Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Appeal Letter: Members of the Board of Studies,

I am appealing the Associate Dean’s decision to deny my appeal to drop LAW 201 (2024 Summer) after the academic deadline on the grounds that a breach of procedural fairness (Academic Petitions and Appeals 3.4).

In the rejection letter, Associate Dean concluded that documentation that I supplied suggests that the circumstances that you reported are chronic and not unexpected and the specific academic impacts on LAW 201 during the summer term are not clear. Associate Dean also asserted that the petition process is not meant to be used to manage a chronic condition. Academic impacts from ongoing circumstances should be managed proactively by utilizing options such as academic consideration or accommodations through Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS).

I would argue that the nature of my illness combined with the chronic and predictable symptoms and unexpected and uncontrollable symptoms. As mentioned in off-campus Physician’s Note, chronic symptoms include “unable to focus and lack of concentration due to traumatic memories; destroyed understanding ability; easy to get tired” and unexpected symptoms include “Paroxysmal hallucinations, uncontrollable somnolence and narcolepsy; paroxysmal panic attacks”. The chronic symptoms I am proactively managing it using accommodation letter from QSAS (Document1). Hence, I am not using petition process to manage a chronic condition but to deal with acute and unexpected condition. Unexpected and frequent panic attacks—one of which lasted for several days, including the drop deadline—limited my ability to function normally in both studying and daily life, and even prevented me from dropping the course within the 2024 summer drop deadline. After missing the deadline, I actively used my accommodation letter to manage the impact of my condition on my studies. I also tried other remedial measures, such as inquiring about the possibility of using a Petition for PIC. From my perspective, I only submitted the petition for the late drop as a last resort, after I had exhausted all other available resources (Document1).

Associate Dean further claimed that I see from your transcript that you were able to successfully complete other courses in both the 2024 Summer and 2024 Fall terms, including achieving a grade of A+ in IDIS 199 (S24) despite the impacts of these circumstances. I hope that you understand that it is difficult to see how LAW 201 was impacted during this time while other courses were not.

I rebut that when my progress was being affected by panic attacks, I intended to drop both courses. However, the panic attacks caused me to miss the drop deadline, and I was forced to continue with both. I was able to eventually complete IDIS 199 and earn an A+ mainly because of two reasons. First, most of the course content was knowledge I had already learned over the years through sessions with my therapist, so I didn’t need to spend extra time studying. Also, it was a self-paced course, which made it easy for me to catch up later. Second, the assignments were mostly graded based on completion, and they mainly involved light self-reflections or poster-style submissions that didn’t require much cognitive functions (Document 2) that were affected by my condition. However, the Law was completely different. The material was much more difficult and newer to me, and it required attendance for scheduled video lectures, which made it much harder to keep up with while I was still in unexpected conditions. “It's easy to watch a movie when you're delirious, but it's hard to concentrate on reading a lot of literature and solving logical puzzles.” After gaining a clearer understanding of my limits, and to prevent uncontrollable situations in the following semester, I enrolled in only one course in Winter 2024 and proactively used a PIC for LIBS 100 to safeguard against any potential consequences caused by panic attacks. That is the reason for me to be able to finish the LIBS 100 later. I was trying my best to control the impact, but still can’t control the impact on LAW 201, because I have limited time, energy, and cognitive ability, which can only be allocated to a limited number of assignments.
There were also some legacy issues that prevented me from immediately continuing LAW 201 in the semester following the summer. For example, I was only informed in end of the October that my instructor had set up the course for me to complete by the end of December. By that time, there was already very limited time left for me to study. Additionally, my panic attacks relapsed in November and December, making it even more difficult to complete the course.

Associate Dean mentioned that if you are concerned about the impact that this course has on your GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating it in a future term. When repeating the exact same course code, both attempts will appear on your transcript however, only the higher grade will be included within the calculation of your cumulative GPA.

I also feel it’s important to clarify that, due to the worsening of my condition, I was no longer able to continue with my original academic path. As a result, I am changing my program from a BA Honours degree to a BA General degree. I will be graduating in April 2025, after which I plan to focus fully on treatment for the illness that has affected me for many years. I have no further study plan currently and will not be retaking LAW 201 in the future. Hence the impact for my GPA is permanent. Although the suggestion is sweet, it is not feasible for me based on my situation. Given this, the fail in LAW 201, which was the direct result of uncontrollable and documented health issues, does not accurately reflect my academic abilities or efforts. It is not a fair representation of my performance and leaving it on my transcript could have a lasting negative impact on my future opportunities—both academically and professionally.

Warm Regards,
Zheng Li