Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Sophia Mauritz
20043644

October 17th, 2020

Attention: Arts & Sciences Appeal Team

Re: Sophia Mauritz - PSYC570 Late Drop



Dear Arts & Sciences Appeal Team and whomever this may concern,

My name is Sophia Mauritz and I am currently in my 4th year of a BSc(H) of Psychology.
During the Winter 2020 semester, I was scheduled to embark on an exchange semester at the
Universität Tu¿bingen in Germany. Given that their semester did not align with our semester,
running from April to the end of July, I was not enrolled in any classes from January to April.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my semester was cancelled and I was recalled
home to Canada. As a result, I lost an entire semester worth of credits.

In an attempt to remedy this loss, I spent numerous hours communicating with Hailey
McCormack, Karen Scalen, and Megan Norris to discuss options of summer courses. With their
help, I enrolled in FREN106, PSYC550 and PSYC570. The psychology independent courses
were scheduled to be done under the supervision of Dr. Jeremy Stewart. Both the FREN106
and PSYC550 courses were completed. In order to complete the PSYC570 course, professor
Stewart and I had arranged for me to collect data from Hotel Dieu Hospital in collaboration with
Dr. Yan Deng and Dr. Sarosh Khalid-Khan. It was planned that I would have access to patient
records that would be used for future research and the organization of a blanket consent form to
be used in future hospital visits. Unfortunately, due to communication errors, it was determined
that in order for me to access these patient records I was required to be in Kingston, ON. Given
that I lived in Vancouver, BC this was not an option until I returned to Kingston at the end of
August for the start of the Fall 2020 semester. As a result, Dr. Stewart and I, in accordance with
Dr. Norris, arranged that I would receive an IN in the PSYC570 course for the Spring/Summer
and would fulfill the requirement in the Fall to ultimately receive a grade. I arranged my Fall
2020 course schedule to incorporate the 570 course, as it fulfilled the research component I
required for the psychology degree.

In order to work at Hotel Dieu Hospital, I was required to have a communicable disease
form and some other documentation completed and approved. In an attempt to get started on
the course as soon as possible, I contacted my family doctor by email (I have proof) to have my
forms signed. She confirmed over the phone that she had faxed the forms to the ¿¿fax number
printed at the bottom of the forms.¿ Throughout this entire process, which began in the middle of
June, I made sure to cc Dr. Stewart, Dr. Deng, and Dr. Kahlid-Khan in all communication to
demonstrate my timeliness and organization, as well to inform them of my keenness to start. On
numerous occasions I emailed Dr. Stewart to inquiry about the status of my start date as I felt
that the semester was beginning and I had yet to hear back from anyone regarding any further
instructions. On Monday June 21st, in Week 3, I received an email from Dr. Stewart informing
me that ¿¿the reason everything is delayed for Sophia is that she has NOT sent in her complete
records for here to get Departmental Assistant Status despite being asked several times to do
so.¿ Further the email stated that ¿¿another psychology undergrad completed all the requirements
of the application on time as requested and is now able to do the project we assigned her.¿ This
information came to me as a surprise as I had sent in everything, and numerous times emailed
them to inquire about further instructions on when I would be able to begin the project. On
September 22nd, I spoke with Dr. Stewart over zoom to discuss further solutions. He was of
little help. To take matters into my own hands, I immediately emailed the Psychology Undergrad
Department, and Dr. Daryl Wilson to inquire whether I would be able to enrol in the Attention
Lab. After a couple of days, I was enrolled in PSYC323, and spoke with Dr. Wilson to discuss
everything I needed to know in order to catch up. Given that I had started in Week 3, the past
weeks had been an overload of assignments, trying my best to get everything done in every
course and catching up at the same time. As a result, I have fallen behind in other courses,
resulting in having still to this date not handed in an english essay that was due in Week 5.

I am asking to appeal the PSYC570 course. After graduation, I aim to apply to medical
schools, meaning that an incomplete on my transcript could affect my chances of acceptance. I
am an organized and hard-working student who unfortunately has been subjected to some
difficult situations in regards to my academics over the past year.

I am happy to supply all communication and further evidence needed in order to help in
the decision of the appeal process. I can be reached by email at 16slm5@queensu.ca or by
phone at 604-360-1312.

Sincerely,
Sophia Mauritz