Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Hello Dr. Bénard,

My name is Arjun Jindal, I am a fourth year student at Queen¿¿s University pursuing a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology. In September 2017, I submitted an academic appeal requesting to waive the 21-day deadline to submit an appeal after an incomplete (IN) grade expires to F. This applied to the ¿¿PSYC 501 Honours Thesis¿ program. However, I would like to re-visit my September 2017 appeal (which expired December 31st, 2017) for reasons which I will describe below after providing a brief overview of my case history.

On March 12th, 2016, I suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) when I, a pedestrian, was struck by a car. As noted in the attached documentation, I was severely limited in my cognitive capacity for several months following the injury and am still in the process of recovery today. During the 2016 year I was wholly focused on rehabilitation. But in the summer of 2017, I felt well enough to attempt to resume my studies. In September 2017, I submitted my previous appeal (attached) and received approval to continue work on my PSYC 501 Honours Thesis.

Unfortunately, as is typical of head injuries, my health during the autumn of 2017 was highly inconsistent. From Nov 2017 ¿¿ Jan 2018, I suffered daily migraines which prevented me from making significant progress in PSYC 501. Prior to November, I had experienced migraines relatively infrequently and never in such volume or intensity. Overwhelming fatigue, photophobia, headaches, and mood changes rendered all cognitive tasks extremely difficult (please see attached documentation). During this period, even functioning in ordinary life became a challenge.
For these reasons I was unable to complete PSYC 501 prior to December 31st, 2017, or to submit an appeal for an extension before the 21-day deadline elapsed. Moreover, I thought it best not to submit an appeal without knowing when (or if) the migraines would improve. Proposing a realistic academic plan and appropriate date of completion for the course would have been challenging given this uncertainty. Instead, all my energy was focused on finding a solution to the migraines.

It has only been with the assistance of my occupational therapist (Heather Potts) and family doctor (Dr. Andrew Hudson) in combination with a series of lifestyle changes (dietary, pharmacological, etc.), that I have been able to exercise greater control over the migraines since February 2018. I hesitated to immediately write this letter in February, however, as it was uncertain whether the migraines had ceased only momentarily or for the long-term. As I alluded to previously, it seemed best not to submit another appeal only to have our plans again disrupted and potentially need to repeat the process for a third time. Instead, I decided to wait and see how long the remission would last.

Fortunately, I have managed to sustain this improvement in my health over the past several months. I now feel sufficiently confident that I will be able to fulfill the requirements of PSYC 501 and am ready to formally request an appeal. The past seven months of good health have permitted me to complete a final draft of the thesis manuscript, which I will submit to the PSYC department pending your approval. The PSYC department and I have arranged for me to perform a thesis defence in September and I have completely cleared my schedule to focus on this commitment. Once I have completed these two tasks (i.e. submission and defence), all requirements of PSYC 501 will have been fulfilled. In pursuit of this goal, I will continue to employ the strategies I have developed to avoid and/or manage migraines (e.g. dietary restrictions, pharmacological solutions, time management, meditation). Various health professionals (my family doctor, occupational therapist, etc.) will continue to monitor my progress going forward.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Any help you can offer would be much appreciated.

Thank you,

Arjun W. Jindal

10049825
11awj4@queensu.ca