Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

My name is Brittany Connachan and I am a second year student here at Queens University. Though Im currently enrolled as a biology major, I initially had projected a life sciences pathway. During first year, I took all of the basic science requirements and did well in many of my courses; however I was unable to perform at times due to the many illnesses I contracted throughout term. As a result, some of my grades suffered greatly.
At the time, I thought I was just unlucky to have contracted so many illnesses, and so I began to fall behind. It wasnt until I developed a painful mass on my neck that I insisted on further testing. After missing many classes for appointments and trips to emergency, It resulted that my weakened immune response was due to the Epstein-barr virus. Though the virus has more mild complications such as extreme fatigue, and fever, my case escalated to the point of emergency surgery at Hotel Dieu Hospital (pictures will be attached to indicate severity of the situation, view at your own discretion). These complications had arisen once in February and again, more seriously, in March of 2018 during second semester.
Though I was still attending medical appointments daily and recovering from surgery, during my assessment of health I stated I would still be able to accomplish some academic work (documentation provided). I did my best to catch up on all that I had missed, but recovery was far more mentally and physically extensive than I had anticipated. Despite this, I decided to write three of my exams before the end of the term to ensure I would not be overwhelmed come the following year. At this stage, I was given the option to write two of my exams (biocalculus and physics) in the next school term; I accepted (documentation provided).
During the summer, I stayed in Kingston to work and prepare for my upcoming examinations. However I found it far more difficult to progress through the information without lecture and guidance. In August I received another email from physics 117 stating that I had two options, I could either write the exam in September or I could write it in April of 2019 (documentation provided). As I had been offered a position of Gael for orientation week, was still working my job, and preparing for my other examination, I accepted the April examination period. At the time I thought this would be the best option.
I now realize my understanding of the program has been compromised by my time spent away from it. In order to complete the course, I would need to relearn it in its entirety. As my degree plan no longer requires physics, I would prefer to focus my learning on courses that will advance me in my new field to make up the credits. For these reasons, I would like to request physics 117 be dropped from my transcript, so that the grade will no longer impact my GPA. It is my belief that if it were not due to circumstances out of my control, I would have been able to make progress in the program that was not possible at the time. Thank you for your consideration of my case.

Brittany Connachan
20071915