Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,


I hope this letter finds you well. I am looking to waive the one-term deadline for the following courses that had resulted in failure that I would like to receive accommodations (DR or CR standing) for:

CISC 101 (Winter 2018)
ECON 222 (Fall 2018)
ECON 240 (Winter 2018)
MATH 121B (Winter 2019)
ECON 212 (Winter 2019).

The reason I am looking to appeal these courses now, rather than before, is due to my extenuating circumstances regarding anxiety attacks and depression, which makes it often difficult to take tests and to talk to people. Due to this issue, it was difficult to ask for academic help and to sit in classrooms for a long period of time. It has been even more difficult to see my failure in 5 courses and not know what to do moving forward.

In order to mitigate this issue, I have been seeing the on-campus therapist since 2016. We have talked about my ongoing issues with anxiety and in 2018, we began talking about my hesitations with submitting appeals for my failed courses. It was incredibly difficult to talk about and we took small steps to finally allow me to book an appointment with an academic advisor. Being able to speak to an academic advisor was an important milestone since she helped distill my fears regarding appeals and about my degree.

My simple goal at Queen¿¿s is to graduate with a degree in Winter 2020 and to be able to be proud of what I had achieved during my time with the school. The biggest achievement is regarding personal growth and understanding how I can accommodate my circumstances to set myself up for success.

In order to succeed overall, I have taken the following steps:
I changed my BAH degree to a BA in Economics. This is a more affordable degree and gives me the opportunity to take the right set of courses that will help me succeed but not overwhelm my circumstances. I have discussed this with both my therapist and academic advisor
I have taken MATH 121, ECON 212 and ECON 222 again in order to succeed in the course. I have successfully passed ECON 212 and look forward to passing MATH 121/ECON 222 in the Winter of 2020.
I have taken many online courses rather than offline courses to help mitigate too much people interaction that can cause anxiety. A boost in academic achievement has been seen through these online opportunities and I am excited to continue adding online courses into my terms to make going to school manageable.
I have made a commitment to myself to continuing going to therapy, to academic advisors and to support groups to better myself.
I have used a PIC to take courses that interest me and used this opportunity to find future courses that interest me.


Thanks to these efforts, I am ready to appeal the 5 courses and face my difficulties head-on. I appreciate the accommodations and efforts made by the Artsci department and Queen¿¿s University.



Best Regards,

Yanling Chen