Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

I would like to appeal one of my courses from the 2017 Winter term, as I misjudged the course load I could handle in regards to the mental state I was in. While I understand that this appeal is being requested extremely late in the semester, I was unable to submit it sooner as I was under an immense amount of stress, and had to use all of the focus I had left to complete my other courses.

The course I am looking to appeal is ARTH 375, Early Netherlandish Painting. I enjoyed the course content, however found the course far too time-consuming to a point where I was unable to maintain my mental health throughout. I began the course receiving the highest mark amongst my peers for an essay, and afterwards failed the midterm. It was at this point that I realized that it was best for my mental stability to focus on other matters in my life. I stopped attending the class about midway through the term, and avoided submitting an appeal as the thought of writing it made me feel extremely anxious and panicked.

I submitted an appeal in my second year after leaving school for similar reasons, and for the most part, things have been much better since I returned in the winter semester of 2015. I have more recently been diagnosed with a mood disorder, which affected my attendance in all of courses, and despite my accommodations with to have a student note-taker, I felt as if I was unable to fully catch up in this course.

I have maintained a GPA that I am very satisfied with throughout my time at Queen¿¿s, and wouldn¿¿t want to see it suffer from this one course. I worked extremely hard through all of my years at Queen¿¿s, despite the barriers I have faced, and have achieved above the academic success I had expected to.

In my final semester at Queen¿¿s, I will continue to see my doctors regularly so that I can maintain a somewhat stable mental state. I will also be taking a reduced course load to ensure a situation like this does not arise again. Furthermore, I will continue taking the medication I have been prescribed for my mental health conditions, and will work alongside my psychiatrist to find a medication that helps me to lead a productive and successful academic career.

Thank you for taking my request for appeal into consideration. I look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Kind regards,

Robin Nicholson
10105819