Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I am writing this appeal letter today to request that I be able to drop my PHIL 318 course. Evidently this year has been different from most other years in my academic career in regard to all courses being online. This semester I decided that taking only four courses would allow me to better focus on the courses I am enrolled in and better succeed. However, I did not expect for a decline in my mental health, in part due to the isolation as student staff in residence.

Due to the pandemic and the decline in my mental health I found it increasingly difficult to stay on top of required readings and lectures as they were all being taught asynchronously online. A large part of my mental illness is that once I fall behind in a course, I begin to feel overwhelming anxiety any time I try to sit down and catch up in my classes. Because of the feeling of dread I feel when attempting to catch up, I found myself extremely behind in my PHIL 318 class. The fact that I have not submitted a single assignment in the class does not accurately reflect my work ethic, nor ability to learn content.

With classes being taught asynchronously, I found it extremely difficult to get myself in front of my computer to study content in the classes I was behind on. I went and got help from the student wellness centre where I was given a short-term extenuating circumstances form which assisted me in getting back on top of my other three courses. However, when I reached out to Professor Johannsen he determined that I was not eligible to make up the missed assignments and quizzes. Due to this, I am now at risk of completely failing the class which does not accurately reflect my ability to learn the content taught in the course.

For the reasons mentioned above, I am hopeful that you will allow me to drop this course so as to keep a failing grade off of my academic record. I fully intend to take an extra year of studies to account for my smaller course load this year.
I appreciate your consideration in these difficult times. If any additional documents are required to better help my case in this appeal, I implore you to reach out.

Thank you,
Bridgette Dancause (20112733)