Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean of Studies,

I am writing this appeal letter to request a waiving of the one-term deadline to submit an appeal for a late drop of two courses which occurred during the Fall semester of 2020.
I was unable to submit this appeal until now due to a pre-existing medical condition that impacts my mental health and at times my capacity to get things done; in addition to difficulties acquiring the needed documentation to verify my condition. My condition can cause periods of low to non-existent motivation, hypersomnia, persistent feelings of sadness, worry and dread, as well as the feeling I deserve whatever misfortune befalls me. This led to great difficulty with regards to getting my documentation and composing my appeal. I also had a challenge with getting my documentation; my doctor which I am seeing for treatment had a long wait before I could get a telephone appointment. After the appointment, I had further difficulties acquiring the letter as she took a vacation which closed her office, making it impossible for me to get the letter she prepared until significantly later. To further increase the difficulty of preparing my appeal, my housing situation for the coming year fell through this month and I have since been scrambling to find housing for the coming academic year.
I failed to drop the courses I will be requesting to drop prior to the eight-week deadline due to believing I would be successful in them, and I did not request earlier than now due to doing my best to concentrate on the Winter semester through my situation. I failed the courses due to difficulties organizing my time effectively as I was working a part-time job where we were suddenly understaffed due to staff taking leave because of the pandemic, leading to my working significantly more than I requested. The balancing of my work situation, in addition to my studies and dealing with the stress of living through early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic led to my missing assignment deadlines which caused my failure in those courses. I found more success in the Winter term because of progress on my counselling, better organizing my time, my work situation improving and being able to adapt to the circumstances surrounding the pandemic.
My plan for this coming year is to continue my counselling through Student Wellness Services as well as continue treatment with my family doctor to best limit the influence of my condition on my academics. The return to Kingston for schooling will also be beneficial to my academic performance as I will be taking a leave of absence from my job while the term is underway which will allow me to focus myself better, in addition to campus providing a better environment for learning with less distractions than my home. I am connected with Queens Student Accessibility Services as well and intent to leverage their assistance as best I can to ensure my success in my courses. I also intent to take a light course load to ensure I am able to devote my best performance to each of them.

Thank you for your time.
Yours,
Mitchel Shaughnessy