Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Whomever it May Concern,

I enrolled in courses properly in July and believed that I was fulfilling all my course requirements to graduate in April. I applied for graduation believing everything was fine. Unfortunately, I received an email detailing that I was in fact 3.0 credits short of my BAH requirement. I was (and am) fine in terms of my degree plan, and only need an elective to fulfill this requirement. I do not believe this error was my own, because I have been taking a full course load every year except this one. It may be an issue with my exchange transfer credits I am not sure.

Either way, what I do need is to get into a course now. I need to do this because I plan to do some more education upon graduation and that will be impossible without graduating in April. My academic performance should not be called into question, because it is not an academic issue - my transcript speaks for itself. It is more an administrative problem. From that side, I have considerably less strong legs to stand on. I currently have a part time job, two unpaid internships, and four courses. I have been applying to schools, and jobs on the side as well. I have been working these positions since the summer. Moreover, I was diagnosed with general anxiety Disorder three years ago, now. Sometimes, this also demands my attention, and stress can get mismanaged. This forces me to organize my time down to the minute, and be very stern with myself. I have very few minutes to spare. As one could imagine, things fall through the cracks from time to time. This is what I hinge this error on. I don't know when it was made, or how I did not detect it. I simply aim to fix it and continue on with the plan that I set into motion when I matriculated with Queen's.

The solution is an easy one. I have the permission of Professor Evans and Professor Bongie to enroll in the online section of children's literature. This way I will not have a conflict with my class schedule as it stands now. As for my ability to catch up and excel in the course - what I already handle can attest to my determination and discipline. I prioritize my school over all other commitments and that will not change, and continue to allow me to thrive as a student here.

I hope you will consider my appeal, and aid me in seeing through the plans and dreams this April.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Shannon Honsberger