Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean of Arts and Science, Dr. Johanne Bénard,

I am a first year Arts and Science student. I am appealing to receive an aegrotat grade for the courses FILM110 and ENGL100. I left my residence on campus and returned to my home in Thunder Bay, Ontario on February 25th, 2017. Therefore, I have not been able to participate in these courses since then. I am appealing now because it has taken time to obtain the resources I need to do so.

The circumstances that lead to my leaving the campus had to do with my personal mental health. I have had problems with my mental health for several years now, and have received various methods of support. At Queen¿¿s, I had been seeing Dr. LaCaprara at Queen¿¿s Student Health, who prescribed medication that was meant to help me cope with mental illness. She also gave me information about other campus resources. In late January, I talked to a counselor at Student Wellness Services as well as a Residence Counselor about the problems I was having. Despite this, I continued to struggle and became a danger to myself. During the February reading week, it became clear that I was not safe to live alone, and needed to move back home. It was a very difficult decision to make. After I left Kingston, I contacted my professors and TAs and informed them of the situation. Though I was able to continue my other course online, the professors of FILM110 and ENGL100 told me that I would unfortunately not be able to complete these courses from Thunder Bay. Despite my illness, I had worked hard in these courses and managed to achieve grades that I am proud of, and would like to receive credit for that work.

Moving forward, I will be taking a year off school to work on my personal issues. This means working with my family physician and with counselors. I take my academics very seriously and look forward to getting to a place where I can complete my education without interruption. Receiving an aegrotat grade for these courses would mean that I do not have to start over when I return to school the next year. This would also mean that the tuition money spent on these courses would not go to waste. I would very much appreciate coming out of this year with something positive.

Sincerely,
Tia Lunn