Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Leah O??Donnell
Student Number: 20199962

To the Associate Dean,

I am writing to you today regarding appealing courses I have taken through the Fall/Winter and Winter 2022 term. To begin, I am requesting to drop LING 100 (Fall/Winter, 2022) and LING 202 (Winter, 2022). As well, I am appealing for a credit standing for POLS 250 (Fall/Winter, 2022) and POLS 244 (Winter, 2022). Finally, I would like to request a credit or Aegrotat standing, whichever best suited, for LAW 201 (Winter, 2022).

I understand that this is a very large request to ask of you, but I want you to know that it is not without reason, as I do not want to seem like I am trying to take advantage of the system. This past year, I have been dealing with a variety of extenuating circumstances which have affected my academic performance. Since January of 2021, I have been seeking help regarding mental health issues from Student Wellness and counselling from a KGH social worker since April, 2021, and continue to do so.???? Although it has been some time since I originally sought help, I found myself struggling more with mental health and external stressors this past semester, including a situation where some of my housemates and I did not feel safe or comfortable in our home.???? This caused my academic performance to suffer as I found it hard to be able to submit quality work, or do any work at all when I found myself distracted and stressed by these circumstances. I have attached documentation that supports this - it should be noted that the letters were written at earlier dates than my appeal was submitted as I knew I was struggling and would have to submit an appeal but did not have my final grades to know exactly where I stood academically.

I am submitting an appeal for these courses as I was unable to perform well throughout the entirety of the Winter semester. Although I did pass 3 of my classes, it was not by much (LAW 201, POLS 244, POLS 250). On the other hand, I was not able to fulfil the requirements for 2 classes, resulting in a failing grade (LING 100 and LING 202). I believe that I was able to pass those three classes because I have more background knowledge and have taken previous classes related to law and politics which helped me when I was struggling with course material, while I did not have much prior knowledge about linguistics. I put equal effort into each class and believe it really just came down to what I have learned in the past to assist me in passing rather than it being timing, course load, etc. as I was struggling in each of my classes. Dr. Shulist, who taught LING 100, expressed support for me to drop the course she taught.

Moving forward, I will continue to seek medical help regarding mental health, and counselling from Student Wellness and the KGH social worker I see. As well, I intend to use more academic resources Queen??s offers in order to be better supported in the future and ensure that I am able to cope better both mentally and academically.

While each appeal is important to me, I am the most concerned about the courses I failed. If possible, I would greatly appreciate it if all of my appeals are approved, however I recognize that this appeal is very large and understand if everything cannot be approved. I am thankful for the opportunity to submit this appeal.

Best,

Leah O'Donnell