose to stay in the exam room is because I am familiar with Arts and Science Policies which state that there are no make-up exams allowed, and once a student has chosen to write an exam, that will be the final attempt. I chose to stay as I thought I would try to answer the questions to the best of my ability, rather than leaving the exam hall and thus leaving my exam blank. In retrospect, I realize that I was so far removed from my normal state of alertness that I would not recognize my own answers or writing if I was shown that exam paper. After failing the exam, I consequently failed the course. After finding out that I failed CISC 320, I immediately enrolled in the equivalent course at Athabasca: COMP 306. I have successfully completed this course and am waiting on the credit. The reason I could not wait to retake CISC 320 for when it became available again is because I am set to graduate this Spring (May 30th, 2018). As I have successfully completed the course requirement, my aim for this appeal is to drop CISC 320 from my transcript. The mark I received was due to my suffering during the exam, and was not a true reflection of my abilities. I have never failed a course in my entire undergraduate career, and based on my studying and preparation, this would have been no different had it not been for my physical health and wellbeing. I hope you may understand my reasoning behind writing this letter, I would truly and sincerely be grateful for your help.

2) In the second part of this letter, I would also like to request the ability to appeal the grades of 4 courses I took in Winter 2017. I have faced various illnesses over the past 12 months that have dramatically impacted my ability to attend to my school work. During the winter semester of 2017 I developed an autoimmune disease called Kikuchi, before this diagnosis was made it was suspected that I had lymphoma, a type of cancer. This both took a physical and mental toll on me, ultimately leaving me unable to concentrate and at times physically unable to attend class or study. It took the rest of the following Summer term for me to recover from Kikuchi. In the Fall term of 2017, I experienced immense hair loss and joint pain. This led to the investigation of other autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. The results returned negative, however, the pain continued to worsen. Finally, during this semester (Winter 2018) I developed intense back pain and knee pain that became intolerable. I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my lower back and sciatica. This pain was the most debilitating, at times preventing me from leaving my bed. Many of my professors have been kind in accommodating me to the best of their ability, and I have worked exceptionally hard to still accomplish my goals and to prevent my health from getting in the way of my studies. That being said, there have definitely been things that I have not been able to properly attend to, this appeal process being one of them. I was not sure how to write this appeal as one illness had come after another. Moreover, I was not aware until recently that appeals are only allowed to be made one term after the courses have been taken. I would like to request the allowance of submitting a subsequent appeal requesting that CISC 235, CISC 260, CISC 271, and MATH 112 be treated as Credit Standings on my transcript. I will outline the details of my request in the following appeal, should this one be granted.

Thank you so much in advance, I know I am asking for quite a lot and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to do so. I appreciate your consideration and any time spent looking into this matter. As someone who is looking to pursue further education, these changes could really make the world of a difference on my transcript and help reflect my true abilities. This appeal isn¿¿t the result of someone who looked back on her transcript and simply wasn¿¿t happy with certain grades. It has truly been a tough journey that I am slowly overcoming, and I have finally been able to get my affairs in order and address matters like this. Attached, you will find a letter from my family physician¿¿s clinic detailing the fact that I have narcolepsy which may have been the cause of my hallucinations during the exam, and also that I have been seen by a variety of specialists for different illnesses over the course of the past year. The physician refrains from going into too much depth as she did not want to release specific details of my illnesses. I have also attached a letter from the physiotherapist I had been seeing for my back and knee pain this past semester.

Once again, I cannot thank you enough for this opportunity to be heard and considered.

Yours Truly,

Sabrina Quazi
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