Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

I am appealing to late drop both CISC 497 (Winter, 2021), and STAT 269 (Winter, 2021).

On February 8, 2021, I underwent a non-optional surgical procedure. While I was briefed on potential symptoms of recovery, I did not anticipate the severity of my personal recovery process, including the degree to which it would impact my ability to work on my academics. Immediately following the surgery and for the next 2 weeks, I was in constant pain. The pain and other side effects I experienced made it near impossible to concentrate for any extended period of time, and I fell behind in all my courses as a result.

When the pain began to subside during the week of February 22nd, the demands of a new cluster of coursework on top of what had already accumulated took a serious toll on my mental health. Not only were there several deliverables due immediately, but I was far enough behind where completing these deliverables was not possible without consuming a large quantity of background lecture material, which significantly slowed my progress. This stress hit an all-time high leading up to the heavy week of March 1st to March 5th. This week in particular saw every aspect of my life outside of school suffer greatly as I continued to be far behind in material in most courses and had to complete a 2 midterms, 2 tests, and 2 assignments within a short window of 5 days. Upon completing my last midterm of the week in the evening of March 5th, I had a serious conversation with my partner about that past week, what was upcoming, and how the amount of work and stress I was trying to manage was both completely unsustainable and having a serious negative impact on my mental health. The next morning, my attempt to drop CISC 497 and STAT 269 failed as the deadline turned out to be the previous night. Between the stress of that week combined with my focus on preparing for and completing deliverables, it did not occur to me that the drop deadline was on the Friday.

The purpose of dropping CISC 497 and STAT 269 is to reduce course load so that I can successfully recover and complete my other three courses. I chose to drop CISC 497 because while it is required for my degree, it is not a prerequisite course and I plan to retake it in Winter 2022. I am also choosing to drop STAT 269 because I am able to substitute an option course that I completed in the summer of 2020 in order to fulfill the associated degree requirement. An additional reason for choosing to drop these two courses is that they were also the least recoverable overall. I plan to complete my other three courses this semester: CISC 465, CISC 271, and MATH 210. CISC 465 fulfills elective requirements for my degree plan and this course was especially light in material and deliverables during most of February, meaning I was able to catch up fairly quickly. Both CISC 271 and MATH 210 are not only required for my degree plan, but they are also prerequisites for future required courses that I plan to take Fall 2021. These are absolutely essential to focus on in order to ensure I am not significantly set back. Although these courses will take a significant amount of work to recover, it will be possible with a lightened course load.

Looking ahead to the future, I am optimistic. I have been putting a large number of hours into the recovery of CISC 465, CISC 271, and MATH 210 and have made significant progress. Additionally, I have been receiving support from Academic Advising (March 9th), Queen¿¿s Counselling (March 19th, March 22th), as well as from my own personal support network. I plan on continuing to utilize these resources as I finish the term, including a follow-up counselling appointment booked for this afternoon. I am confident that with fewer courses to focus on, I will be successful moving forward.

Thank you for your consideration,

Derian Kreider.
Student Number: 20064728