Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Victoria Archer
138 Albert Street
Kingston, ON K7L 3V2
(519)365-5371
victoria.archer@queensu.ca

May 29 2023

Dr. Jenn Stephenson
Associate Dean (Academic)
Faculty of Arts and Science
Queen's University





Dear Dr. Stephenson,

I am petitioning for permission to drop CANC 380 (Winter, 2023) after the deadline due to unexpected extenuating circumstances beyond my control related to my mental and physical health.

These circumstances pertain to an unexpected chronic health condition exacerbation potentiated by issues in my personal life. As a result of these circumstance, I have experienced functional and cognitive declines in attention, memory, planning, organization, and time management. This functional and cognitive impairment has hindered my ability to demonstrate my full academic potential in CANC 380.

The health condition exacerbation became progressively worse since February with acute and serious symptoms manifesting from mid-March to mid-May of this year. I have never before experienced symptoms and manifestations associated with this chronic health condition exacerbation. Since this exacerbation progressed gradually, I was unaware of the severity of the condition until it progressed to the point of manifesting symptoms that greatly impaired my daily functioning. These manifestations became evident between mid-March to April. These manifestations included cervicogenic headaches lasting days, persistent upper back and neck pain, chronic insomnia, crying spells, and decline in academic abilities. For days, I would be confused about tasks and frequently forget key appointments and deadlines. I struggled completing tasks because I was extremely distracted by various symptoms associated with my declining health. The deadline to drop a course was March 3, 2023. Since functional decline due to manifested symptoms only became apparent in mid-March and this condition progressively worsened since February, I was unable to drop CANC 380 by the deadline. I could not have predicted that this exacerbation would progress to this degree of severity otherwise I would have dropped the course by the deadline to reduce my courseload in attempt to ease anticipated academic struggles. Unlike my other courses, the majority of course requirements had due dates after the academic drop deadline for CANC 380. Since these circumstances became more severe after mid-March, I do not believe that my current grade in CANC 380 is reflective of my true academic abilities.

Upon seeking medical attention for these unexpected and acute manifested symptoms, I was advised to file a petition to late drop CANC 380. Although I am seeking medical attention to address these circumstances, they are unlikely to resolve before June. Thus, given the current decline in cognitive and functional abilities, I failed the course due to inability to performance to my full potential on the exam. I am specifically petitioning to late drop CANC 380 because it was most impacted by the health condition exacerbation and has additional course requirements, such as a final exam. None of my other courses this term had final exams. CANC 380 is not a degree requirement for my program, and late dropping CANC 380 will not affect my graduation from Queen??s University this spring. Since these circumstances are unlikely to improve before this semester, I was hoping that dropping this course would allow me to focus my limited efforts on completing my other courses, which I do require to graduate this spring.

I am applying to thesis-based Master of Science programs, which have admission criteria based on GPA calculations from the last two years of study. I am very concerned that these extenuating circumstance will inaccurately reflect my academic abilities on my official transcript, thus jeopardize my chances of being accepted into graduate programs. This is especially true for the LMP MSc program I??m currently applying to at the University of Toronto. These extenuating circumstances related to my physical and mental health have been potentiated by unexpected issues in my personal life, such as financial troubles, housing instability, interpersonal conflicts in my family and love life, and job insecurity. Thus, in addition to seeking medical attention, my academic plan for success would include seeking additional counselling and support systems to prevent or diminish these stressors in the future. I have already sought and plan to continue seeking mental health counselling, psychiatrist and general practitioner appointments to address these circumstances.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to consider my request to late drop CANC 380 due to unforeseen extenuating circumstances. I appreciate your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Victoria Archer
Student Number: 10173377