Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean,

I am appealing to request a credit standing for CLST 103 of the Winter 2018 academic term. I have completed and passed all of the work of the course, including the final examination, but because of my extenuating circumstances, I have earned a substantially lower grade than anticipated.

My final examination was recently completed on September 4th, 2018 and this examination was deferred from the Winter 2018 examination period because of my illness. My extenuating circumstances can be regarded psychological challenges rooted in severe mental health concerns. I have taken a number of steps to handle my extenuating circumstances both during and after the Winter exam period. The negative impacts of my mental illnesses upon my wellbeing compounded to an extent where I deemed it necessary to make a Kingston General Hospital emergency room visit. The morning after this occurrence, I filed extenuating circumstances with the Faculty of Arts and Science and met with my current counsellor, Allison. Allison has a continuing supportive role in the growth of my mental health and was able to provide supporting documentation for my extenuating circumstances. My extenuating circumstances continue to impact my academic performance, where my recent completion of the CLST 103 final examination was not an adequate reflection of my abilities in this course.

My extenuating circumstances impact my academic performance. When attempting to prepare for the final exam, the revision of course content resurfaces intense emotional memories of trauma and overwhelm my ability to concentrate. My mental illnesses cause psychological instability and anxiety that prevent me from performing at a high academic level. In particular, my struggles with depression cause high irritability and decline in motivation to complete the tasks associated with preparation for my CLST 103 final examination. These experiences have contributed to my poor academic performance.

Moving forward, I intend to continue to meet with Allison. She is able to provide practical advice on how to change my everyday activities to make being a high performance student an attainable goal. I intend to meet with a doctor in the coming weeks for further professional diagnosis, but also to assess if medication or treatment will be necessary going forward. In the past week, I have begun to use natural remedies to alleviate the symptoms of my mental illnesses. While they have proven to be mildly effective, I recognize that further action needs to still be taken. Over the summer, I completed a course that I originally intended to complete this fall in order to lighten my fall term course load.

I have a scheduled meeting with my counsellor, Allison, this week. I anticipate that she will be able to offer more insight on my extenuating circumstances at that time and offer further supporting documentation.

Best wishes,
Elizabeth Panos