Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am a student at the University of Ottawa taking STAM 200 online at Queen¿¿s. During the first few months of this course, I was excelling and I was keeping up with all of the work. In February, there was a death in my family and I started to fall behind on the tutorials and mandatory weekly work. I should have dropped the course then, but I thought I would be able to catch up as it was important to me that I complete the course. Taking school online for me has been a struggle as my situation at home is not ideal. I have a history of concussions and online learning has been causing me to experience concussion symptoms. At the University of Ottawa, I have had accommodations for learning (SASS) for this year because of this (my family doctor filled out a medical certificate). Online learning has been affecting my mental health quite negatively, and I have had to self-isolate twice in the past month due to coming in contact with Covid. Self-isolation has had a big impact on my mental health and I have not been able to see my doctor or anyone for this. I have been struggling with my school work tremendously and I believe I will fail STAM 200 if I am not able to drop it. I am applying to transfer to Carleton University in the fall and have received an offer of admission with the condition that I keep up my GPA. Failing this course will cause a huge drop in my GPA and I lose my offer of admission. If there is any chance I can withdraw from this course, I would be grateful. Please let me know if there is anything I can do.

Thank you for your time,
Maya Hessel