Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern:

This is my second iteration of an appeal in regards to my requirement to withdraw from Queens for the duration of one academic year. I will hereby be addressing the decision of the office of the associate dean responding to her decision to deny my appeal on the basis that there is currently no evidence showing that my condition has improved or is being suitably managed to warrant successful a return to classes. I would like to indicate that I believe that my appeal was treated fairly given the objective evidence that I could provide at the time of submission. I Believe that the following will touch on most of what was lacking in my initial appeal that led to it being denied.

Currently, I am seeing a therapist who has been helping me understand and manage my anxiety and depression. I was able to work with a therapist via lifeworks and the employee assistance program (EAP) that my father had access to through his work. Unfortunately, the policy at lifeworks is such that the therapist is unable to release any documentation pertaining to my sessions with her while covered under the EAP. Therefore, I was unable to provide any evidence in my first appeal that I was reaching any form of resolution in regards to my mental health (this was noted in my letter from the Office of the Associate Dean). I have now completed the five sessions through life works and have transferred into my therapists private practice where she will now be able to release documentation on my behalf. However, my therapist informs me I still need more time in therapy and that additional session are necessary before she can form a substantial professional opinion on how I am managing and will continue to manage my mental health, at which point she will release documentation that will prove useful to the board of studies and, hopefully, help my case.

Given my current situation I hereby request that my appeal not be considered until I have received said documentation and submitted it for review. I am offering my appeal at this time recognizing that the deadline for appeal documentation is August 1st. However, I will likely not receive a letter from my therapist until around the middle of August (I will have more specific dates in the coming weeks).

My hope is that this documentation will provide you with the most up to date depiction of my mental health at this time and will comment on my current potential for academic success. It is my hope that this information will form the basis for the board to be grant my appeal to resume my studies this fall. I am currently confident in saying that the state that I was in last year was temporary, and that I would have a far more successful year in my current state of health which will be supported by my therapist in the coming weeks should I continue to improve.

Additionally, this summer I have begun regularly seeing a naturopathic doctor to help with the physical symptoms of both anxiety and depression that have hindered me at school in the past. Upon submission of the letter from my therapist I will also be providing evidence that I have attended these appointments as well as evidence of the physical improvements I have experienced as a result of my treatment.

Lastly, I would like to bring attention to something that I may not have emphasized enough in my original appeal so it was not mentioned in my letter from the Associate Dean. While I understand that this is not strong enough to completely sway the decision made on my appeal I believe it is important to address. I had severe anxiety entering my 3rd year at Queen¿¿s and my GPA for the end of the 2016 fall semester was a 1.180 for the semester. For the winter semester, I had a GPA of 1.88 the difference between a D average and a C average. I Understand that my cumulative total was still far below the academic probation cut off. However, I would just like to highlight the fact that even before attending the therapy that I have been in this summer that I was, objectively, improving on an academic level. I am asking the Board to recognize this this trend coupled with the improvements that I have made in both my physical and mental health strongly suggest I am on the right track to achieve my academic goals addressed in my previously submitted academic plan.

In addition to the previously submitted academic plan I have considered taking a lighter course load depending on the demand for each of my classes to ensure that I am progressing as planned.