Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear the Associate Dean (Studies),

I am writing in regards to applying for an academic appeal for the Fall Semester of 2017 for the class of PHGY 350 to receive a credit standing in the course that was granted a D-.

The year previously I had experienced a traumatic event that had triggered multiple different coping mechanisms including severe depression and anxiety.
During the Winter semester of 2017 I had seen a counselor but then stopped over the summer. I stopped taking medication against medical advice during the summer. Coming back to school I had been avoiding these problems. Due to the irregularity of my visits to both the doctors and counseling and the fact that I had come off of my medication I had experienced another episode which was triggered this episode was severe and occurred in the middle of my exams. Due to the nature of my exam schedule, PHGY 350 was most affected. It occurred prior to my STAT 462 which directly influenced that and the week leading up to PHGY 350. Even though I had already studied my exams leading up to the exam period, the episode greatly consumed my mental state. I stayed in bed most mornings and any of my peers brought me to the library I would stare at my work suffering from a mental state. During my exam, I went in and I did not read it through, I wrote it and left. Entering the exam my mark was in the high 70s but my exam mark was sufficiently steep as a 30. The reason I am requesting credit standing is due to the fact that this mark did not represent my academic knowledge of the course and that it was compromised by my mental health disorder.

Once I was done my exams my family encouraged me to reach out to Wellness Services again and to meet with a doctor to continue medication. After a month I had finally gone back to begin counseling again during this winter semester 2018. I irregularly saw a counselor and a doctor, to which I began medication once more. Since the episode continued during this winter semester, my counselor also suggested that I get accommodations for my midterms which I did follow through with. I am currently still seeing a counselor and trying to apply different methods of balancing my mental health disorder so that it won¿¿t influence my academics as strongly as it has. Although we are attempting to set up strategies to minimize the influence of my mental health disorder, I have decided to take a fifth year to limit the number of courses I am taking during my last year. I will also be attending check-ups regularly and following doctors advice to keep consistency in my medication and health status. I think that as long as I continue with this therapy and consistency I believe I will be able to manage my issues.

Thank you,
Riley