Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

I am appealing for aegrotat standing in CHEM 112 from the fall 2018 and winter 2019 terms due to unforeseen circumstances regarding my family.

Last December (2017) we found out my father had a gastrointestinal stromal tumor, and over the past year he has been treating the cancer with chemo and eventually surgery. He had a hard time, and this combined with his age and over ten stints in his heart, took a huge toll on him physically. I was spending a lot of time with my family, not only for comfort but for necessity as I have a sister in grade school who I am sometimes responsible for when my father is indisposed and needs my mother for assistance. When he underwent surgery in August we were confident he would improve, and it was decided that I had the time I would need to be able to commit to commuting to Kingston to complete CHEM 112. I live in Toronto full time and have been able to handle my course load as it has been entirely online except for this single course. Everything was going well in the fall, but complications occurred at the end of last term that have required me to spend more time in Toronto. On top of his physical health, he has been facing mental health issues that sometimes require supervision, and he has felt most comfortable with me taking on this roll as I have bipolar disorder and so have dealt with similar issues. This has made it increasingly more difficult to manage leaving home for the commute and my ability to complete the course work has suffered. I missed multiple tutorials which also leaves me at a disadvantage for the final exam, but I do believe I have completed the minimum of 60 of the course work and met the learning outcomes as is required for aegrotat standing. In summary, my family has needed my help.

I am currently taking courses to improve my GPA because my own mental health issues had staggering effects on my GPA from my first degree. After handling my own medical issues and having my father go through this I am hoping to finish this year, and my 8 years at Queen¿¿s as an undergraduate student, having met the requirements to attend the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine. After this term, I only have two courses left to complete in the summer and they are both online, so I will not have this problem going forward.

I appreciate your time and consideration and am happy to provide any more information you may need.

Sincerely,

Kayla Arviv