Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am writing to request the retroactive removal of PSYC 271: Brain and Behaviour from my academic record. I attempted this course in both Fall 2023 and Fall 2024, but due to ongoing extenuating circumstances, I was unable to complete it successfully on either occasion.

During this period, I was managing significant financial and personal challenges that severely impacted my academic performance. For context, my mother and father are separated, and my mother still lives in Jamaica while my dad lives in Ontario. My parents’ decision to split tuition costs evenly created a substantial imbalance, as my mother’s lower income and the Jamaican-to-Canadian dollar conversion rate left me covering much of her portion. At the same time, my father’s income rendered me ineligible for OSAP, further restricting financial aid options. To meet these obligations, I worked part-time while also holding a full-time role as a Residence Don. Balancing these demands with a full academic course load led to extreme burnout and severely compromised my mental health.

This manifested in depression, social withdrawal, and difficulty attending classes. Recognizing these challenges, I sought support through Queen’s resources. Though these circumstances began in the Fall 2022 period, I began therapy with Residence Mental Health Therapist Terra Sweigard on November 6, 2023, with sessions continuing into February 2025. These circumstances persisted until the summer of 2025. I also reached out to Psychology Undergraduate Assistant Anja Wilkes and Undergraduate Chair Dr. Megan Norris to disclose my struggles and request academic support. Despite my efforts, the toll of these circumstances affected multiple Psychology courses. With guidance and persistence, I was able to retake and pass most of them, except for PSYC 271.

Although PSYC 271 could have satisfied an Option B degree requirement, having failed, I subsequently completed PSYC 221 (Winter 2024) to fulfill this requirement. My appeal, therefore, is not about degree progress but about ensuring my transcript accurately reflects my commitment to recovery, growth, and academic success. Since that time, I have taken meaningful steps to improve my circumstances, including taking an extra semester to retake courses, reducing my employment load during the Fall term and engaging actively with campus services such as SASS, Career Services, and Academic Advising.

I respectfully request that the Committee consider my appeal to retroactively remove PSYC 271 from my transcript in light of the extenuating circumstances outlined above. I am working hard to position myself for future graduate studies, and I believe this adjustment would more accurately reflect both my resilience and my academic potential.