Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am writing to formally appeal for an extension of the incomplete course HIST 109 War and Revolution in the Modern World, which I have been unable to complete due to continued debilitating mental health struggles, compounded by the lack of cooperation from Professor Awet Weldemichael. I would also like to request that another professor oversee my completion of the course.
During my time at Queen’s, I have struggled heavily with my mental wellness. My first term was very difficult, I had no support, and I was experiencing severe flare ups of my mental illness. Dropping out or taking time off is not an option for me and this remains so. As a result, I did my best within the second term to piece together what was left from the term before and get the support I need, while trying my best to succeed at school. I reduced my course load and began reaching out to supports within the community. Recovering from flare ups does not happen quickly and together with the lack of support I received from the school after reaching out multiple times to multiple different resources, I struggled with my second term as well. Another one of the things that I did at the beginning of the term to try to mitigate more damage to my academics, was speak to each of my professors and teaching assistants, informing them of my circumstances. Throughout all my struggles I did my best to take responsibility and maintain communication with them as I worked through the term. Despite this I was only marginally better than the term before as I did not receive mental health support until much later into the term. At the time, my professors and I discussed on multiple occasions the possibility of me needing an incomplete. Towards the end of the term, I met with them many times to confirm and set out plans to put incompletes into effect as a result of the circumstances. My other professors followed through, and I am currently working to complete their respective courses. Professor Awet Weldemichael however did not. After meeting with him to confirm my incomplete and being told not to worry, I lost access to the course content and our line of communication became undependable.
I found out while attending an appointment for Academic Advising that I received a failure in that course soon after the beginning of the summer term. I have since learned that he has been struggling with his health, however I was never informed of any changes to plans. It would take weeks sometimes to receive a response to my emails while I was trying to sort this out. Eventually I had my QSAS advisor intervene as it got closer and closer in time to my necessary trip abroad to sort out documentation. I was told that I would be contacted by him in a timely fashion, and I would be able to complete the course as I had a few weeks left in Kingston. I received an email response and access to the content a day before I left Kingston which meant completing the course would now be impossible. During the winter term I received accommodations to receive lecture notes as some days I would be too debilitated to manage my basic functions. Professor Weldemichael refused but said that I wouldn’t need them. I found that while trying to complete the course, I struggled very heavily without them and so I supplemented my learning through the recommended reading available at the library through a reserve book. I no longer have access to this book which was vital to my completion of the course. Nor do I have the time to complete the course as trying to sort out this problem has taken my attention away from my other courses and contributed to my flare ups. I would like to take this time to completely focus on the completion of my other course work. As a result, I request that I may be able to complete this course in the fall term under the supervision of a different professor. I think this would be best considering his health complications and my circumstances. While I do understand that these health complications were not under his control much like my circumstances, I feel that the professor could have been more responsible in his duty as an educator and inform me of any changes as this ordeal has very negatively impacted me. For this reason and to give him time to recover without the stress of dealing with students, I think it would be best for another professor to take over.
Despite all the struggles I have faced and the lack of timely submissions, I fared well in the assessments I have submitted. I have always been a committed student and it pains me to be doing so poorly because of circumstances out of my control. I would like to have the chance to complete this course. I also need it to fulfill requirements for transfer to a different university.
During the remainder of my time at Queen’s, I will be doing my best to navigate my academics as I have been doing. I will continue to make any adjustments necessary and work with professionals to better my condition.
I will be providing supporting documentation regarding my mental struggles. If necessary, I can also provide email documentation with my professor and with supports in the community that tried to help me navigate this issue. The latter will be readily available upon request.
Thank you for your consideration.