Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom this may concern,

My name is Kiana Naser, and I am in my second year of Life Sciences at Queen??s University. I am writing to you today to request an appeal for Credit Standing in a course that I completed last term (Fall 2021). The course in question is STAT 263, taught by Dr. Charles Molson. I am submitting this request following a discussion I had with Dr. Molson at the end of last term when I reached out to him regarding my final grade, and his recommendation was to apply for this appeal.

I had finished STAT 263 with a grade that is substantially lower than other grades that I typically receive. I am a hard-working student, and I am working to achieve course grades that will enable me the opportunity to apply to medical school in the future. This goal was deterred when I received this for grade last semester, which is a direct result of illness that I endured throughout the last months of school last term. During the month of November, I fell ill to an undiagnosed condition, that remains undiagnosed. In this case, we believe that it was not COVID-19, but that it was a flu/infection that completely impaired me from being able to complete my schooling. A few days after the debilitating flu symptoms began, I lost hearing in my left ear, which resulted in four separate visits to both Hotel Dieu Urgent Care, as well as to the Kingston General Hospital Emergency Centre. I was prescribed antibiotics for what was believed to be an ear infection by the emergency doctors, which did not restore my hearing. After the first two unsuccessful hospital visits, I had to involve my ENT specialist from my hometown (Thunder Bay, ON) to quickly prescribe me steroid medication for my ear, as leaving it untreated ran the risk of complete deafness in that ear. This ENT specialist, Dr. Golrokhian Sani, is the doctor that has written the letter of support attached to this application.

At this point, I was constantly in and out of the hospital, trying to seek help from doctors that I was able to see, but the antibiotic medication that I was being prescribed was not working. I was funding Uber transportation to the hospital(s), audiology clinics, and pharmacies, and trying to access a referral to an ENT specialist to see me in Kingston, all while undergoing fever and extreme flu symptoms. I was mentally exhausted from the pressure of having to organize the logistics of my medical care on my own in Kingston, and with the help of my parents and doctors at home via phone calls.

In December, I was finally able to see an ENT specialist in Kingston. They had given me an emergency appointment, and they were able to treat and eventually restore my hearing. I had finally started to physically recover from the illness and was immediately hit with assignment deadlines and working to catch up in my schoolwork to study for exams. At the time, I had been granted an academic accommodation for school deadlines by the Faculty of Arts & Science, but the extensions that I was given were still difficult to meet as I was mentally and physically very unstable throughout this time.

My first exam during the Winter 2022 exam period in December was my STAT 263 exam, which at that point, was worth 90% of my final grade, and I performed extremely poorly on this examination. I had not had nearly enough time to properly learn the content for the exam, as I know that I would have been able to, had I been in a mentally and physically stable state.

I believe that my performance on this exam, and by extension, in the course, is unreflective on my abilities in academics, and it would hurt my chances of pursuing a professional career in a field as competitive as medicine. I would be extremely grateful for the opportunity to apply for a Credit Standing Request, so that the course mark may be excluded from my final GPA.

I would like to thank you in advance and say that I am truly grateful for your time in reviewing my application and considering me for this appeal. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or concerns regarding my application.

All the best,
Kiana Naser