Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Jingyi Huang, and my student number is 20219217. I completed my summer term for ANAT 100 yesterday, and I am writing to you to appeal the decision to withdraw me from the Faculty of Arts and Science for one year. I kindly request a moment of your time to explain the reasons behind my appeal.

Firstly, I experienced a health-related hardship during the winter midterm, which resulted in a failed course, KNPE 255. The decline in my GPA occurred during the 2023 winter term when I fell ill and was unable to participate in a second-term test. At that time, I had a high fever of up to 38.8 degrees Celsius and was also dealing with severe headaches and a sore throat. These symptoms ultimately caused me to faint at home. It is important to note that the term test accounted for 25% of the final grade and unfortunately, it took place on a day when I was incapacitated.

From March 20th to March 24th, I spent most of my time in bed, drinking water and taking medicine. I went shopping at Shoppers in the afternoon on March 19th because there were a lot of people coughing in the classroom, and I wanted to buy some medicine to prevent getting sick. Unfortunately, I ended up with a sore throat in the evening of March 20th, which I suspect maybe because I didn't wear masks a week before. During the night of March 20th, I developed a fever unexpectedly and it progressed rapidly. The next morning, I reached out to my mother for help, and my roommate also took care of me. The date of KNPE 255 term test 2 was held on March 21st. I felt extremely frustrated when I finally regained my clarity of mind because I had put a lot of effort into preparing for this test to improve my grade, but I missed it due to my illness.

A friend who was taking the same course tried to console me by suggesting that the missed mark might be factored into the final exam. The result turned out that the missed mark was not carried over to the final exam. In addition, my roommates tested positive for Covid-19, so I had to isolate myself for a week as a precaution. There were only lectures and exams in this course, so I reached out to other courses’ TAs (for group work and attendance) except for this one. It was only later that a Chinese-speaking professor informed me about the option to apply for academic accommodations. Prior to this, I was under the impression that accommodations were only granted for travel or family-related reasons. The lesson I learned from failing KNPE 255 is that I should no longer avoid reaching out to professors and TAs, regardless of difficulties or challenges. I deeply regret using the comfort of my friend as an excuse to avoid contact with professors and TAs at that time. I feel deeply ashamed of this behaviour, but I believe it was not due to a lack of capability but rather a failure to actively seek help.

Since the year before last year, I made multiple appointments with Susanna, a counselling therapist at SWS (Student Wellness Services) at Queen’s. In the beginning, I was very afraid and would actively avoid strangers. However, with Susanna's help, although I still feel nervous when interacting with strangers, I no longer resist or avoid communication with them recently.

Besides, I would like to raise a question regarding a significant additional expense. After careful consideration, I believe it is important to mention because there are many restrictions on the choices that I can make during the suspension period. For instance, I am unable to work with a study permit during this time. Additionally, school policies prevent me from studying outside of the institution, limiting my options in Kingston. Furthermore, even if I were to return to China for a break, I would still need to pay rent for the full year to ensure that I have a place to store my belongings in Canada. Moreover, the 15-hour flight duration makes it impractical for me to transport all of my items from Canada to China and then back again after a year.

I kindly request another chance to continue my studies at the school so that I can have more opportunities to improve myself. Thank you for considering my appeal. I would greatly appreciate your understanding and support in this matter.

Sincerely,
Jingyi