Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

I am appealing to have the courses CLST 201, and CLST 203, removed from my transcript, as well as credit standing for CLST 103 - I am not sure if there is an option for removing courses from a transcript on the website, therefore I put them as credit standing, but I am appealing to have the two courses removed completely.

In the fall term of my second year (2016/17) I experienced a severely traumatic family event which led to extenuating circumstances, which were detrimental to my psychological health. This event, which took place in October in the fall of 2016, greatly affected my ability to succeed academically: I was seen by an emergency psychiatrist who put me on a treatment, which was not the adequate treatment, but at the time I had not yet been further diagnosed. The trauma kept me from being able to go back to school, and I had to drop all my courses in the fall 2016 term. Because my symptoms were not being adequately treated, and because the event was still recent at the time, the extenuating circumstances continued into the winter term of 2017, and this led to me being unable to succeed in my academics. The trauma I experienced led to psychological symptoms which made me unstable, severely depressed and unable to function, therefore unable to attend classes and to succeed academically. The symptoms of the trauma I experienced affected me all the way through the winter term of 2017. I was simultaneously seeing a healthcare professional over this period of time, and tried many different medical treatments to alleviate my symptoms, but we were unable to find a proper treatment at the time. For these reasons, I was unable to succeed in my courses in the winter term of 2017. I did not drop the courses because I did not want to admit failure, and I thought I could make it through ¿¿ I actually organized meetings with professors to try and find a solution for me to succeed, but ultimately, my mental state and symptoms of my post-traumatic stress kept me from being able to do so. The reason why I have not submitted this appeal earlier is because I am still recovering from the trauma that occurred in the fall of 2016, and have been on continuous treatments since to try to work through the post-traumatic stress. Therefore, I was unable to write this letter before now, before reaching a point of psychological readiness and acceptance of the events that happened in the fall of 2016, for writing this letter forces me to re-live and revisit traumatic memories I have tried very hard to shut out until now, for they are very triggering.

I have since been further ¿¿ and more accurately ¿¿ diagnosed and am now on a more effective treatment. The grades I achieved in the winter term of 2017 are not an accurate representation of the grades I usually achieve, as per my transcript. Being on a proper treatment, and taking the time needed to work through my trauma, I have been able to be successful academically, and to seek out assistance - I have recently registered with QSAS, something I could not have done beforehand, for the trauma was still too fresh. Having been more successful in my academics since then, I am confident that I can continue to succeed, and therefore, I would like to appeal these courses so that my transcript can be an accurate representation of what I can and have been achieving since then, as well as liberating me from being held back ¿¿ in academic terms ¿¿ by the results of a severely traumatic event which was completely out of my control. I am currently on an effective treatment and am continuously seeing and being monitored by my healthcare professional, and this stability has been reflected in my grades since.

I would like to thank you for your consideration, and for taking the time to read letter. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Katherine Dionne