Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean (Studies),
Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

I am writing to request consideration for an appeal for a late drop of my Fall 2018 classes (PSYC 202, PSYC 342 and ENG 278) as well as a fall 2017 class PSYC 353 (for which I have received support from the professor) and retake them in the fall term of 2019.

In the late Fall of 2018, I suffered an accident which resulted in an extensive surgery and a long and difficult trajectory of healing and physiotherapy. This happened on the heels of extenuating circumstances of a personal family nature, for which I was receiving support and resources and in the process of resolving. The accident made me initially completely immobile; partially immobile and reliant upon others for many months and on a pain management schedule, all of which made it impossible to complete my fall term academic requirements. Initially, I believed I would be able to be healed enough to simply defer exams and assignments (for which I was granted permission) however, it became increasingly clear that the effects were much further reaching and would have a longer duration than I expected, so I had to take a medical leave (or voluntary leave) of winter classes and request ¿¿IN¿ grades for the previous term. Both my physical and mental capacities were compromised for quite a time as I was recovering from the pain and trauma of the event.

Unfortunately, the situational effects of the accident such as acute financial strain and continued physical pain allowed a significant mental health struggle to take hold, which made me temporarily unable to deal with all the steps necessary to complete this appeal before the end of the winter term. I did seek and receive some support for this (although financial strain is still an issue), and after some time have now begun to come out of it and feel present and healed enough to see continuing studies in the fall as not only possible but am very determined to do so. I am so close to completion and have battled such hurtles to achieve this that I cannot accept defeat. I feel that I can take this as a learning experience which can aid me in my studies as well as my understanding of mental health and development as I complete this degree in psychology.

I believe the continued need to defer PSYC 353 falls between the significant personal and family crisis within which I was navigating and was then compounded by the injury and lengthy recovery. I have received support to retake the course from Professor Dr. Elizabeth Kelley.

Currently, I am well on the way to recovery and the pain is (comparatively) minimal, and the family-crisis situation is being managed so I see no reason why I can¿¿t succeed at these goals. I plan to continue to utilize stress management, personal counseling and will be having physiotherapy treatments to aid me in continued healing as I (hope to) begin the fall term in 2019.

Sincerely,
Nicole Thomson ¿¿ 10207801