Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean of Studies,
My name is Christopher Behn, Student ID 10202952, and I am appealing to you to consider my request to drop a number of courses from my previous years of study and to provide credit standing or aegrotat status to several other courses. I understand that I am far beyond the 21 day deadline for the appeal process however, I only discovered that I had issues in this regard after completing my last term. Although I am writing to you today, the problem dates back to certain life events that have impacted my ability to complete certain courses satisfactorily. I am six credits short of fully completing my degree, but due to my low GPA and the fact I have exceeded the amount of courses I am unable to complete my studies with an honours degree in Geography.

I respectfully request for your consideration to drop CHEM 281 (Fall 2015, Fall 2017, Sum 2018), MATH 121B (Winter 2017), and BIOL 205 (Fall 2017). In addition, I would also request that I be granted credit standing in GPHY 209 (Winter 2018), GPHY 304 (Winter 2017) and CHEM 112B (Winter 2017). Finally, I appeal to grant aegrotat standing to for ENSC 315 (Winter 2018), GPHY 228 (Winter 2019), GPHY 325 (Fall 2018) and GPHY 371 (Winter 2019).

Of the courses listed above, there are a number of factors that have contributed to my poor academic performance due to debilitating physical and mental health issues. I have suffered from chronic and acute migraines for all of my adult life. These episodes are precipitated by changes in barometric pressure, stress, and lack of sleep. It is not uncommon for the episodes to occur at random as well, with no event to precede them. When I am affected by a migraine, the result is debilitating and renders me incapable of functioning in any capacity. To summarize, attending classes when these episodes occur is impossible and has resulted in me missing important dates and events such as tests or in class marks. As a result, my overall grades in these courses that require the physical presence of students have suffered due to the difficulty I face when trying to attend these classes all due to my migraines.

In addition to my physical health problems, I have suffered with some mental health issues over the past couple of years starting in 2016. During the fall semester of the 2016 I experienced a death in the family during the examination period. This required me to make trips between my home town of Ottawa and Kingston, making study for my exams difficult and further adding a level of mental stress to contend with during an already stressful time. This event and the toll it took on my mental health, left me with depressive symptoms that carried on well after the death occurred. Furthermore, the house I lived in at the time exacerbated these symptoms as I was not in good standing with my fellow housemates. The conflicts that stemmed from our confrontations added further stress and led to lack of sleep. These factors also contributed to the frequency and intensity of the migraines I would experience during my time in that house and led to ongoing depressive episodes which negatively impacted my ability to perform academically. In conclusion, the ongoing persistence of my chronic migraines and events that occurred heavily impacted my mental and physical health to the point that I could not perform to a satisfactory level academically, particularly in courses that required a consistent attendance or required attendance for specific events such as a test. Therefore, in these classes my grades suffered heavily and it has had a profound impact on my GPA and ability to finish my degree.

Should this appeal be granted, it is my intention to focus on the two courses that I need to graduate. Because there are only two courses that I will be required to complete my degree, I can allocate all of my time and resources to finishing them with the upmost academic performance. Furthermore, I have since moved out from the house that I was previously lived in and have noted a positive difference in my mental health and wellbeing. This, combined with the fact that I have had changes in my migraine medication has led to less frequent and intense episodes which will allow me to perform better.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your kind consideration of this matter and I look forward your response.

Warmest Regards,
Christopher Behn