Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: July 11th, 2018

To the Associate Deans (Studies):

I am appealing to apply for a credit for a few of my courses from my first year for which I had extenuating circumstances, and remove some courses from my second year. During my time at Queen¿¿s, I have had 3 semesters where my health problems have impacted my academics.
- In the fall of 2016 (my 1st year), I am appealing a credit in ASTR 101, GEOL 104, and GEOL 106.
- In the winter of 2017, I am appealing BIOL 103, ECON 112, and HLTH 102.
- Additionally, in my fall 2017 semester, I had to take a leave from school in early November, because of this I had to drop ECON 111 and STAT 263 but they show as fails on my transcript. I am appealing for these to be removed from my transcript.

My extenuating circumstances were health related. I began having serious back pain in August of 2016, just before I started university. During my first semester, my health issues became chronic and more severe. They started to impact my ability to sit for any length of time, making attendance to lectures difficult and painful. Prescribed medications provided some relief, but impacted my memory and ability to concentrate on my studies.

By February 2017 I was being followed by the Kingston Orthopedic and Pain Institute (KOPI) on a regular basis for treatment and pain control. However, although I persisted with my studies, my chronic back pain became more severe and my academics suffered. Due to excruciating pain, I was physically not able to walk to class or to sit for any length of time in class. My chronic pain not only impacted my academic life but all other aspects of my life and well-being as well.

I returned for 2nd year in September 2017 determined to continue my studies. That semester, I was able to acquire a note-taker for my lectures through Student Accessibility Services which was helpful, but by November I had to make the difficult choice to leave school for the remainder of the semester to seek medical treatment as my chronic pain was worsening. In November, I learned about the CR standing with Michael Benganyi, my Student Accessibility Advisor, but my pain was too overpowering for me to be able to think about when I would be able to return to school. The pain and frustration together consumed all my energy.

I chose not to include this portion in my appeal in January of 2018 because I was advised to only include the courses I wanted to drop and add for the winter 2018 semester to have my appeal processed sooner and I should write a second appeal regarding the other issues. I delayed submitting this appeal because I wanted to see how my first semester back at school since my leave would go. I wanted to make sure that I was able to, in fact, continue with my studies before addressing past courses.

In summary, my pain impacted my ability to walk and sit, and my pain management medication severely impacted my memory and focus. My pain began before I entered university and quickly worsened until November of 2017 when I was unable to continue with my semester. Fortunately, I was able to return to school in January 2018 and my health has been improving since then.

I was able to receive high marks in some of my courses and such low grades in others because of the way the courses were set up and the aspects that were graded. For example, ASTR 101, GEOL 104, HLTH 102, and BIOL 103 involved lectures, labs, and in-class testing. Often times the lectures were difficult for me to get to as they were held in buildings far from my residence (Brockington to Depuis or BioScience) and when I could walk to class, they were difficult to sit through. GEOL 106 and ECON 112 were 3-hour lectures that were often just too long for me to sit through. GEOL 106 also did not post the lecture slides online for me to access when I missed a lecture which also hindered my ability to do well in the course. The most significant impact on my courses was in GPHY 102, where I was unable to achieve a passing grade. I was able to do well in other courses because of the way they were structured. For example, ANAT 100 was an online course with online assignments and final exam. I was able to do all of the lectures and graded assignments from my dorm room, not having to worry about mobility and able to work on my own time when my pain was tolerable. I also did very well in GPHY 101 because the classes were held closer to my residence (Ellis Hall), making the walk slightly easier for me. The class also had many assignments that were completed outside of class, and the final project, worth a significant percentage of the final mark, was also able to be completed online and the group work was done on a shared Google Document online where I was able to work from my dorm.

In the fall of 2017, I had a meeting with Michael Benganyi and an academic advisor. In taking the decision to leave school for the rest of the semester, we agreed that I should drop ECON 111 and STAT 263. At the time I thought that those courses were officially dropped, but they appear on my transcript as Fs. I have since learned that I am required to submit an official appeal to have them removed.

Since my return to Queen¿¿s in 2018, my health has improved and continues to do so. I have been able to decrease the amount of medication I have to take to manage my pain, which has helped improve my cognitive ability. I have required fewer doctor appointments and have not been to the hospital in months. My rehabilitation program is going well and all in all, I am doing much better.

My courses have been going well since I have been back. I am currently in 15 units for the summer 2018 semester and I am up-to-date in all my coursework and doing well. I believe that I am better equipped to manage my pain should it worsen in the future due to the medical support I have received in the past two years. I know the types of courses that I should seek should my mobility becomes an issue, I have a better understanding of the types of medication that are the best for my pain management and cognitive function. I continue to be a patient at a very good clinic (KOPI). When I started with KOPI, they were trying to control my pain but now we are able to manage it long term.

My education and academics are a priority for me and I am determined to do well. As such I have enrolled full-time this summer in an attempt to fill some of the gaps due to my health issues, and I plan on having another full course load in summer of 2019. Although I am still followed by the KOPI clinic on occasion, I am managing much better and my back pain has improved significantly. My academics and physical activity continue to approve, and I finally feel positive about all aspects of my life.

My future plan is to switch into a health studies major. At the end of this summer term if all goes well (there is no reason for it not to), I will have completed 45.0 units. 24.0 units will be electives and 21.0 units will be toward my health major. As I will be unable to apply for a new major until May of 2019, I have devised a plan to graduate on time with my graduating class of 2020.
My electives are in regular font and my courses toward my health major are in bold.
1st year fall
1. ASTR 101
2. GEOL 104
3. GEOL 106
4. GPHY 101
5. n/a

1st year winter
1. ANAT 100
2. BIOL 103
3. ECON 112
4. GPHY 102 (n/a)
5. HLTH 102

1st year summer n/a

2nd year fall
1. HLTH 230
2. n/a
3. n/a
4. n/a
5. n/a

2nd year winter
1. HLTH 331
2. n/a
3. n/a
4. n/a
5. n/a

2nd year summer
1. PSYC 100
2. PSYC 100
3. HLTH 101
4. FREN 105
5. WRIT 125

3rd year fall
1. HLTH 200
2. Elective
3. Elective
4. Elective
5. Elective

3rd year winter
1. HLTH 305
2. Elective
3. Elective
4. Elective
5. Elective

3rd year summer
1. Elective
2. Elective
3. Elective
4. Elective
5. Elective

4th year fall
1. HLTH 205
2. KNPE 125
3. HLTH 252
4. STAT option
5. HLTH 334

4th year winter
1. HLTH 315
2. HLTH 430
3. HLTH 323
4. HLTH 350
5. Elective

Graduation

- The only obstacle that I have to overcome is that I need to seek permission from the health faculty to take HLTH 252 in the fall of 3rd year and HLTH 315 in the winter of 3rd year. This way I will be able to apply for the health program and have access to the remainder of the health courses listed in my 4th year schedule, including HLTH 415 as I will have completed the pre-requisites.
- If I am unable to find a way to make the 415 course fit into this schedule, I will reasses my plan, but in the meantime I am hopeful.