Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of Studies

I am appealing to receive credit standing in MUSC 171 from the fall semester of 2016 as well as drop ARTH 212, ARTH 215, ARTH 260, and ARTH 292, from the winter semester of 2017. Following the advice of Academic Advisor Kathryn Morrissey, I¿¿m writing one appeal for two separate issues from the different semesters. The first being a misunderstanding with my accommodations that was discovered in March 2017 but significantly hindered my ability to complete quizzes in the allotted time frame most severely in the fall semester of 2016. The other issue is a family emergency that sent me into a spiral that has affected my ability to participate in and complete my coursework starting at the end of February 2017 until the onset of the exam season in April 2017.

Following the end of last year (April 2016) I had received accommodations for my final exams in the second semester only, as that is when I filed for accommodations, unaware I could ¿ve received them before that. The summer of 2016 I had remained in contact with disability services until the start of this academic year of September 2016. It is around that time that I received two emails, but only saw one of them as one went to my main inbox and the other buried itself in my clutter folder. The former indicated to me that I would be receiving accommodations for the term of fall 2016, the latter contained information detailing the steps required to receive these accommodations in my regular academic setting- aside from final examinations (such as OnQ quizzes and mid-terms). To receive my accommodations in my courses, I was to give a letter to my professors at the beginning of the term, detailing the accommodations I received. I was not aware of my need to do so until March 2017 because the non-traditional way I had initially received my accommodations the previous year (April 2016). It was last minute and no one needed to cover what steps to take during regular academic activities, as I applied for them before my final exams- but fully expected to use them in my regular actives(OnQ quizzes and mid-terms) the following academic year (September 2016).

My lack of accommodations resulted in me not fully completing quizzes on OnQ due to lack of time (I would¿¿ve received extra time). This affected every class I was enrolled in during fall 2016 and Winter 2017. However, I found ways to work around my issues for most of my classes; I had my roommate read the questions aloud and repeat herself for all but one of my classes, resulting in me doing acceptable in them. It also helped that in all but one of my courses the professors had assignments separate from midterms or quizzes which resulted in only a fraction of my grade deriving from tests in which I did not receive accommodations but would have. The exception was MUSC 171, in which 50 of my grade was obtained from online quizzes and the other half from my final exam. I passed the course barely, but I know that if I had received even an extra ten minutes per quiz, I would have been able to finish. This was challenging as well because of the listening example I was meant to use to answer the questions, as I would have to answer 35 questions in 40 mins with a tenth of them containing listening examples two to four minutes each.

I discovered my need to send a letter to my professors in March 2017 following reading week, before which I had left on the fourteenth of February, rather than the seventeenth due to a family emergency. My grandmother had a stroke while vacationing in Thailand. It was her first but resulted in a lack of mobility in her right leg and her right arm. However, she could be transported back to Edmonton not too long after the stroke, so I went to Edmonton a day after she arrived in Edmonton. This event in my family had affected my pre-reading week assignments but I dealt with the arrangements, and before reading week I felt confident in my ability to complete the semester mentally. When I arrived back in

Kingston, I started to spiral downhill. It started the way it always had before, with my appetite, but in the past, the feelings would pass- this time the feelings are not giving. These feeling kept me in my bed till the end of the semester and the start of exams. It was then that I felt that I owed it to my friends and family to try the student wellness services again. I¿¿ve seen health services for varies reasons before this, but as my feeling became darker, it became harder to talk about my problems with professionals without activating their ethics programming which may have put in Kingston General Hospital. I¿¿m not saying that it¿¿s not right that they default to suicide watch when they hear talk of it, but in some ways, it prevents open discussion on a sensitive topic and stops honest conversation which proves to be the best deterrent to suicide, in my opinion. It¿¿s for that reason among other that stopped me from seeking help before, but I did go to counseling when I felt that I could not complete the semester mentally. It was that point I got in contact with Pamela Reines, who advised me it was better to write this appeal rather than letting myself fail these courses and repeating them next academic year. It is my intention to repeat these courses, but I will do so with a better mental state, one that is healthier and in a safer place. She¿¿s pressed upon me the need to attend to my mental health, rather than neglect my problem as nonexistent, which would be my natural route to take. Although she is leaving as of the day I¿¿m writing this (April 27, 2017), I intend to continue visiting mental health services but seeing someone who is in Kingston during the summer. Before that, however, I plan to go back to Edmonton as a change of location closer to my family will do me wonders, I will be returning at the end of May. In this time, I am taking one online course- as per my academic plan I have created with Academic Advisor Kathryn Morrissey. The program consists of two more years of school, with one summer course this summer semester (May 2017), and two next summer semester (May 2018). I wish (if possible) to get a more concrete idea of my plan before fall registration but, at the time of writing this, I am unsure if Academic Services is fully available in the summer semester.

I am confident I can work out how to succeed, but admittedly less confident about my capacity to be happy, writing this appeal and attending counseling are my first steps to figuring out both.