Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academics),
My name is Mikaela Vanderhoeden and I am appealing to have 9 credits from Thompson River University transferred towards my BAH SOCY Degree at Queens.

I am returning into my fourth year at Queens University after taking a few years off to work. I first attended university because I felt it was the right thing to do after high school. Now, I return to Queens with the motivation to start my career in teaching. I am writing this appeal letter because due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I'm unable to attend in-person learning in the Fall and Queens is not offering the online courses I require to graduate with the pre-requisites needed for the next degree I am pursuing. My goals are to apply for a BED program in British Columbia after finishing my degree at Queens. In order to obtain acceptance to this program, I will need to take Canadian History, Canadian Studies, and a Math course. I have found online courses at Thompson River University which I can start in September 2021 that satisfy these requirements (SOCI 3991, HIST 1221, MATH 1901). I understand that with a letter of permission, I should be able to transfer 6 credits from an alternate university, but need to submit an appeal in order to transfer 9 credits.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and job insecurity, I had to relocate from Ontario to British Columbia in the Fall of 2020 to live with family and to seek employment. When it was announced that Queens was returning to in-person learning, I had already made commitments to stay in BC until Winter 2022. After speaking with an academic advisor, I managed to work out online learning for 2 Queens courses in the Fall 2021, and 5 in person courses in the Winter 2022. I will require 9 more credits to graduate and am hoping I can satisfy these requirements with the credits from Thompson River University.

In an ideal circumstance, I would return on campus to Queens for the entire year and take the electives required to enable me to apply for the BED program. However, Queens is not currently offering some of the courses I was hoping to take to move forward with my career (courses: Math for Elementary Teachers and Canadian Studies), and due to unforeseen circumstances, I am unable to attend school in person in the Fall 2021. Taking 3 courses (9 credits) from Thompson River University and having them transferred towards my Queens degree will allow me to satisfy pre-requisites for a BED program and will allow me to graduate in Spring 2022 with a BAH SOCY Degree which has been my goal since 2014.

I hope this letter shows my dedication towards returning to my studies at Queens while having to navigate obstacles from the pandemic. I hope you will take everything I have said into consideration and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,
Mikaela Vanderhoeden