Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dr. Johanne Bénard
Associate Dean (Studies)
Student Services, First Floor Dunning Hall
April 28th, 2017

RE: APPEAL TO DROP AFTER DROP DEADLINE

Dear Dr. Bénard,

I am appealing to drop Math 212 (Winter) and STAT 351 (Fall). I have been unable to perform academically in these courses due to extenuating circumstances that have surrounded me the past couple months. Firstly, dating back to last week in October 2016 I had an infection (3-4 weeks), which affected my courses, ultimately requiring me to defer my final exam for STAT 351 until the end of this semester. Afterward, during the winter semester of 2017, I started to notice I was having psychological issues which were starting to affect my academic abilities. These psychological problems were not new to me and in accordance with my plan I had previously set with my counselors at Queen¿¿s, I had decided to take pre-emptive measures before I found myself in a very serious state of mind. I sought medical help during February to receive medication and sought early counseling at Queen¿¿s. However, the side-effects of these medications were serious; including hallucinations and flu/strep throat like symptoms. I continued to find an appropriate medication.

Unfortunately, as the semester progressed my mental state only worsened. Moreover, my mother started to reject her medications (on-going health issues) towards the end of March. This put a lot of extra stress on me, as I now had to put extra time into helping her do daily activities (showering etc¿). Now I find it important to note that this didn¿¿t affect only these two courses; MATH 339 and ELEC 373 were also affected (as well as ELEC 377 and CISC 322 in the fall). However, the professors for these allowed me to extend my assignments, projects, tests and final exam. I will be writing the final exam for ELEC 373 in July, and I was granted an extension on the final project (with appropriate recommendations from Health Services).

For MATH 212 and STAT 351 I was denied my requests to write my final exams later and none of my assignments were extended (their course format specifically forbade extensions for any reason); for STAT 351 the professor, understandably, said he could not push the exam back again, and for Math 212 the professor thought it would be better if I requested a late drop.

Finally, I would like to end this appeal with a plan for the future and a view of current affairs. Currently, I am on medication which has been showing no serious side effects. They have started to improve some symptoms, such as my ability to focus and to sleep ¿¿ these symptoms affect my academics more than most things. As the medication continues to take full effect, I¿¿ve been told to expect great improvements. In the case of this occurring again, I will pay closer attention to the last day to drop a course and make sure to drop my course load to a more reasonable value; although I would like to note I¿¿ve been trying very hard these last years to discover this limit. Moreover, regarding my mother¿¿s health, I have spoken to my brothers about the possibility of filling out some paperwork to have a nurse aid my mother from home ¿¿ this should greatly reduce my responsibilities. Lastly, I plan to continue taking these (or similar) medications indefinitely; in the past, I have stopped the medications if I felt they ¿¿had done their job¿, but I realize that this is a long-term illness and I¿¿ll continue taking medications indefinitely. Thank you so much for your time, consideration, and patience in evaluating my appeal. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Sabri Alouache
10034451