Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 10406
Submitted: April 30, 2023 at 9:26:15 PM
First Name: Myriam
Last Name: Oliver
Pronoun: she/her
Student Number: 20102302
Email: 17mao2@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BSH
Plan: LISC
Level of Study: 4
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: PATH499
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Level 1 Status
Status: DeniedLevel 2
Appeal Type: Level 2
ID: 201
Submitted: June 26, 2023 at 2:45:50 PM
Relevant Petition: 10406
Decision(s) Being Appealed: Drop a course after the academic deadline: PATH499, Winter 2022
Appeal Grounds
Appeals to the Board of Studies must include a letter based on one or more of the Grounds for Appeal (Appeal Regulation 3.4). What are the grounds you are basing your appeal on?
- The Associate Dean's decision did not follow the rules of procedural fairness. A breach of procedural fairness includes such things as the Associate Dean failed to:
- Follow the university rules and regulations in a way that supported your right to a fair process.
- Make a reasonable decision in your appeal. A “reasonable” decision is one that is based on evidence, thought out and supported by facts and logical inferences from the facts. To be reasonable, the decision must contain adequate reasons for the conclusions.
Appeal Grounds Details: To the Members of the Board of Studies,
I am appealing the Associate Dean’s decision to deny my petition to late drop PATH 499 (W22) after the academic deadline on the grounds of departure from Procedural Fairness 1.2.2.3 and 1.2.2.5, as I do not believe the decision maker gave meaningful reason for the decision nor did I receive meaningful opportunity to have my opinion heard.
In the absence of my impending documentation, a decision was made which was not based on evidence or supported by facts. Furthermore, I do not state employment as a direct reason for my reduced academic performance and subsequent petition, yet the Associate Dean commented that competing demands such as work and school do not constitute extenuating circumstance. I found this statement not only illogical and suggestive of the possibility that my letter was not read carefully, but extremely minimizing of the actual extenuating circumstances which impacted my life, were described in my initial letter, and elaborated on in my appeal below. I will thank you for also allowing me to now present my documentation, which had not yet been submitted before this decision was made.
I am appealing the Associate Dean’s decision to deny my petition to late drop PATH 499 (W22) after the academic deadline on the grounds of departure from Procedural Fairness 1.2.2.3 and 1.2.2.5, as I do not believe the decision maker gave meaningful reason for the decision nor did I receive meaningful opportunity to have my opinion heard.
In the absence of my impending documentation, a decision was made which was not based on evidence or supported by facts. Furthermore, I do not state employment as a direct reason for my reduced academic performance and subsequent petition, yet the Associate Dean commented that competing demands such as work and school do not constitute extenuating circumstance. I found this statement not only illogical and suggestive of the possibility that my letter was not read carefully, but extremely minimizing of the actual extenuating circumstances which impacted my life, were described in my initial letter, and elaborated on in my appeal below. I will thank you for also allowing me to now present my documentation, which had not yet been submitted before this decision was made.
Appeal Letter
Appeal Letter: Dear Board of Studies,
Please receive the following information in appealing the Associate Dean’s decision to deny my petition to late drop PATH 499 (W22) after the academic deadline on the grounds of departure from Procedural Fairness 1.2.2.3 and 1.2.2.5. I do not believe the decision maker gave meaningful reason for this denied petition nor did I receive meaningful opportunity to have my experience heard.
In responding to specific reasons the petition was denied, I am quoting the Associate Dean stated that “…competing demands such as work and school, is not considered an extenuating circumstance”. This statement was not thought out or supported in fact, as my initial appeal letter does not indicate work as a direct reason for my diminished academic performance during the term in question, clearly describing extenuating circumstances beyond my control of family death, personal trauma and mental health-related stressors, as per Appeal Regulation 3.3.1.2. These circumstances were, in fact, beyond my control and debilitating to my overall academic performance. My letter’s focus on work merely outlined the additional (but mandatory) stress this caused to my already dysregulated emotional state during the events outlined above.
The Associate Dean also stated, “…without documentation to support the circumstances you
outline in your petition letter […] I am unable to grant this petition”. I do not believe I was given meaningful or fair opportunity to provide my documentation. I outlined in my petition letter the potential to provide documentation from a psychologist and confirmation of family death. Upon submission of my petition, I immediately received a student email from Faculty of Arts and Science Petitions that firstly stated: “We have received your academic petition request and will pass it along to the Associate Dean for a decision once you supply documentation to support it”. It is clearly stated that my request would not be forwarded to the Associate Dean until I supply documentation, yet it was sent along anyway without hearing from me via further email prompting in the coming weeks, and a decision was passed before my supporting documentation could be heard. Respectfully, I read during my initial petition process on the online portal that up to 3 months are allowed to build documentation after submitting request. I further recall that my phone number was provided and could have been used as alternate method of contacting me for an update, and I also explained directly in my letter that I am no longer a full-time student and do not regularly monitor my Queen’s email.
Having received confirmation of receipt and assurance that my request is on hold until my documentation could be provided (and under the impression that I had 3 months to do so), I set out to gather relevant information, engage meaningfully with my psychologist and mental health helpers, and finalize my work contract in preparation for Summer courses, enrolling in which is actually why I monitored my student email last week to be made aware of this disappointing decision. Ordering a death certificate from the government takes time and building rapport with a therapist takes time.
I am now forwarding a letter of support from my clinical psychologist, Jane Mizevich, PhD, which details and explains the loss and personal hardship that I experienced during W22 Term. I am forwarding an additional session receipt as proof that I connected with a younger associate at the clinic for support during the earlier time that Dr. Mizevich was unavailable, but I did transition to Dr. Mizevich as a registered psychologist since I am seeking diagnostic assessment with genuine intent to resolve trauma and ongoing regulation difficulties, resulting from the circumstances explained in my letter and collateral, which may impact my performance in future studies, which are important to me. I am also forwarding my grandmother’s certificate of death, documenting a painful event that I was not tolerating well. I am forwarding additional hospital documentation that speaks to some relevant issues described in Dr. Mizevich’s letter, which I have personally decided not to detail in full.
I will reiterate my request to please late drop PATH 499, as I believe I have provided adequate evidence speaking to why my performance was impacted by reduced concentration, ability, and motivation to engage in my studies at the time in question.
I appreciate your time and careful consideration.
Thank you very kindly.
Best regards,
Myriam Oliver (she/her)
20102302
Please receive the following information in appealing the Associate Dean’s decision to deny my petition to late drop PATH 499 (W22) after the academic deadline on the grounds of departure from Procedural Fairness 1.2.2.3 and 1.2.2.5. I do not believe the decision maker gave meaningful reason for this denied petition nor did I receive meaningful opportunity to have my experience heard.
In responding to specific reasons the petition was denied, I am quoting the Associate Dean stated that “…competing demands such as work and school, is not considered an extenuating circumstance”. This statement was not thought out or supported in fact, as my initial appeal letter does not indicate work as a direct reason for my diminished academic performance during the term in question, clearly describing extenuating circumstances beyond my control of family death, personal trauma and mental health-related stressors, as per Appeal Regulation 3.3.1.2. These circumstances were, in fact, beyond my control and debilitating to my overall academic performance. My letter’s focus on work merely outlined the additional (but mandatory) stress this caused to my already dysregulated emotional state during the events outlined above.
The Associate Dean also stated, “…without documentation to support the circumstances you
outline in your petition letter […] I am unable to grant this petition”. I do not believe I was given meaningful or fair opportunity to provide my documentation. I outlined in my petition letter the potential to provide documentation from a psychologist and confirmation of family death. Upon submission of my petition, I immediately received a student email from Faculty of Arts and Science Petitions that firstly stated: “We have received your academic petition request and will pass it along to the Associate Dean for a decision once you supply documentation to support it”. It is clearly stated that my request would not be forwarded to the Associate Dean until I supply documentation, yet it was sent along anyway without hearing from me via further email prompting in the coming weeks, and a decision was passed before my supporting documentation could be heard. Respectfully, I read during my initial petition process on the online portal that up to 3 months are allowed to build documentation after submitting request. I further recall that my phone number was provided and could have been used as alternate method of contacting me for an update, and I also explained directly in my letter that I am no longer a full-time student and do not regularly monitor my Queen’s email.
Having received confirmation of receipt and assurance that my request is on hold until my documentation could be provided (and under the impression that I had 3 months to do so), I set out to gather relevant information, engage meaningfully with my psychologist and mental health helpers, and finalize my work contract in preparation for Summer courses, enrolling in which is actually why I monitored my student email last week to be made aware of this disappointing decision. Ordering a death certificate from the government takes time and building rapport with a therapist takes time.
I am now forwarding a letter of support from my clinical psychologist, Jane Mizevich, PhD, which details and explains the loss and personal hardship that I experienced during W22 Term. I am forwarding an additional session receipt as proof that I connected with a younger associate at the clinic for support during the earlier time that Dr. Mizevich was unavailable, but I did transition to Dr. Mizevich as a registered psychologist since I am seeking diagnostic assessment with genuine intent to resolve trauma and ongoing regulation difficulties, resulting from the circumstances explained in my letter and collateral, which may impact my performance in future studies, which are important to me. I am also forwarding my grandmother’s certificate of death, documenting a painful event that I was not tolerating well. I am forwarding additional hospital documentation that speaks to some relevant issues described in Dr. Mizevich’s letter, which I have personally decided not to detail in full.
I will reiterate my request to please late drop PATH 499, as I believe I have provided adequate evidence speaking to why my performance was impacted by reduced concentration, ability, and motivation to engage in my studies at the time in question.
I appreciate your time and careful consideration.
Thank you very kindly.
Best regards,
Myriam Oliver (she/her)
20102302
Documentation
Document: IMG_8898.jpg
Document: IMG_9438.jpg
Document: EO Certificate.pdf
Document: Letter of support_Password_cbt.pdf