Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Stephenson,
I am appealing to the Faculty of Arts and Science for exemption from my exams with the exception of PSYC 100 as I understand aegrotat standing does not apply to this course. My remaining courses this term include MICR 270 and GLPH 171.
On the 1st of February, I was competing in an international level ski cross competition where I collapsed over a jump at high speed and was lying unconscious before I was airlifted for immediate care in Ottawa. I had sustained two fractures to my thoracic spine and a severe grade three concussion which has greatly impacted my ability to retain information. As directed by my family physician, I withheld from returning to school for a period of over one month and was receiving treatment at my home in North Bay. I have been working with a concussion specialist on a weekly basis, however, I still present symptoms including attention and processing difficulties as well as short-term memory loss. Due to the severity of my symptoms at the time, I made a decision to drop two of my five courses before the add/drop deadline to avoid jeopardizing my GPA. After making this decision, I was planning on taking these courses over the summer, however, I have since considered my circumstances and decided I will need to take the summer months to rest and heal in preparation for the following fall term. I have also had to give my mother permission to speak to faculty representatives on my behalf as I am unable to recall a majority of given instructions or information regarding my extenuating circumstances. Despite these conditions, I made an effort to catch up on the content I had missed and successfully completed all of my course work with accommodations in place, while avoiding any significant decreases in my grades. Although I was able to complete the content in small portions for my three remaining courses, I have had extreme difficulties studying entire course materials as it exacerbated my symptoms. Unfortunately, these lingering effects were unforeseen and the added stress of exams have greatly restricted my ability to heal. I have maintained contact with Natasha DeGroot, an occupational therapist at Student Wellness Services, who originally made arrangements for academic accommodations and she has recommended that I register with Queen¿¿s Student Accessibility Services for the remainder of my post-secondary career and suggested that I should not write my exams until I have recovered fully. Natasha then directed me to speak with an academic advisor, Spring Forsberg, who felt that given my circumstances, it may be in my best interest to apply for aegrotat standing in order to focus on giving myself time to properly heal as I plan to continue my studies in the fall.
In order to achieve my academic goals in the future, I will continue to schedule appointments with my physiotherapists and concussion specialist in order to regain normal function and return to my fullest academic abilities. I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to be granted aegrotat standing for this winter term as I hold myself to high academic expectations, which I will otherwise be unable to achieve.
As my family physician is out of the office this week, supporting documentation will follow within the next few days.

Thank you for your consideration,

Dagmar D¿¿Agostino