Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Re: Petition to Waive Petition Filing Deadlines, Courses 2022 to 2026

Student Name: Osunde Osarieme Ruth
Student Number: 20291040

Part One: The Request
I am requesting a waiver of the petition filing deadlines for the courses listed below, which are addressed in an accompanying petition for retroactive late withdrawal and credit standing conversion:

DEVS 240 (2022 Fall), HIST 228 (2022 Fall), PSYC 202 (2022 Fall), HLTH 205 (2022 Fall), BIOL 103 (2022 Winter), PSYC 236 (2023 Winter, original attempt), CLST 203 (2023 Winter), IDIS 373 (2023 Summer), STAM 200 (2023 Summer), PSYC 271 (2023 Fall), HLTH 305 (2024 Winter), PSYC 331 (2024 Winter), COMM 251 (2024 Fall), HLTH 334 (2024 Fall), and PSYC 354 (2025 Winter).

Petitions for late course drop and credit standing are normally required within one year of the end of the term in which the course was offered. I am filing beyond that window for these courses. I am submitting this request within the 15 business day window following the conferral of my degree on June 1, 2026, as required for graduated students. I am asking the committee to waive the one year filing window for these courses and to accept this submission as falling within the post-conferral window, on the basis that the circumstances preventing timely filing were ongoing throughout my degree and were only fully addressed once I had completed my studies.

I note that the accompanying petition also includes requests related to ANAT 100 (2025 Summer), PSYC 342 (2025 Fall), PSYC 221 (2026 Winter), and PSYC 305 (2026 Winter). These four courses remain within the normal one year filing window and do not require a deadline waiver on that basis. I am including them in this letter only because, as a graduated student, I understand that any petition I submit must be filed within 15 business days of my degree conferral, which this submission satisfies.

Part Two: Reasons for the Delay in Filing
I have accessed support through Queen's Student Wellness Services since October 2021, my first year of study, and have been registered with Queen's Student Accessibility Services since November 2022. My formally confirmed conditions, detailed in the attached documentation, include a mental health condition encompassing Bulimia nervosa, generalized anxiety disorder, and major depressive disorder, confirmed November 23, 2022; an acquired brain injury sustained April 21, 2023 and confirmed April 26, 2023; and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, for which I began medication and treatment in November 2023, with formal confirmation following on May 2, 2024.

Each of these conditions affected my ability to complete coursework during the periods documented, and the same impairments also affected my ability to complete the administrative steps required to file a petition on time. Filing a petition requires identifying the correct process, gathering documentation, drafting a letter, and submitting within a deadline window, and the attention, planning, and follow-through this requires were directly impaired by the conditions described, particularly given that my attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was not diagnosed or accommodated until May 2024. My physician's note and the attached Accessibility Services records speak to the severity and timeline of these impairments in more detail than I will repeat here.

For the 2024 Fall courses specifically, COMM 251 and HLTH 334, I want to note that I was aware of the petition process. My COMM 251 instructor encouraged me to file a petition and I intended to do so, but did not file within the deadline. Both courses were also directly affected by the Queen's University labour disruption that term, which is reflected on my transcript and affected my ability to follow up administratively afterward.

For PSYC 221 and PSYC 305, both 2026 Winter, I want to briefly address my accommodation status. My standing QSAS accommodations cover predictable needs such as extended exam time, and were not designed for the acute destabilization I experienced at the start of that term, which is detailed in the attached documentation. I did not resume coursework until January 17th, nearly three weeks into the term, and filing a petition during that period was not within my capacity. By the time the term ended and my degree was conferred, the standard filing deadlines for these courses had already passed.

I have consistently engaged with Student Wellness, my physician, and my psychotherapist throughout my degree. I was not declining to seek help. I was managing conditions that were, for much of this period, not yet fully identified or treated, which affected my ability to complete the administrative process of petitioning at the time these circumstances were occurring.

Part Three: Reasons for Filing Now
I began gathering some of this documentation, including the letter from my psychotherapist, in September 2025, with the intention of filing at that time. I was not able to complete the submission process then. I recognize this as a further example of the pattern described in this letter, in which the same difficulties that affected my coursework also affected my ability to follow through on addressing it administratively, even once supporting documentation was already in hand.

I am filing now because I have completed my undergraduate degree and at some point in the future when things settle down i intend to pursue graduate studies in public health and health equity. My conditions have been formally diagnosed and treated, and I am re-engaging with formal supports following the Winter 2026 flare-up. I now have the capacity to engage with this process in a way that was not available to me during the affected terms.

My 2025 Fall term GPA of 3.60, achieved after diagnosis and during active treatment, reflects my performance under stable conditions. I believe the contrast between that term and the affected terms supports the position that these circumstances were genuine and that the grades in question do not reflect my actual academic ability.

I am submitting this request within the 15 business day window following the conferral of my degree, as required.

I am attaching the following supporting documentation:
1. Queen's Student Accessibility Services confirmation records, including: mental health condition confirmed November 23, 2022; acquired brain injury confirmed April 26, 2023; and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder confirmed May 2, 2024.
2. Off-campus Physician's Note from Sara Maylin, PHC-NP, Adult Eating Disorders Program, Hotel Dieu Hospital, dated July 4, 2025, confirming diagnoses and academic impact from March 2023 to June 2025.
3. Queen's Student Wellness Services letter confirming regular access to care for health problems negatively affecting academic performance from Fall 2022 to present.
4. Letter from Pamela Hall, Registered Psychotherapist, Queen's Student Wellness Services, dated September 24, 2025, confirming challenges from first year onward and naming the specific courses affected.
5. Medical report from Dr. Hassan A., Senior Medical Officer, Lagos State Accident and Emergency Centre, dated January 23, 2026, confirming care from December 2025 to January 2026 and that the associated circumstances would have interfered with academic requirements during the December 2025 exam period and the January 2026 deferred exam period.
6. Queen's Student Wellness Services letter dated March 31, 2026, confirming that for medical reasons Ruth was not able to function at her normal level academically from January 2 to January 17, 2026.
7. [Letter from psychotherapist confirming continuation of documented conditions into 2026 Winter, to be submitted upon receipt.]
8. Photo and video documentation of unsafe living environment, 2022 to 2023.
9. Hotel Dieu Hospital emergency department record, dated April 21, 2023, confirming concussion diagnosis and treatment.
10. Q Sports Medicine record, dated May 19, 2023, confirming persisting post-concussion chronic headaches and referral for athletic therapy.
11. OSAP Disability Verification Form, completed by Dr. Carolyn Borins and dated September 16, 2024, confirming permanent disability status related to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and mental health impairment, including documented impacts on attention, concentration, memory, stress management, and task completion.

I respectfully request that the committee grant this deadline waiver so that the accompanying petition can be considered on its merits. I am available to provide further information or to meet with the committee if helpful.


Respectfully submitted,


Osunde Osarieme Ruth
Student Number: 20291040