Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean (Academic),

Good afternoon,

My name is Bridgette Doorey, and I am a student in Global Development studies, entering my fifth year. I am reaching out today in hopes of receiving your support in both receiving an Aegrotat standing in my DEVS 240 course (W21) and to receive permission to late drop my courses from this past summer (COGS 100, DEVS 392 and LAW 202).

At the end of the Winter semester of 2021, I was already struggling with my mental illness and ADHD and required extra time to complete my final paper as arranged with my professor in DEVS 240. However, while in the process of completing this assignment, my mother had a serious fall on May 8th, which resulted in her breaking both her left arm and left foot, with complications that resulted her being wheelchair bound and requiring around the clock care until just recently. Because of this injury, I was required to become her full-time caretaker for these past few months. On top of this responsibility, we had sold our house with a closing date in June, and I was left to pack up (and unpack) our house and find a new rental apartment for the two of us. These unexpected responsibilities have been very overwhelming, and because of this I was both unable to complete this final assignment for DEVS 240, and unable to properly commit my time to my summer courses as I had expected.

I have reached out to my professor of DEVS 240, Ayca Tomac ?? who was able to give me her support in my request for Aegrotat standing. I am solely applying for this standing in DEVS 240 as it is a required course in my program, and without progressing in this class I will be further delayed from graduation and unable to take the remaining required courses in my academic career.

Regarding my summer classes ?? I was registered in these courses before the accident and had originally intended to work towards completing them with my accommodations for my extenuating circumstances. However, I was unable to balance my time between my familial and academic responsibilities ?? and as a result did not participate at all in these classes. I am hoping to drop these courses as these failures do not reflect my academic abilities and would further lower my GPA. For LAW 202 in particular, I am no longer interested in pursuing a LAW certificate and COGS 100 is a course that does not count towards my major requirements. Regarding DEVS 392, I plan to retake this course during this upcoming year as it fits with my interests and major plan.

As of the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester with my mother??s health improving, I will be returning to live in Kingston and the extenuating circumstances of this summer will be resolved. I am confident in my abilities to be successful in my courses without these additional responsibilities. These struggles were entirely based in these circumstances, and with my existing accommodations for my ADHD and mental illness I am certain I will be able to complete the upcoming year successfully.

Thank you so much for your consideration, and I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you and all the best,

Bridgette Doorey (20062264)