Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I hope this message finds you well. My name is Brooke Drouin (20336979), and I am currently in my fourth year of my Honours Bachelor of Applied Economics (BAH). I am writing to submit this petition to request schedule adjustments past the Winter 2025 add/drop deadline.

To provide context, I have been experiencing mild to severe health issues for the past year. One of the earliest was a chronic respiratory and immune condition in late 2024 to early 2025, which caused severe expectoration and sleep apnea. For this, I underwent several X-rays and was later treated with nasal steroids and multiple rounds of antibiotics. After partially recovering, I continued to experience expectoration, severe fatigue, and sleep disturbances, which eventually developed into daytime nausea, dizziness, and digestive issues. These symptoms significantly impaired my ability to function as a typical student, including sitting through longer lectures, exams, and extended study periods.

Due to these concerns, in late summer to early fall of 2025, I underwent more extensive bloodwork and further pulmonary examinations. Initial bloodwork revealed concerning phosphate levels, which, combined with my symptoms, placed me within a profile suggestive of potential chronic kidney disease. This was extremely distressing. However, I was required to return to school and was unable to secure a follow-up appointment in Toronto that aligned with both my academic schedule and the availability of my healthcare provider at Toronto Western Hospital. I was advised to monitor my diet, reduce stress, be more mindful of my overall health and immunity, and return home should my symptoms worsen.

Overall, Fall 2025 was an exceptionally difficult semester for me. My sleep apnea and subsequent insomnia worsened significantly, and I made frequent trips to Toronto due to the aforementioned health concerns. Living in Kingston made it difficult to access the specialized professionals required for adequate treatment and support.
In late November, my condition further deteriorated. I developed a high fever and a recurrence of severe expectoration. My mother booked me a train back to Toronto in early December so that I could recover temporarily. At that point, I contacted Academic Accommodations, as I was unsure how to proceed. Prior to this, I had never requested accommodations, deferred an exam, or sought academic support in my three previous years at Queen’s University. After submitting bloodwork and additional medical documentation, I was approved to defer both my ECON310 and ECON351 exams. All of the aforementioned documentation has been shared, submitted and approved by Queen’s Academic Accommodation, as well as Queen’s Accessibility Services.
I also reached out to Queen’s general wellness services, who prescribed additional steroids for my sinus issues and sleep apnea and referred me to a sleep specialist, with whom I have an appointment scheduled for February. I then returned to Toronto for the winter break.

While I did partially recover over the break and gained greater clarity regarding my health conditions, I also further connected with Queen’s Student Accessibility Services. They recommended that I submit previous medical documentation related to a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, alongside my bloodwork, which has been submitted to the school. A significant portion of the immune-related issues described in this letter are linked to somatic symptoms associated with this condition, which were exacerbated by the stress of a potential kidney diagnosis and ongoing health challenges throughout the semester. I had not previously submitted documentation for this condition, as I had been attempting to manage it without medication due to concerns about taking stronger pharmaceuticals and had believed that accommodations required medication. Fortunately, appropriate accommodations will be in place for my April exams.

I returned to school without a fever; however, I was still unwell during the mid-January deferral exam period, experiencing severe nausea and untreated fatigue. Despite this, I believed I did not have access to further accommodations and was unsure whether additional delays were permitted. As a result, I proceeded to write both deferred exams, each of which comprised a significant portion of my final grades in ECON351 and ECON310.

Unfortunately, I do not feel that these exam performances accurately reflected my academic ability. I struggled to sit comfortably through the full duration of the exam sittings. This was particularly concerning given that I am currently enrolled in ECON443, ECON445, ECON425, and ECON452. ECON310 is a prerequisite for all of these courses, and ECON351 is also required for ECON452.

This situation was especially alarming given that the add/drop deadline was January 16. I wrote my deferred exams on January 15 and January 18.

On January 16, out of concern regarding my health and the potential outcomes of my examinations, I re-enrolled in ECON351 and attempted to re-enroll in ECON310 to ensure I had a seat in the event that a retake became necessary. However, ECON310 conflicted with my ECON443 course, preventing re-enrollment.

Because ECON310 and ECON351 are prerequisites for my current 400-level economics courses, I was deeply concerned about how my exam performance might affect my Winter 2026 schedule. Due to the timing of the deferral period, I did not know when grades would be released and was unsure how to adjust my course enrollment accordingly.

I contacted both professors and the associated TAs, but as they were in the process of late grading, they were unable to provide a timeline for the release of final marks. This left me uncertain about how to proceed with my Winter course load.

Given this uncertainty, I contacted the Economics Undergraduate Assistant, Carley Malone, who advised me to come to her office on January 19.

After reviewing my situation, degree requirements, and academic history, I was advised to re-enroll in ECON310 alongside ECON351 during the appeal period while awaiting the release of my exam grades. This would ensure that I remain on the course list should retakes be required to meet Applied Economics graduation requirements, rather than risk a one-year delay in graduation.

Additionally, following further consultation within the Economics Department, I received full permission from the Undergraduate Chair to take prerequisite courses, including ECON310 and ECON351, concurrently with my 400-level courses.

In summary, the purpose of this petition is to request re-enrollment in ECON310 within the appeal period to ensure I am registered in the event that a retake is necessary following the release of my grades, the timing of which remains uncertain.

I was further advised that, should I be required to retake 300-level (ECON310 and ECON351) prerequisites while taking 300- and 400-level courses concurrently, I should drop ECON452 and ECON445 to maintain a manageable workload and sufficient timetable flexibility.

If my final grades are acceptable to act as prerequisites, I will remain enrolled in my 400-level courses and drop the 300-level retake courses accordingly. If not, I will retake my 300-level course, and drop ECON452 and 445. This is the secondary purpose of this appeal, and is entirely dependent on when my final grades are released. As it stands, I currently need ECON310 to be added to my courses for the semester, and will revisit the what is needed to be dropped following the delayed release of my Fall 2025 marks; this is reflected in the ‘Step 2: Courses’ portion of the appeal portal, where, for the time being, only ECON310 is being added.

All of the above was reviewed, planned, and approved in consultation with the Economics Undergraduate Department. I am extremely grateful for the support and understanding I received from both Carley Malone and Dr. Ian Keay. Carley was instrumental in helping navigate the misalignment between deferral grading timelines and enrollment deadlines, and Dr. Keay was exceptionally understanding of my health situation in approving the possibility of concurrent retakes.

Please let me know if any further explanation or documentation is required. I would be happy to elaborate on any aspect of this letter. I will follow up on this appeal after the late release of my grades in order to address what is needed to be dropped. All medical documentation mentioned in this letter has been submitted to the appropriate individual departments, and I have received support from several individuals in my department to go forward with this appeal.

Thank you very much for your understanding, and I am grateful to the University for providing an appeal process for late add/drop requests in complex and unforeseen circumstances such as this.

Kind regards,
Brooke Drouin
20336979