Petition Letter
Dear Associate Dean, (studies)
My name is Mia Sunner, and I am currently completing my fifth year at Queen??s with a major in Global Development and a minor in Political Science. I would like to first thank you for taking the time out of your day to give me the opportunity to address my case regarding an academic appeal for adding a class after the academic deadline, which was Sept 20th, 2021. I will be making this appeal under the faculty??s Academic Regulations: 3.3 ?? Matters that May be Appealed. 3.3.1 ?? To Add a Class after the Last Official Date for Adding Classes.
Specifically, this appeal is regarding the addition of two courses to my fall semester within the Global Development faculty, DEVS 220 Intro to Indigenous studies with Professor Fanning as well as DEVS 260 Globalization, Gender, and Development with Professor Kukreja. An alternative option could also be regarding the department of Health, HLTH 230 Basic Human Nutrition, with Professor Lalonde.
In recent days it has become apparent to me that it is essential that I take two other courses within my Fall semester at Queen??s to stay on top of my future academic plans, which is going to law school. In my third year of studies (2019-2020), I was set to go on exchange to Germany which was negatively impacted by Covid-19. I was not only unable to embark on the trip but also was unable to start my studies for the winter semester as I was set to leave at the end of March 2020. As the pandemic broke out, I worked with Global Development and Exchange Advisors to scramble to register for all courses applicable to my degree plan. The only available option had been to complete courses within the summer term, which were limited, with only three available. This has still left me with three courses that I need to graduate with my degree, which I am currently in the process of completing. However, it has come to my attention that both this current Fall 2021 semester, and my entire third year will not be applicable to my competitive GPA required for law school admissions, including Queen??s. This is in result of my third year and current semester not meeting the qualifications of having a full course load for each sequential term of my degree. This is due to the missing five courses which I would have taken over my semester abroad. I now require a complete fifth year to make up for what is essentially a lost academic year to be able to remain competitive for law school applications; that is a full course load during the fall semester and I must now enroll in a full winter semester, despite having already completed my degree requirements. Furthermore, this information was all provided to me outside of the enrollment deadline by two days when speaking to Law admissions at Queen??s. This issue did not arise due to negligence on my part and instead on the timing of events that occurred since the pandemic.
Throughout my studies here at Queen??s I have been a diligent and hardworking student who has always met deadlines, but the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted my study plan beyond my control. I have previously taken a course with Professor Kukreja and would be more than happy to reach out to discuss my situation, as well as the steps that I am willing to take to accommodate for lost time. I am an experienced student and understand the workload for these given courses and would make myself available to take any tests or quizzes to be updated with my fellow peers. Moreover, I would also like to make the case that I am only four days outside of the deadline, placing me at relatively the same position had I been admitted on the 20th of September. As stated within the appeal policy under section 3.3, this ??clearly demonstrates the significant extenuating circumstances, beyond the student??s control, which prevented him or her from making the addition by the published deadline.? This is applicable to my case, as Covid-19 has been a situation that has been unprecedented, with various admission policies governing what is required of students to have undergone continuous change. This has now impeded a huge portion of the work I have put into my academic career. Due to the rarity of my situation, I am not constricted to the courses that I have listed above and would be willing to enroll in other alternative courses with availability. When Covid-19 occurred, I was more than accommodating with the Queen??s exchange office as they tried to rectify the issues within my course plan and completely understood that this situation was something that lacked the know-how. In that spirit I hope that you can provide me with the same courtesy and waive the academic deadline.
I would be more than happy to get in contact with these professors or any additional heads to provide them with this information or answer any more questions. I would like to reiterate that I am a hard-working student and would be more than capable of undertaking this challenge. Furthermore, this is the only option available to me in order to move ahead with my career plan and would be a huge setback for me as I would be required to take a sixth year in order to meet admission requirements for law schools.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Sincerely,
Mia Sunner
20066820
My name is Mia Sunner, and I am currently completing my fifth year at Queen??s with a major in Global Development and a minor in Political Science. I would like to first thank you for taking the time out of your day to give me the opportunity to address my case regarding an academic appeal for adding a class after the academic deadline, which was Sept 20th, 2021. I will be making this appeal under the faculty??s Academic Regulations: 3.3 ?? Matters that May be Appealed. 3.3.1 ?? To Add a Class after the Last Official Date for Adding Classes.
Specifically, this appeal is regarding the addition of two courses to my fall semester within the Global Development faculty, DEVS 220 Intro to Indigenous studies with Professor Fanning as well as DEVS 260 Globalization, Gender, and Development with Professor Kukreja. An alternative option could also be regarding the department of Health, HLTH 230 Basic Human Nutrition, with Professor Lalonde.
In recent days it has become apparent to me that it is essential that I take two other courses within my Fall semester at Queen??s to stay on top of my future academic plans, which is going to law school. In my third year of studies (2019-2020), I was set to go on exchange to Germany which was negatively impacted by Covid-19. I was not only unable to embark on the trip but also was unable to start my studies for the winter semester as I was set to leave at the end of March 2020. As the pandemic broke out, I worked with Global Development and Exchange Advisors to scramble to register for all courses applicable to my degree plan. The only available option had been to complete courses within the summer term, which were limited, with only three available. This has still left me with three courses that I need to graduate with my degree, which I am currently in the process of completing. However, it has come to my attention that both this current Fall 2021 semester, and my entire third year will not be applicable to my competitive GPA required for law school admissions, including Queen??s. This is in result of my third year and current semester not meeting the qualifications of having a full course load for each sequential term of my degree. This is due to the missing five courses which I would have taken over my semester abroad. I now require a complete fifth year to make up for what is essentially a lost academic year to be able to remain competitive for law school applications; that is a full course load during the fall semester and I must now enroll in a full winter semester, despite having already completed my degree requirements. Furthermore, this information was all provided to me outside of the enrollment deadline by two days when speaking to Law admissions at Queen??s. This issue did not arise due to negligence on my part and instead on the timing of events that occurred since the pandemic.
Throughout my studies here at Queen??s I have been a diligent and hardworking student who has always met deadlines, but the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted my study plan beyond my control. I have previously taken a course with Professor Kukreja and would be more than happy to reach out to discuss my situation, as well as the steps that I am willing to take to accommodate for lost time. I am an experienced student and understand the workload for these given courses and would make myself available to take any tests or quizzes to be updated with my fellow peers. Moreover, I would also like to make the case that I am only four days outside of the deadline, placing me at relatively the same position had I been admitted on the 20th of September. As stated within the appeal policy under section 3.3, this ??clearly demonstrates the significant extenuating circumstances, beyond the student??s control, which prevented him or her from making the addition by the published deadline.? This is applicable to my case, as Covid-19 has been a situation that has been unprecedented, with various admission policies governing what is required of students to have undergone continuous change. This has now impeded a huge portion of the work I have put into my academic career. Due to the rarity of my situation, I am not constricted to the courses that I have listed above and would be willing to enroll in other alternative courses with availability. When Covid-19 occurred, I was more than accommodating with the Queen??s exchange office as they tried to rectify the issues within my course plan and completely understood that this situation was something that lacked the know-how. In that spirit I hope that you can provide me with the same courtesy and waive the academic deadline.
I would be more than happy to get in contact with these professors or any additional heads to provide them with this information or answer any more questions. I would like to reiterate that I am a hard-working student and would be more than capable of undertaking this challenge. Furthermore, this is the only option available to me in order to move ahead with my career plan and would be a huge setback for me as I would be required to take a sixth year in order to meet admission requirements for law schools.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Sincerely,
Mia Sunner
20066820