Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

I am appealing today to drop the course CISC 325, and subsequently enrol in the course PHAR 100 online for Winter 2020.

Earlier this semester there was a problem with my tuition being paid, which caused a hold on my account. Unfortunately, this hold prevented me swapping my courses before the deadline date of Friday 17th January, 2020. The issue of my tuition being paid and processed late stemmed from the fact that my parents are abroad and had trouble sending the amount of money required over, something which was out of my control. Once I realized that I wanted to swap the two classes mentioned above, I tried to do so via SOLUS, which was when I first noticed the hold on my account. I tried to contact my parents to see what the status was of my tuition payment, which turned out to be much more difficult than expected due to the fact that they were out of the country, they were very difficult to get a hold of. I was worried that the deadline of add/drop classes was approaching and the hold on my account was still present, so I tried to see if paying for my tuition myself was feasible. Evidently it was not, as I did not possess adequate funds in my bank account. I called my bank to see if I could take out more money than I had in my account but the type of account I have prevented me from taking this course of action as I do not have overdraft (I have subsequently requested to change this option on my account in case of future occurrences). I emailed various administration and department officials as well, but they responded that there was nothing that they could do until the hold was lifted.

This has had quite an impact on me and the courses that I am appealing. First of all I found that I was impacted with a lot of unnecessary stress throughout the whole situation, which I found to be a distraction from my other courses that I am enrolled in. Regarding the course I am trying to drop (CISC 325), I found the process most disconcerting as I already had assignments due, which I had to complete to the best of my ability in the unfortunate case that my appeal would not be granted. In addition the class was almost solely based around a team project, so I found it very awkward for me to be uncertain as to whether I would be staying in the class or not, as this outcome would affect the rest of the group. As for the course I am trying to enrol in (PHAR 100), I am negatively impacted as it is online so I cannot go to lectures while I wait for the appeal to be processed. However, I am very interested in the topics covered as per the course description, so I believe that I will be able to catch up with the course content quickly.

I have now received confirmation from my parents that the payment has gone through, and will speak to an official at Gordon Hall later (as per advice of an academic advisor) about having my hold lifted.

Thank you,

Madeleine Hanzlik-Meech