Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean (Studies),
To begin, I would like to thank you sincerely for the support that you and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences have provided me. I have been fighting from anxieties, panic attacks and depression, due to domestic violence from my ex-husband since 2014. It has affected not only my coursework, but also my ability to engage with academics and related processes. Now that I feel safe and my condition is stable, thanks to a final decision of a judge after 120 hours of trial, and the support of the Student Wellness Services. I am ready to continue with my academic life efficiently; to complete my Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Linguistics, and to pursue further my academic pursuits. To that end, I am asking:

1. To request a DR notation for:
¿¿ COGS 100 (2017 Fall)
¿¿ LING 100 (2017-18 Fall Winter)
¿¿ CISC P81 (2018 Winter)
¿¿ MATH 126 (2018-19 Fall Winter)
¿¿ PSYC 100 (2018-19 Fall Winter)
¿¿ COGS 100 (2019 Summer)
¿¿ PSYC 100 (2019 Summer)
¿¿ FREN 230 (2019 Winter)
¿¿ LAW 201 (2019 Fall)
¿¿ ANAT 100 (2020 Summer)

2. To request Credit Standing for:
¿¿ GRMN 101 (2017 Fall)
¿¿ ECON 111 (2018 Summer)
¿¿ WRIT 120 (2019 Winter)
¿¿ LING 310 (2019 Fall)
¿¿ WRIT 265 (2019 Fall)
¿¿ BIOL 111 (2020 Summer)

The reason I did not request to appeal some of these courses earlier, it is because I did not know the appeal option existed. I found out from a friend who is a previous Queen¿¿s student in July 2020. As soon as I learned this, I have contacted an academic advisor.
Also, should I provide documentation of trials and lawyer appointments date that had been running at the same time as my class lectures from 2017 to 2019

I can also provide documentation of my mother, who depends on me financially, had COVID 19, diagnosed and was on treatment for blood infections in Haiti. Now seeking treatment in the Dominican Republic for hepatic steatosis and helicobacter pillory
Below, I detail the medical circumstances that affected and prevented me from engaging in academic work until now.
Extenuating circumstances

On August 15, 2015. My son and I left our house in an ambulance to end up living in a woman¿¿s shelter. Thanks to the community mental health and legal aid lawyers, I was able to have hope and go back to school in 2016.
In 2017, I started Queen¿¿s. It is when my ex-husband that I was separated from 2015 to 2019 started calling me to court, asked me to pay back all the support money because I have OSAP and free grants, wanted to take my son away from me by saying that I can¿¿t offer good comfort to my son and I have no time to spend with him since I become a full-time student. He started to life-threatening me because he did not want to share his asset with me, calling me often to court. I had no choice but to use my economy to pay a private lawyer, eat at food banks since I am living in government housing.

Then, I had begun to realize a deterioration of my physical and mental health again in November 2017. My family doctor suggests that I see a psychologist and send me to a sleep clinic. Fall 2018, it is when I began to request academic accommodation at the urging of a physician with Student Wellness Services. At the same time, I have started to see a psychologist there too, but after seeing her twice, she said she would call me to put me in a group of counselling. I did not receive any call back from her; then, I did not call back either because I feared having any documentation on my record that could show my mental health struggles because I was fighting in court with my ex over child custody. After receiving the final court order 120-hour trial on November 29, 2019, and after I finished paying my lawyer in January, I began to feel better until COVID-19 stress took over and affected three of my family members. It left two of them with side effects. My brother with floaters in both eyes and my mother with a blood infection.

If there is something that I learn from my failure of some courses during my academic years is not to take five courses at a time while I am coping with stress. I am engaging in counselling with Student Wellness Services since this summer. I am confident that I am now able to complete this degree.

Academic Plan

After I get my appeal granted, I will contact the Linguistics Department and ask to get into the Linguistics plan because I believe that I will have the GPA 2.6 that they are required.

To complete my Linguistics degree, I am planning to take three or four courses at a time each semester to manage them better and have better grades.

If I cannot graduate in June 2021, I will seek the possibility to take courses during the summer to complete the academic year and be able to graduate in December 2021.