Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Ashley Owusu-Ansah
10053502
11aao2@queensu.ca
613-876-9740
3317 Woodroffe Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario
K2G 4P7

April 5th, 2016

To whom this may concern,

I would first like to begin by apologizing for submitting this request late. I only discovered how to handle this situation in mid-February after seeing an academic counsellor. School however had picked up during this time of the and with being in six courses, I couldn¿¿t risk falling behind because this is a sensitive issue. Thus today I am submitting an appeal regarding two courses I took in the winter semester of 2015. I was unable to complete the final exam in POLS 212 and the final assignment in SOCY 227. During this time of the year I was going through many personal issues regarding mental health and my housing situation. To better deal with my situation at this time I went to La Salle and spoke with a counsellor. After a few sessions with a counsellor, we came to the conclusion it was best given my condition that I not write the exam and in regards to my assignment he would contact both my professors with a letter explaining the situation. I provided him with the contact information for both my professors and I also contacted both my professors. My politics professor (Heather Bastedo) replied saying she would move forward with my situation once she received documentation from the counsellor. My sociology professor (Martin Hand) never replied, I expected he would after receiving a letter from the counsellor. I went home that summer took some time off and saw my doctor. After seeing my doctor and taking tests I was diagnosed with ADHD and now I currently take medication daily for it. I took a course in the summer to ease me back in to academics before the fall term started and to ensure that the medications were effective. Attached to this appeal I have included the emails between Dr. Mike Condra (Counsellor) and I. I began CC¿¿ing his assistant Lauren Sharpe in later emails after I had to call Health and Wellness Services when I still had not heard back from Dr. Condra. I was able to speak with his assistant who asked me to send another email and CC her in them. The emails show that I tried contacting Dr. Condra and that I did send him all the information he required in order for him to contact my professors. I only discovered late in the summer that Dr. Condra was in the middle of retiring therefore wasn¿¿t able to respond to my emails timely fashion. I understand that he was busy, but it has made it difficult to remedy my situation. My politics professor is gone for the school year, and I still don¿¿t know if my sociology professor ever received a letter. I am submitting this appeal for the courses I was unable to complete because after seeing an academic counselor this was the best route that could help me remedy what happened in the winter. This way I could still receive a mark for the work that I completed in the course, so that this way I may graduate. In both courses I completed at least 60 or more of the course load and I really did want to complete these courses after I sought assistance once I returned home. Since my incident I have been doing everything I can to ensure the events from the winter do not happen again. I take my medication properly and I go home often and communicate with those close with me. I have been taking 6 courses this winter just to ensure I can meet all my requirements to graduate on time.

Thank-you in advance for taking the time to read my appeal.

Sincerely, Ashley Owusu-Ansah