Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Erick Seni Malimi

Associate Academic Dean

Faculty of Arts and Sciences

April 14, 2023


Re: Petition to Waive the Deadline for Dropping and Completing Fall 2021 Courses

My name is Erick Seni Malimi. My student number is 20130145. I am petitioning to waive the deadline for dropping and completing courses that I took in the fall of 2021 as stated above. These courses include HIST 246 and PHIL 316 which were carried over from the winter semester of 2021 as part of a successful petition. I wish to waive the deadline for petitioning to complete these classes. These courses also include CLST 205, HIST 400 (History and Memory), HIST 400 (Inquisition: Global History), PHIL 247, and PHIL 330 which I selected and took in the fall of 2021. I wish to waive the deadline for petitioning to drop these classes.

Please see the petition submitted along with this one for the full application. I am applying to waive the deadline for petitions in relation to these courses because I was unable to write a petition at the time that I should have. I was facing significant challenges to my health and personal life that not only hindered me from fully participating in my classes or completing them, but also from dropping the classes or filing a petition to drop them at the right time. I was initially struggling with my health in the winter of 2021. This prevented me from completing my semester. I had been engaging with university counselling services provided by Student Wellness Services from the end of my semester and throughout the summer. After that, I made an appeal to complete PHIL 316 and HIST 246 and to drop the rest of the courses I failed to complete that semester. This appeal was granted. I was home for some time in the summer of 2021 and was delayed in getting back to campus in the fall because of visa troubles. I was thus unable to access any form of help or counselling as I was outside of Ontario (and Canada). Moreover, there was a very limited number of online counselling appointments available at the time so I could not access those services as consistently as I needed. My efforts to improve my mental health and academic standing were thus greatly hindered. I ended up failing my fall courses for 2021 and failing to complete my incomplete classes from the winter semester of 2021. This situation continued into and through the winter semester of 2022 where I only got worse. During and after this period, I utilised university counselling services in person and more consistently, which helped me get better and more stable. At the end of the summer, I took a break from school and was home for the rest of the year. I am petitioning to waive the deadline for these failed courses because since this period, I have gotten better and have been taking classes throughout this semester. I am not only capable of taking classes again and discussing my situation, but also making a proper petition. I thus humbly ask for your consideration and help in granting this request.

Sincerely,

Erick Malimi.