Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean of Arts and Science,

Thank you for taking the time to read my request to appeal to drop the following courses: MATH 121A/B (2015-16), BIOL 102 and 103 (2015-6) and ENGL 215 (2019).
Throughout my time at Queen's I have struggled with my mental health, such as chronic anxiety and depression. Reflecting on my time at Queen's, it is evident that I was unaware of the detrimental impact poor mental health could have on one's success. Additionally, due to the stigma mental health played on Campus, it was difficult to find the resources and help I needed.
I realized that my overrunning was not a manageable coping mechanism, which led me to seeking help from the counsellors at LaSalle in December 2011. I tried to seek professional help from LaSalle, but unfortunately, I was unable to get in to see a counselor for two months due to them being backlogged. For some reason, they referred me to Hagar Akua Prah who was a sexual assault counselor based out of the JDUC. I contacted her February 1st, 2012, and saw her for the next two months. However, I felt that progress was not being made, so I sought to find other support systems. I tried to find another therapist located near or on campus but I could not find any that were specialized for sexual assault victims. Unfortunately, during that time someone close to me passed away exacerbating the deterioration of my mental health. When coming back to school in January, I had to take my deferred exams as well as start the new semester. My mental health was decreasing which led me to reach out to Hagar once again to ask for her help and reference to find a support group, since I thought this would help me open up and get the support I needed. Unfortunately, Hagar never got back to me, so I ended up going back to LaSalle to seek further advice. They directed me to the Sexual Assault Centre (SAC) to find the support I needed. That is when I contacted the SAC and was directed to a childhood survivors of sexual assault support group, run by Lisa Doxtator.
The SAC support group was a life changer for me because it made me open up about my past and work hard to cope with my anxiety. The support group focused on tough topics each week to help survivors deal with guilt, anger, anxiety, trust, etc. Each week was a trigger for me, opening up old wounds again and again. I ended up going home to Ottawa a lot since I was finding that my anxiety was getting worse. I began having panic attacks when I was at school to the point where I felt unsafe leaving my apartment. This resulted in me starting to neglect school, friends and other responsibilities. I fell into a deep depression where I began contemplating suicide in order to escape. This feeling only became more prevalent when, on December 13, 2014 my Papa died. Going to his funeral was extremely difficult and traumatic for me since I would have to be in a room once again with my abuser. After going to the funeral and dealing with added anxiety and panic attacks as the aftermath, I decided that I needed to move back home and leave Queen's University until I was mentally ready to return. I talked to advisors from the Faculty of Arts and Science, including Cindy Butts, making them aware of my situation as well as my decision to move back home to seek additional help. They came up with a plan that would allow me to use a letter of permission to take courses at Ottawa University as well as take online courses at Queen's University while I was at home in order to help me keep up with my studies. In reality, I was not in the right mental capacity to carry on with my academics but I did not know that it was an option to defer the year. This decision, or lack thereof, altered my entire academic plan and future. It is what still affects my ability to graduate today.
During that year, I moved home and continued to work on my mental health with Lisa Doxtator (through phone calls) and in person with Dr. Bolla in Ottawa. I worked with both of them to help deal with past trauma and learn to cope with triggers and anxiety that comes with rape victims. I took my courses at Ottawa University and online with Queen's University. Even though I was working to improve my mental health, it was difficult for me to focus on my courses. I could not focus on my courses, so I notified the Faculty of Arts and Science and they told me that I had missed the drop date period for Biology 103 and 121. Instead of letting me know that I could have appealed the course or offered support, they just told me to try my best to finish the course. I tried reaching out to my professors and they granted me extensions, but the allocated time was not enough to help me succeed. Unfortunately, I realized that I could not focus on my mental health while trying to push through my course. By choosing to focus on my mental health, it better prepared me to go back to school, but this was at the expense of failing my two courses.
After a year of working towards gaining better mental health, I felt that I might be ready to go back to school. I contacted the Faculty of Arts and Science to figure out how to get back on track with my original academic plan. We came up with a plan for me to remain at home but to take online courses to complete my minor in History. My therapist and I both agreed this would be a good way to ease back into school. This semester was a bit rocky since I had to learn how to cope again with a full semester of school as well as adopting healthy study habits. As my marks began to improve, I felt ready to move back to move back to Kingston in 2018 for what I was told was my last semester. During that time, I was doing extremely well finding the balance between my academic success and my mental health.
In November, I applied to the Queen's Faculty of Education because I was under the impression that I was on track to graduate based on the information provided to me by the academic advisors from the Arts and Science department. I was accepted into the program February 1, 2019 However, when I applied to graduate from Solus, my request was rejected. I contacted the Faculty of Arts and Science and they notified me that I did not have enough credits to graduate. This was a surprise to me since I was told by several academic advisors that I had fulfilled all the requirements to graduate. In light of this news, I went back to try to resolve this issue but I was given mixed information on which courses would fulfill my requirements, for the next two years. This led me to seek the advice of the Ombudsman, Heather Cole, since I was not getting correct information. At this point, I was already three months into my Education Degree, so I sought Vicky Andrews's help at the Faculty of Education. While she provided me helpful information on the side of my second degree, she was limited in her ability to help me navigate what I needed for my Arts and Science Degree. Finally, after completing the academic plan, set out by the Queen's University Ombudsman, I was then again told that I did not meet graduation requirements due to my CPA being 1.88, 0.02 below the threshold. This was after two years since the initial rejection. I took 10 extra courses, 8 courses were not actually required due to incorrect information provided to me by academic advisors. Due to the stress of the miss information I was provided, this extenuating circumstance led me to failing my English 315 course during the summer of 2019 due to taking more than a typical full course load for the entire year. During the fall of 2018 I was taking 10 B'Ed courses, completing my practicum plus one athabasca course. During the Winter of 2019 I was taking 9 B'Ed courses, practicum, plus two courses at Queen's and one course online with Athabasca. In the Summer of 2019 I was completing the remainder of my 9 B'Ed courses, practicum in addition to ENG 315 at Queen's and two courses through Athabasca.
I feel that I have taken many steps in trying to not only improve my mental, but get back on track with my Academics. Throughout these 2 years, I have tried to overcome the many challenges that were unnecessarily created from the incorrect academic advice by the professionals at Queen's University. While I persevered through all of this, I am now just 0.02 units away from completing my 2 degrees. At this point I am tired, and feel that I have done my due diligence in exhausting all courses of action I could take.



TIMELINE:
September 2011- Start of School
December 2011- Contacted LaSalle for Help
February 1, 2012- Got Appointment at LaSalle
February 1, 2012- Contacted Hagar to book a meeting
February to April 2012- Sought Help from Hagar
April 2012- School ended
December 13th, 2012- Sue Imbessi Passed away. Had my exams deferred to January.
January 2013- I wrote my exams and started my new semester
April 10th, 2013- Contacted Hagar to seek advice and reference
April 20th 2013- Contacted LaSalle to book another appointment
End of April 2013- Saw a LaSalle counsellor who I went to see again in April. They
recommended me to the Sexual Assault Centre in Kingston (SAC).
April 2013- Contacted SAC and found out their support group had ended but started back up in September.
April 2013- Finished school for the Summer
September 2014- Started the new school year as well as the Childhood Survivors of Sexual assault support group.
- Began experiencing triggers, panic attacks and chronic anxiety
October 2014- Began experiencing chronic depression and suicidal thoughts. Worked with Lisa Doxtator to work through these issues.
November 6, 2014- Lisa Doxtator wrote me a letter use as extenuating circumstances in order to gain extensions and extra support from my professors.
November 10, 2014- Went to see Cindy Butts for support and advice. She also wrote a letter I was able to use in order to gain extensions and support in my courses.
December 13, 2014- My Papa, Alan Griffin died. Went home to attend the funeral, so I had to defer my exams once again.
January 2015- My mental health deteriorated after the death of my papa due to being triggered from being in the room with my abuser. I continued to seek help from the SAC as as well as the faculty of Art and Science.
March 2015- I left Queens and went home to work on my mental health. I contacted the Arts and Science Department and they helped me get my courses dropped in order to ensure that they didn't hinder my GPA. They encouraged me to take courses online as well as through Ottawa University in order to not fall behind academically. I continued to work with Lisa from the SAC over the phone and started to see a new therapist, Dr. Bolla in Ottawa.
September 2015- Started attending Ottawa University as well as started my online courses at Queen's University. I continued to struggle finding a balance between school and my mental health especially with the full-time course load, the two-hour bus commute to and from Ottawa University and the added stress of self-directed learning that is associated with online courses.
October 2015- Contacted Queen's University, the faculty of Arts and Science to let them know that I was having difficulties. I was told it was too late to drop the course and was told to do the best I could. I tried to keep up with the online courses and seek help from my professors, but I was unable to keep up with the demand.
January 2016- I continued to struggle with my online courses which led me to seeking help from my professors. I tried reaching out to my professors and they granted me extensions, but the allocated time was not enough to help me succeed.
February- April 2016- I finished the semester by focusing on my mental health at the expense of my academic career. I took the time I needed to rebuild my mental health and ensure that when I went back to school I would be ready.
July 2017- I contacted the academic advisors at the Faculty of Arts and Science to let them know that I was mentally ready to come back to school. I spoke with Spring, an advisor, about
getting back on track with my original academic plan and making strides towards
graduating. She helped me find and register in online courses that would help to fulfill
my requirements for my History Minor and Sociology Major. She also notified me that
these were the final courses I needed to graduate.
August 2017- Once registered in my courses, after the course add/drop opened, I contacted the
Arts and Science department in order to confirm that I was enrolled and on-track for
graduation. I was told by Haley that I was once again on track.
September 2017- Started my online courses and learned how to cope again with a full semester
of school as well as adopting healthy study habits. As my marks began to improve, I felt ready to move back to move back to Kingston.
November 2017- Applied to the B'Ed program.
January 5th, 2017- Moved back to Kingston and started my new semester, for the first time living
on my own.
January 10th, 2018- My dog ended up having seizures, resulting in me having to go home to
Ottawa for the remainder of the week in order to have her put down. I contacted my Professors and notified them about my absences and made arrangements to receive the notes. This was a heartbreaking experience. However, it was the first true test to see how I was able to cope on my own with death, stressors and depression. I was successful in utilizing the coping mechanisms that I had learned in order to ensure that I could maintain good mental health and academic success
February 1st 2018- Got accepted into the B'Ed Program
March 2018- Applied for graduation
Mid-March 2018- Was notified that I did not have enough credits to graduate. I immediately
booked an appointment with an academic advisor to rectify this issue. I saw four different advisors in four days and was given mixed information. I was told I needed to take 4, 9, 12, and 24 units to fulfill my requirements. I was frustrated and upset with being misinformed time and time again.
April 2018- Contacted Vicky Andrews at the Faculty of Education to review my transcript and
get help creating an academic plan.
May 2018- I started my B'Ed Program
May 2018- I booked an appointment with Jamie Kincaid, the Manager/Student Services at the Faculty of Education to notify her of the issues with my undergrad.
July 2018- I contacted the Faculty of Arts and Science again in order to get a clear academic
plan that would ensure my academic success. I was notified that they could not create an academic plan for me. I was frustrated with the lack of information and guidance.
August 2018- I contacted the Ombudsman, Haley Cole, to resolve this issue and have an
academic plan created for me in order to ensure I could graduate.
Sept-November 2018- I spent three months creating an academic plan that met the needs of each
department, the Faculty of Education, the Faculty of Arts and Science, the department of Sociology, the History Department and the ombudsman. I made revision after revision to ensure that all my requirements were fulfilled and met. I had to go to each department and have them sign and accept the terms for each requirement so that everything was in writing and understood. I was required to complete 27 units in addition to my full course load and practicum placements in my B'Ed program.
January- April 2019- I took 3 additional courses (Sociology 227 and Sociology 384 at Queens
and Sociology 339 through Athabasca) on top of my B'Ed program and working part-time.
Summer 2019- I was required to take English 315 with Queen's as well as two additional
Sociology courses through Athabasca. However, I was on practicum for 6 weeks for the first weeks of my course. I soon realized that i could not meet the high demands of teaching a full course load, creating new lesson plans, working part-time and taking additional courses. I once again contacted the Faculty of Arts and Science and they advised me to stick to my academic plan or else I would fall further behind. I therefore contacted my professor, Rober May, to explain my situation and see if I could gain extensions on my assignments. However, he was only willing to extend the deadline by a week, which was still not manageable for me. I ended up not being able to fulfill the work needed for this course and ultimately ended up failing it. I finished my B'Ed program at the end of July.
September 2019- I drove from Ottawa to Kingston every Tuesday in order to take my final two
4th year Sociology courses that I needed in order to complete my Sociology requirements. At this point I was completing my online athabasca courses and receiving B+ to A's in all my courses. I believed once again that I was on track to graduate once completing these courses. It took me a little longer since I was working full-time in addition to taking my two fourth year SOCY courses in addition to the five courses I was through Athabasca. I ended up finishing at the end of March 2020.
March 2020- I finished my courses through Athabasca and awaited my marks. However, due to
COVID-19, the process to get my transcript sent to Queen's University took a little longer. Once my transcript was recieved, I applied again to graduate. I was then notified that my CPA is too low to graduate and that I should look at attaining a three-year diploma instead. I was then told to take another course in order to bring up my CPA. I immediately contacted Vicky Andrews since this was not discussed or brought up as a concern during our initial agreement with my academic plan. I was also under the impression that one course would not be able to bump me up high enough unless I got an A and I did not want to have to pay for yet another course that was unnecessary. Vicky Andrews and I talked again and decided that my best course of action would be to appeal the courses that I had failed, in order to bump up my CPA high enough to graduate. Which has led me to today.
April 22nd, 2020- I write my Appeal in the hopes that you can help me reach the finish line. To
finally be able to attain my two Degrees that I have fought so hard to attain. To be able to move onto the next chapter of my life, my lifelong dream, teaching.