Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Appeal Letter: October 25rd, 2021


Dear Board of Studies,

I am writing to appeal the Associate Dean??s decision on my appeal to add MUSC 412 and MUSC 420 (paired with 425) after the academic deadline.

I would like to start off by acknowledging and apologizing for my mistake in failing to add these courses in SOLUS on time. I am very regretful for causing this additional work for everybody, especially on a weekend.

After reading the decision on my original appeal, I realized that in failing to provide supporting documentation, the Associate Dean was unable to verify my extenuating circumstances which understandably led to their decision. Additionally, I understand and appreciate the Associate Dean??s stance and concern about adding to one??s course load this late into the term.

Since returning to Queen??s campus, I have been consistently attending my lessons and rehearsals, working hard on my repertoire, and preparing for several different competitive scholarship and music festival auditions. When I was writing my appeal, the stress from my full workload, moving into a new apartment, the fact that I had missed the course add deadline, and having started a new job with food services on campus (to help pay for my tuition/living expenses), inclined me to submit the appeal without any supporting documentation just to get the process over with. I have, since my appeal submission, had the time to settle in and organize myself to productively manage the balance between my full work/course load.

On a separate note, I would also like to mention that I was diagnosed with ADHD by Queen??s health services just before the pandemic, and I have been off my medication for several months. If extra documentation is needed for this, I could reach out to health services and request a letter via appointment.

I hope that this information proves valuable to the Board of Studies in their reconsideration of my appeal.

All the best,

Mateo Ronderos