Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 9020
Submitted: April 18, 2022 at 3:16:34 PM
First Name: Heran
Last Name: Zhao
Student Number: 20185240
Email: 19hz14@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: DEVS
Level of Study: 2
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Code: DEVS 220
Term: Fall
Year: 2021
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: Ian Fanning
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,
I am writing this letter of appeal to request a credit standing for DEVS 220 which I took in Fall 2021 with Professor Ian Fanning and received a letter grade of C.
From September to December of 2021, I experienced extenuating circumstances beyond my control, which affected my ability to perform academically. Since September 2021, my rental house in Kingston experienced pest infestation issues and water leakage issues due to exterior damage. This eventually led to water leaking out of my bedroom wall and ceiling. The exterior damage also created pest issues, which resulted in centipedes, spiders, earwigs and other pests infesting my bedroom and common areas. I found centipedes on my bed and under my working desk, which made me unable to sleep or work in my house without extreme stress.
I had no choice but to move out of my house temporarily. I temporarily moved to a hotel for one week, and eventually moved to a motel due to immense financial pressure. I was unable to cook for myself as I lost access to my kitchen, and I was paying for rent although I was unable to live in the house. Furthermore, in late November when the landlord still had not resolved the issue, I finally decided I must find a new place to rent. The tenant that I was taking over the lease from delayed the move-out date numerous times. While waiting, I was still living in the motel. Therefore, from mid-October to early December, I was negotiating with my previous landlord, trying to secure a move-in date with my future landlord, and was forced to reach out to the Landlord and Tenant Board, seek legal support, come up with solutions to pay for my expenses and move to my new apartment. The combination of all these stressors coupled with poor sleep and nutrition affected my ability to complete coursework on time, and as a result, I performed poorly on assignments I otherwise would have completed without issue.
Though I tried my best to communicate with my professors about my living situation, DEVS 220 is the only course that I was unable to effectively communicate with my professor in time for, which is why I performed worse in it compared to my other courses. In addition, due to these unforeseeable issues, I was not able to accurately predict how long I needed to resolve my living situation, and thus was unable to make a judgment on whether I should drop this course or for how much time I needed to ask my professor for.
Throughout this experience, I was able to learn about my rights as a tenant in Ontario, and the numerous services that Queen's University provides to students in my situation from my QSAS advisor and Student Wellness counsellor. In the future, if a similar situation arises, I will proactively reach out to these services to support me and thereby minimize the impact of these circumstances on my performance in my courses.
My current standing in DEVS 220 will impact my overall GPA, which I'm worried will decrease my chances of succeeding when applying for graduate studies. Given these circumstances that were out of my control, I was hoping that you would consider granting me a credit standing for DEVS 220. Thank you for your consideration, please let me know if you have any further questions or need any additional information.
Sincerely,
Heran Zhao
I am writing this letter of appeal to request a credit standing for DEVS 220 which I took in Fall 2021 with Professor Ian Fanning and received a letter grade of C.
From September to December of 2021, I experienced extenuating circumstances beyond my control, which affected my ability to perform academically. Since September 2021, my rental house in Kingston experienced pest infestation issues and water leakage issues due to exterior damage. This eventually led to water leaking out of my bedroom wall and ceiling. The exterior damage also created pest issues, which resulted in centipedes, spiders, earwigs and other pests infesting my bedroom and common areas. I found centipedes on my bed and under my working desk, which made me unable to sleep or work in my house without extreme stress.
I had no choice but to move out of my house temporarily. I temporarily moved to a hotel for one week, and eventually moved to a motel due to immense financial pressure. I was unable to cook for myself as I lost access to my kitchen, and I was paying for rent although I was unable to live in the house. Furthermore, in late November when the landlord still had not resolved the issue, I finally decided I must find a new place to rent. The tenant that I was taking over the lease from delayed the move-out date numerous times. While waiting, I was still living in the motel. Therefore, from mid-October to early December, I was negotiating with my previous landlord, trying to secure a move-in date with my future landlord, and was forced to reach out to the Landlord and Tenant Board, seek legal support, come up with solutions to pay for my expenses and move to my new apartment. The combination of all these stressors coupled with poor sleep and nutrition affected my ability to complete coursework on time, and as a result, I performed poorly on assignments I otherwise would have completed without issue.
Though I tried my best to communicate with my professors about my living situation, DEVS 220 is the only course that I was unable to effectively communicate with my professor in time for, which is why I performed worse in it compared to my other courses. In addition, due to these unforeseeable issues, I was not able to accurately predict how long I needed to resolve my living situation, and thus was unable to make a judgment on whether I should drop this course or for how much time I needed to ask my professor for.
Throughout this experience, I was able to learn about my rights as a tenant in Ontario, and the numerous services that Queen's University provides to students in my situation from my QSAS advisor and Student Wellness counsellor. In the future, if a similar situation arises, I will proactively reach out to these services to support me and thereby minimize the impact of these circumstances on my performance in my courses.
My current standing in DEVS 220 will impact my overall GPA, which I'm worried will decrease my chances of succeeding when applying for graduate studies. Given these circumstances that were out of my control, I was hoping that you would consider granting me a credit standing for DEVS 220. Thank you for your consideration, please let me know if you have any further questions or need any additional information.
Sincerely,
Heran Zhao
Documentation
Professional Letter: HZ appeal doc.pdf
Document: Zhao04112022_0001.pdf
Document: Supporting Documents-0.pdf