Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am appealing to drop DEVS 340 (Fall, 2019) without academic penalty. Due to extenuating circumstances that are beyond my control I have not been able to perform to the best of my academic ability in this course. My severe and prolonged depressive episodes from September to November have made me unable to leave my bed most days and complete the requirements of this course. My inability to leave my house and participate have proved detrimental to this course as it has prevented me from attending more than one tutorial which are worth 20 of my final grade, and miss my midterm as well as my make up test which is also worth 20 of my final grade. I decided not to drop this course earlier due to fear of falling behind in my studies and having to pay again to retake the course. However, my anxiety over finishing DEVS 340 with a low grade, or possibly failing is starting to debilitate me from doing my other course work and improving my overall mental health.

Since this course is a requirement for my program, my plan is to take an online course in the summer and then retake this course next year. I am actively seeing a counsellor to try to resolve my mental health concerns and booked an appointment in October for the earliest date, December 3rd, to speak to my doctor at QSAS to reassess the severity of my mental health in order to make the appropriate adjustments to my current medication. My hope is by lowering my course load for the remainder of this semester, it will help alleviate some of the stress that is contributing to the deterioration of my mental health. It is my desire to be successful in my academics a finish the school year without needing to take a medical leave. In order to achieve this I will be attending my meeting with my doctor in December, continue to seek weekly assistance from my QSAS counsellor, and reassess over the winter break if I should continue with a lighter course load for the Winter semester.

I have attached a letter from my QSAS counsellor, the password to open the letter is SFletter2019

Samantha Farah
20056127