Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Stephenson,

This letter is to appeal for credit standing in BCHM 218 and PHGY 214 taken in the Winter term of 2018. Please let this also serve as an appeal to waive the one-term deadline as there were specific circumstances that prevented me from appealing the matter sooner.

During the Winter term of 2018, I was experiencing intense and debilitating symptoms that have now been identified as part of a psychological disorder. I was isolating myself as exam dates approached and could not bring myself to even eat, let alone study. As I struggled to maintain my health, my disability took up much of my time and energy, detrimentally impacting my performance on the heavily weighted examinations for these courses. At the time, I was not aware of any resources or systems in place that could have helped me avoid walking into exams unwell. It wasn't until my first counseling appointments at Student Wellness which would come 6 months later that I first learned of options such as the academic consideration forms. These options were not made apparent to me in any way during my first two years at Queen's. Thus, no matter how mentally unwell I felt, I thought my only choice was to walk into the exam hall just the same. Alternate options such as deferrals were not as advertised at the time as they are now.

Since receiving my diagnosis over a year ago, I have taken steps to manage the disorder to the best of my ability. I was registered with Queen's Student Accessibility Services as a student with a disability the following winter term and now receive accommodations such as semi-private examinations, and assignment extensions or exam deferrals when needed. I also have been routinely seeing a psychologist at Queen's, and have been placed on medication to manage my symptoms. Thus, I have since felt much more stable in my wellness and productivity, and with a strong support system in place I have finally been able to put my best foot forward in my studies. In the process of my treatment, I was made aware of many options such as deferrals and appeals that were unbeknownst to me at the time when I needed them most. So I decided to reach out and appeal the matter since I know the result of these two courses were due to my extenuating circumstances at the time, and in no way indicative of my academic abilities. My final grades were detrimentally damaged because I was suffering in isolation without accommodations or knowledge of alternate options to writing exams when I was unwell.

I sincerely apologize that I was not able to appeal the matter within the deadline. The semesters that followed were spent receiving professional help, getting put in touch with proper resources to improve my well-being and taking proactive measures to ensure these events do not reoccur. Now that I am in a good place mentally and feel confident in my academic abilities and performance since treatment, I am able to reflect back on my performance in these courses and acknowledge I was limited by my untreated condition at the time. I hope my much improved grades since my diagnosis and implementation of accommodations can speak to the fact that I was affected by extenuating circumstances during major assessments for some of my previous courses, namely the two I am appealing here.

Attached you will find a letter of support from the psychologist I see weekly, Dr. Farah Nanji, as she can speak to the impact my health condition can have on my academic performance, and support the notion that the delay in appealing the matter was in no way intentional, as our attentions were focused on improving my well-being and ensuring stability for the semesters to come.

Thank you for your understanding and for taking the time to review this. If you require any further documentation regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Paulina Bernreiter