Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom it May Concern,

Hi there, my name is Lisbet MacLean, and I am a student in my fifth year at Queen's University. I am writing in regards to a somewhat complex academic circumstance. I am a student in the faculty of Arts and Science and planned on completing my BAH in Film and Media Studies this past year. Before this, I had completed another BA in Global Development, at Queen's; my final year finishing on the dean's list. My intent over the past year was to complete a degree upgrade to a BAH in Film and Media, to graduate in the spring of 2021. However, COVID circumstances led to a series of academic setbacks for me, which were above and beyond a standard transition to online learning. As such, one of my courses (Film 394 Post Production) from Fall term 2020 has resulted in an F grade, and I'm looking to appeal and have this grade expunged and replaced by a better grade, reflective of my capacity to finish the course now. I understand that this past year and a half has been a learning experience for everyone engaging in this new environment for education, and as such would like the opportunity to take this course again to exemplify my capacity to succeed in this subject matter. I believe that the purpose of our education system is not just the content of our syllabus, but also the garnering of personal tools for success, leading to lifelong learning and working styles that complement us. As it turns out, I have been living with a learning disability my whole life and had never had it highlighted because of prior applicable strategies I had developed throughout my childhood during in-person learning. The transition to online learning then became a far greater difficulty for me, as I was trying to piece together coping mechanisms for a disability, I did not yet know I had.

I started having issues with keeping up with online learning in September of 2020. I struggled to focus and be aware of due dates, class schedule, and short-term memory tasks, making the organization of what needed to be done and when near impossible. When this continued, making it difficult to keep up with the demand of schoolwork, I made a mental health appointment with student wellness, which turned into a series of appointments both with a team of doctors and a psychologist. Due to the strain on our healthcare system this past year, it wasn't before January of 2021 when I was finally able to get a diagnosis of ADHD, and halfway through the spring term before Queen's Accessibility was able to meet with me and work towards accommodations for that term's work. Even with the diagnosis, the delays in student healthcare meant that it wasn't until the end of April when I finally began trialing medication that would help me finish schoolwork. That being said, of course I do not fault the healthcare system at large, which has been under the stress of a worldwide pandemic but do wish for the support of the university as students transition between online and in person demands. Over the course of these trials, I also took the initiative to communicate and seek help from my TAs and Profs as well, to minimize the shortcomings of my new situation. I was able to get extensions and ask questions when needed. For four of my courses that year, I was able to label them incomplete while I finished finals over the holidays. I somehow managed to complete enough course work to get by in most subjects. Although the fall transition had been rough, I found myself working harder than ever to get through the year, and by the winter term, I was back to receiving 80% and above in all my courses, despite still not having access to accessibility services or healthcare with the school.

This is where the start of my confusion began. I had labelled one of my courses from the fall term IN on my transcript. In my conversations with the professor, they had mentioned that I would then have until the end of the year to finish and submit course work. As I was finishing my winter courses, I was emailed by a degree coordinator who enquired about my fall IN and my capacity to graduate. I replied that my understanding was that I would have until the end of the year, while I was finishing other courses as well, to hand in the assignments for grades. The coordinator confirmed that this was possible and that I would still be able to graduate on time. However, I then received a follow up email from the same coordinator on June 1 of 2021 that I would not be able to graduate, as the grade on my transcript had been permanently changed to an F because I had passed a one term deadline to finish Film 394. When I received this news I was disheartened, but I was too caught up in other work to realize the implications of this email. When everything was set in stone approaching graduation, I did not think to reach out to some higher level of academic consideration, so I do this now in retrospect.

I am not looking to appeal the loss of my degree this year as I realize that would be entirely unreasonable without having completed one of the required courses. I am looking for the opportunity to retake this course without the permanent failure being recorded on my transcript. Now that I am back to better health and have developed strategies for both online and in person learning, I know I will be able to excel in this course, but don't want my mental health struggles through COVID to effect the trajectory of my academic career. I am applying for law school after this year and know this F may be something that could make or break my career. If you have any capacity to assist me in this matter of appeal, I would please ask you to consider my situation. I apologize for the timing of this email as well; I had lost hope of assistance with this academic matter before discussing it with another friend who had struggled with mental health this past year. Please let me know if you have any questions, if you would like to schedule a meeting to chat about this matter, or if there is someone better suited for listening to this request.

Many thanks for your patience and consideration,

Lisbet