Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am petitioning to the faculty to convert my second year (2021-2022) courses into a credit standing (CS) on my transcript. The reason for this petition, outlined in both my deadline appeal and the supporting documentation found in this petition, is due to the uncontrollable extenuating circumstances that I faced during the aforementioned time period which caused me to miss out on attendance and assessment preparation.
The challenges that I experienced posed as a threatening circumstance to my safety, which both affected my mental health in a negative way while also distracting me from following a proper academic schedule to ensure my own success in my classes. The situation that caused me to feel threatened was simply due to a conflict that escalated due to the other party’s pursuit for violence alongside of my active avoidance and de-escalation. I understood that the environment I was in was harming my success, but attempts to de-escalate the situation made my scenario worse as the aggressor continued to maintain a viable threat to my safety. During these circumstances, I managed to maintain attendance at class and hand in any assessment on time, however some specific cases of this harassment caused me to miss some lectures and course work due to the days and weeks I spent away from class in consultation with both police and legal resources. Eventually, as a plan to de-escalate, I had to arrange a new living situation which required much time and effort outside of school to complete in a timely manner. This process, combined with the missed lectures and course work that accumulated over the semesters, I managed to score the lowest average that I have ever completed. Since then, my mental health has become greatly affected as my grades are important for the future I wish to consider, which includes higher education and medical education. With my second-year grades, my transcript is uncompetitive and has already cost me many professional opportunities, let alone future academic opportunities and applications. Within this time, and currently, I have spoken with mental health counsellor Mrs. Solita Sipkens who has endorsed this petition. As outlined in my previous petition, I was unaware of academic considerations during this period, and I was unaware that courses could be dropped beyond the first week of studies. Now that I am currently aware, I have used these deadlines as stated by policy and have not encountered an issue of this nature since. A further breakdown of the timeline of my specific circumstances, along with an individual course breakdown for each grade I intend to petition, is included in the supporting documents.
It is in this capacity that I write to you in application to convert my second-year courses to credit standing. My perseverance paired with my disengagement from negativity and goal-oriented focus on academics were some of the tools I used to save me from failing these courses, but unfortunately weren’t enough to compare to the extreme circumstances that I faced. I ask to petition for credit standing as it would greatly benefit my outlook on my future by providing me with a more competitive transcript to apply for educational programs I wish to pursue. All claims I make are stated with honest integrity and are supported as closely as possible with the documents provided in this petition. As always, please email me at 19arc13@queensu.ca pertaining to any questions or concerns relating to this petition.