Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies)

I am appealing to get credit standing for CISC 251 class I completed the previous semester (Fall, 2018).

I am a new transfer student to Queen's and this past exam period of December 2018, I was very ill and not able to prepare for my exams to the best of my abilities and was not fit to write my exams. However, as I was unaware of Queen's policy on missing exams I went ahead and wrote the exams to avoid getting a zero grade for not showing up. I also have been dealing with chronic pain in my wrists and thumb recently, and while writing the CISC 251 exam, I had to take constant breaks to massage my sore thumb along with being under the weather. As a result, I did not get to finish writing the exam and received a poor grade for the course. After the examination period as I returned home for the holidays, I was diagnosed with tendonitis in my wrist and thumb and was referred to see a physiotherapist to fully recover.

It has also been brought to my attention that you are allowed to select courses as a Personal Interest Credit. Had I known that this was an option available to me I would have chosen CISC 251 as a personal interest credit as it is a course not related to my major of Economics and was taken as an elective. The course was graded on one assignment worth 50 and a final exam worth 50. The marks for the assignment came out a few days before the exam and I would not have known what my marks were before the deadline to apply for a personal interest credit.

I have met with an academic advisor Chirs DeWolfe who has advised me to submit my application for an appeal and has informed about Queen's policies regarding academic consideration and academic accommodation. Going forward, if in the event I am in a similar situation again and am dealing with an illness I am now aware of what Queen's policies are and will be able to follow the correct procedures for missing an exam. I have also contacted Queen's Student Wellness to get academic accommodation for chronic tendonitis so I may get extended time to write my tests for class and avoid the same situation from repeating again.

Best Regards,

Fahad Khan