Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

The intent of this letter is to appeal to waive the 21-day regulation 3.2.1 with the hopes of then being granted permission to submit my credit standing appeal (CSA) for review. In this appeal, I will outline the reasons why I was unable to submit my CSA before the deadline.

Reason 1: Unaware of the deadline

On February 26th, 2021, I had an appointment with an Academic Advisor and learned that there was a CSA deadline in effect. I learned at this appointment that since I graduated in June 2020, this deadline had passed even though I was enrolled as a full-time student during the 2021-2021 academic year. Learning about this deadline was a realized fear; I had a lot of built-up anxiety that my CSA would be denied because of the length of time that had passed. The Academic Advisor recommended including the reasons why I was unable to submit my CSA prior to the deadline.

I sought out help from Student Wellness Services (SWS) to finish my CSA. SWS helped me to realize that the reason I had avoided writing my CSA for so long is due to the distressing nature of my circumstance that underlies the reason for my poor academic performance. In addition, SWS helped me realize that an anxious/avoidance cycle was a contributor to why I experienced such difficulty when attempting to write and submit my CSA.

I submitted my CSA on March 12th, 2021 and received an email from the Appeals Coordinator on March 15th, 2021 indicating that I would need to submit a separate appeal letter to waive the 21-day deadline before potentially having my CSA reviewed. Since learning this information, I have reconnected with SWS for support as I write this second appeal letter and hope that you will consider waiving the 21-day regulation so that I can submit my CSA.


Reason 2: Lack of clarity regarding the nature of my health conditions

The impact of my circumstances (which I will speak to in my CSA, if granted) fluctuated over the course of my university career. Although my symptoms improved slightly in the 2018-2019 academic year, it was not until December 30th, 2019 that I was referred to Markham Stouffville Hospital for further assessment where I was seen on May 25th, 2020. This assessment provided me with more clarity regarding the nature of my health conditions, which helped start the process for drafting the appeal. Prior to this December 30th, 2019 referral, I did seek out medical assistance for my health concerns at La Salle but was never followed up with beyond initial visits.

Reason 3: Decline in mental health throughout process of writing these appeals

As I mentioned at the beginning of my letter, I tried to write and submit the credit standing appeal for two years but found this to be a difficult process because it meant re-living a very difficult period in my life. It became necessary for me to focus on improving my mental health first so that I was able to come to a place where I could write these appeals. Unfortunately, the process of writing both appeals has resulted in a significant relapse in my mental health due to several distressing and traumatic experiences that have resurfaced.

As a result, I needed to request short term accommodations from Student Wellness Services following my initial submission of my CRA back in March 2021. I also sought out help from a psychotherapist who I now meet with regularly. The psychotherapist is helping me to address this re-traumatization, work towards improving my mental health, and work through the unresolved issues caused by past events.


I would be more than happy to discuss this further with you should this be deemed necessary. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Kind regards,
Siobhan Wilson
20019262