Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Appeal Letter: Members of the Board of Studies,
I am appealing the Associate Dean's decision to deny my appeal to waive the 21-day appeal deadline. I will respond to each point highlighted in the email from Dr Stephenson.
Firstly, my extenuating circumstance was most certainly a significant psychological event that was beyond my control and had a huge effect on my ability to work. I couldn't concentrate on anything else in my life, including reading emails. I was the sole support and caretaker for my girlfriend who was in the midst of a long term depressive and manic episode. Please note, within the past week (as of 19th August 2022) she has been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder which I hope better speaks to the severity and length of the situation (please see supporting document). Despite my attempts to involve my girlfriend's family to help, they were very unsupportive, which meant that I had to completely focus my time on her. What little time and mental capacity I had left went to making sure I passed my summer courses.
Furthermore, this should demonstrate that this wasn't only the month of May that I was facing these challenges for; I remained her sole caretaker until July, when her family finally took over. My original supporting documentation only included May, as that is what I had requested for it to say; I only thought the month of May was relevant as that is when the email was sent to me detailing my requirement to withdraw.
Additionally, the conversations that I had with PASS are certainly relevant, as I will now explain.
I myself was very depressed in the first semester and into the second semester and therefore was not doing any of my work. My family lives in the UK, so I had no family support, nor any social support as I had just moved country to go to Queens for first year. I was very alone, lying in bed all day and only getting up once to eat and then going back to bed. I also had no Doctor, as I had just recently moved and was not in any particular state of mind to figure out the medical system in a new country. I therefore don't have any documentation to back this up, although if you can access my lunch card's records they will corroborate my story- I have also included a testament from my mother regarding my mental well being. That said, it was my girlfriend's mental health that contributed to my missing of the email; my mental health is only relevant for context so I hope that the absence of a doctor's note for myself is not detrimental.
I finally managed to pull myself out of that depression mid second semester, and I knew I needed to come up with a plan to put myself back on track. I started by calling PASS on the 15th March 2022, and had a conversation with them whereby I was told about a 24 unit threshold, which, if I was under, meant that I could return to Queens in September as an undeclared student. I wasn't sure if this meant attempted or passed units, and so I arranged another meeting with PASS on the 6th April 2022 and asked on the call if that meant 24 passed units, or 24 attempted units, and I was told that they weren't sure so would check with a higher up. I was later told that in relation to my question, if I failed a course I would not receive the credits for it. I did not feel this was clear enough as to whether it meant receiving the credits in general, or in relation to the threshold. Hence, I asked again the next day on the 7th April 2022 in the zoom text chat for absolute clarity (which I have provided), and I was assured that the threshold was for 24 units, and if I failed a course I would not receive the units for it (evidence provided). I was at no point informed about a requirement to withdraw, and therefore had absolutely no idea that I should look at the academic calendar to find information about it. I had no reason to question what the Academic advisors had told me.
I was also at no point informed of the 18 unit threshold that appears on the email detailing my requirement to withdraw, so I made no attempt to drop any more courses to match this, as I was planning on redoing the courses I failed to remove them from my transcript. Based on the information I received, I elected to stay in Kingston for most of summer, despite my housemates leaving. This was so I could take two summer courses, to jump start myself getting back on track. I was assured by PASS that I was nowhere near the threshold, and therefore that it would be absolutely fine to take these courses, and also to come back in September 2022.
I had spoken to PASS on three separate occasions, and on no occasion was I given any information about a requirement to withdraw. Instead, it was confirmed that I could take summer courses without going over the threshold. We also discussed whether I should take 1-3 summer courses, and PASS advised me to take 1-2 due to workload.
Therefore I was not expecting to look out for an email, apart from those about my courses. The information I received from PASS is absolutely relevant: it was on the basis of their advice that I chose to do the summer courses which have now put me above the 24 unit threshold. I would also like to stress how beneficial it will be if I am allowed to continue this positive trajectory that I have started - I have managed to turn myself around despite all the aforementioned difficulties, and I would very much like to continue down this road.