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Petition Type: New
ID: 8926
Submitted: April 1, 2022 at 4:48:00 PM
First Name: Sam
Last Name: Czerkawski
Student Number: 20124695
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: ECON
Level of Study: 3

Petition Categories

Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: PHIL 236
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Level 1 Status

Status: Denied

Level 2

Appeal Type: Level 2
ID: 70
Submitted: June 10, 2022 at 6:23:37 PM
Relevant Petition: 8926
Decision(s) Being Appealed: Drop a course after the academic deadline: PHIL 236, Winter 2022

Appeal Letter

Appeal Letter: Dear Board of Studies,

I am appealing the decision by the Associate Dean to deny my request to drop the course PHIL 236 (Winter 2022) after the academic deadline. I understand that you will see my original appeal so I will not go through it again in depth but rather I will discuss why I believe the decision to deny this request was erroneously made by the Associate Dean.

The Associate Dean's reasoning for the denial of my request stemmed from her belief that: the documentation that you provided indicates that your extenuating circumstances began well before the deadline to drop this course and do not suggest that it would have impacted your ability to drop this course in SOLUS before the March 4th deadline. While it is true that the extenuating circumstances began before the deadline to drop the course, the assertion that it did not affect my ability to drop the course is incorrect.

The original appeal and supporting documentation provide evidence that I have a chronic anxiety disorder which has been medically diagnosed. Managing this disorder has been a constant struggle throughout my life and there are rare occasions in which it becomes entirely overwhelming. This is what occurred this past semester. When I am afflicted by such crippling anxiety, it often becomes difficult to respond as I normally would to certain issues. Normally if I was struggling with a class before the deadline to drop it, I would do the sensible thing and drop it. When I was experiencing this anxiety, it hampered my ability to logically think about my options with regard to dropping the course and indeed my schoolwork took a back seat to the constant daily struggle of dealing with my anxiety. To drop this class instead of just persevering through it would be like the end of the world to my anxiety filled head so I did not even consider this option until it was too late.

Hopefully this further explanation of what I was experiencing can provide some nuance to my situation and counter the assertion by the Associate Dean that my ability to drop the course was not affected. Not only was this conclusion incorrect but it lacks an appreciation and understanding of the workings of mental health conditions. It is discriminatory to not consider my very real and serious health condition in denying my request to drop this course without penalty.

Thank you for your time in considering my appeal request,
Sam Czerkawski

Documentation