Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern:

I, Sean Killin, have been requested to withdraw from Queen¿¿s University for a period of 3 years due to academic underperformance that has been seriously impacted by my ongoing disability.

Please waive this requirement to withdraw and accept my appeal to return.

Over the last ten years I have received a number of traumatic brain injuries from both my athletic endeavors and accidents that have occurred outside of my athletics. I have been part of studies at the University of Toronto, Toronto Rehab, and Holland Bloorview Children¿¿s Rehabilitation Hospital as a result of these serious incidents and in attempt to treat my disability. Numerous professionals have assisted me in dealing with the lasting implications of my disability including Dr. Keitly (Holland bloorview), Dr. Karen Johnston (Toronto Rehab), and my general practitioner Dr. Claudio Bergono.

I received academic accommodation at my high school in Toronto and was assisted directly in person by the return to learn team and was able to graduate as an Ontario Scholar with this assistance.

As a result of these lasting implications, I have had difficulty completing a myriad of tasks throughout my time at Queen¿¿s. I was unaware of accommodation for my disability at Queen¿¿s and was anxious to reach out at first. I have a significantly difficult time completing assignments within deadlines, taking notes, and difficulty concentrating. I will occasionally have a number of days in a row where I am not capable of completing academic challenges. As a result of this, I become incredibly overwhelmed, anxious, and have suffered from serious depression. I was treated by a clinical psychologist Dr. Matteo Renelli and continue to see him to this day. I also have difficulty living alone without a certain level of assistance.

Since March 2018 I have been seeing Tess Grant, an occupational therapist at Student Wellness services on a regular basis. Tess has been providing me with academic and social assistance that have aided in pushing me forward.

The Fall 2018 and Winter 2019 terms were strong in the first 7-8 weeks of courses; however, the problem that has affected me is handing in final assignments on time and falling behind. Many of those assignments had been completed either entirely or a portion of them have been. This has resulted in me successfully completing the majority of course work requirements and exams but missing a minority of key components resulting in a grade that does not represent the performance of my work. As a result of this, under the direction of Spring Forsberg, I am considering appealing for Aegrotat standing and/or Credit Standing, both of which I was unaware existed. I have also moved into my family home, away from Kingston and am surrounded by my doctors, clinical psychologist, and family support network. I am planning on completing the three-year program through distance learning.

I have sent in my forms to Student Wellness services and am applying for full academic accommodations with accessibility services.

Additionally, there are a number of courses where I have attempted to drop after the deadline, as I have difficulty with deadlines, where I was denied, and they ended up as F on my transcript.

With this standing, I am confident that I am capable of increasing my GPA to represent the majority of the course work that I have completed as well as allowing me to switch my degree from BAH to BA 3 year (90 credit points) in order to successfully complete my studies.

I am currently enrolled in 18 units of summer courses, 12 of which are new courses. I currently have 72 credit points and am close to meeting the 90-point requirement to finish with a three-year bachelor¿¿s degree. I can enroll in 6 more units and complete the requirements in the July-August period or in the fall and successfully complete my degree at Queen¿¿s.

Please accept my plead to withdraw, as I feel I am capable of continuing and finishing my degree with the outlined plan.

Best,

Sean Killin