Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean (Studies),

I am appealing to drop BIOL 441 from FALL 2014 after the drop deadline on the grounds of an ongoing medical condition.

This appeal is late because until now I have been attempting to complete the course, for which I have received an IN grade. However, given my circumstances, I have been advised to appeal to drop the course. One source of this advice is the course instructor, who supports my appeal.

The illness has affected me since prior to this year (FW 2014-2015) of studies, however, I am doing the best I can to manage it. In doing so, I am in regular weekly/bi-weekly consultation with my physician.

I have attempted to take the steps required to ensure that I be successful academically. One of the steps that I have taken is to reduce my course load, in accordance with previous academic advice. I still undertook a full-time course load because I want to complete my degree in a timely manner and because I had career goals in mind that require this. I am currently still struggling with my illness, but at the same time am trying not to fall farther behind. It is difficult for me to plan how much of a course load I can reasonably handle, due to the fluctuating nature of my illness. It has been an ongoing process to find a treatment for my illness that will work long-term. So far, I will improve for a period of time and feel that I can undertake a heavier workload, but then will stop responding to treatment and not be able to do as much as planned. This partially explains why I did not drop the course during the term. My impaired decision-making ability also negatively affects how I assess my circumstances.

The symptoms I experience make it difficult for me to complete coursework, and also affect my memory, cognition, and ability to think clearly. With regards to the other courses, I came close to not being able to complete them, either, and was fortunate enough to do as well as I did. However, instead of questioning why I was able to complete other courses, I consider, rather, that in the absence of my illness, I should be able to perform at a higher level academically. This discrepancy between what I should be able to do, and what my illness allows me to do also impairs my judgment with regards to course load.

I have been forced to continually revise my career goals because of my illness and the effects that it has had on my academic performance, which is discouraging. To keep the options that are still available to me open, it is best for me to continue my studies. I feel that this is reasonable, since I have already invested a lot into my current degree. Due to the chronic and fluctuating nature of my illness, and the uncertainty of whether I will be able to recover, I don't believe that withdrawing from studies until my condition improves is an option. My academic plan for 2015-2016 is to take no more than 3 courses per term. It is difficult to plan farther than this because I don't know to what degree my condition will improve or worsen at any given time. I do continually reassess how much I can handle while managing my illness, and will continue to regularly consult with my physician.

I am aware that the Faculty of Arts and Science has been unsympathetic to my prior appeals on the same grounds, but this is the course of action that I was advised to take.

Supporting documentation from the course instructor, and medical documentation from my physician will accompany my appeal.

I am willing to discuss this issue further and make clarifications, if required.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Nancy Chua
4nsc@queensu.ca
05277663
tel: 780-868-8930