Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of Studies,

I am writing this letter in hopes of an exemption from academic probation. I do not expect to be exempt the marks from second semester (or given a CR or AG) as I plan to retake the courses; however, being on probation will add unwanted pressure to me during the school year causing me stress. I take school very seriously and work very hard, however, I have been dealing with many extenuating factors that affected my results last year.

In the past few years my mom and I have been financially struggling as my father had decided he wanted to separate and left us in a financial bind by refusing to pay for anything, including my education. Applying for OSAP did help a little bit, but as I require treatment for my scoliosis, which is not covered by OHIP and only partially covered by student insurance, it was still an issue for my mom and I to both come up with the money needed to pay for school. This and the emotional distress from my parents' separation caused a lot of mental health issues for me and I really struggled in second semester when I could not afford to go home to visit my mom nor could I afford physical care for my spinal pain and struggled to make all ends meet.

Last year, I let my lack of mental health and the stress of my personal and financial problems get the best of me and my school work suffered as a result. When things got too much for me and I could not handle the stress of school, family, friends and financials, I found myself struggling to sleep at night- worried about all of my issues, and struggled to get out of bed in the morning as I was too tired and helpless to face the outside world.

This coming year, I decided it would be best for me to take an 80 percent course load, leaving time for me to take care of myself, both physically and mentally, and to find a weekly schedule that I can comfortably fall into. Last winter semester I really struggled with biomechanics, this coming winter I plan to take the extra time from not choosing an elective to work with a tutor and hopefully obtain a much better mark.

This was a very difficult letter for me to compose, as I am only recently coming to terms with the issues that I have had to face in the last year. I hope you will consider my request for my leave of academic probation.

Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Sloane Domotor