Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,
I am appealing to drop BIOL331 (Winter 2019) and extend the incomplete for LISCC595 (Winter 2019) so I can submit my final report and receive a grade for that course. I also took CISC499, CISC497 and CISC472 during the winter semester of 2019. The course work for CISC497 was complete by the time I had to leave school. For CISC499 and CISC472 the majority of the course work was done and I was able to come to an agreement with my professors that allowed me to finish the courses. However, for BIOL331 I was required to write an exam and in my condition that was not possible. For LISC595 I needed to submit a final report and do a final presentation which I was also unable to complete within the time frame that the incomplete grade status allowed because I was still recovering. I apologize that this appeal is very late, but it has been a journey to get to a place where I am sure and ready to get my education back on track.

At this time, I have re-taken BIOL331 (Winter 2020) to prove to myself that I have recovered enough to continue my education and I would really like for the Winter 2020 grade to show on my transcript. With LISC595 I plan to work on finishing my thesis over the summer (2020) and figure out a final presentation with my supervisor. I would really appreciate to have the LISC595 course to show on my transcript as complete because I agreed to do this work for my supervisor and I will follow through regardless of whether it shows on my transcript, but it would be nice to show that I honored my word despite the troubles I've faced.

Entering my adult years I've faced an onset of mental health issues and my solution to this was to take a lighter course load so I could focus on my health and education at the same time. With the exception of a few bumps in the road I managed fairly well with my heavy degree - biomedical computing. In the 2018-2019 school year I took on the challenge of a full course load that included a fourth year thesis (LISC595 - Cancer research thesis) and a fourth year project (CISC499 - Data science thesis). I knew this would be a lot but I had found a place of mental stability and was finally getting a sense of belonging in the academic world as my skills in computer science and my knowledge in biology made me an asset in both fields. Excited, optimistic and knowing my healthy self, which I felt as though I had become, could take on any challenge - I couldn't resist.

For the majority of the 2018-2019 school year I managed to keep up with all the courses and thesis work, I even started a few side projects at the lab where I was working. However, things started to fall apart at the end of the winter semester (end of March 2019) even though everything was nearly complete. I stopped functioning properly, on a mental level - my brain would not cooperate it was broken, which made continuing and putting the final touch on things not possible for me within the time frame of the nearly finished semester. I tried very hard to push through, I even attended by poster presentations (for both projects), but I wasn't really there and at that point I knew I had to take a break to get my health back in check. I don't know exactly what happened to me, but I do know that I wanted nothing more than to finish my projects the best I could and that was not possible.

Looking back, I took on more than my new self could handle and I will do my very best to make sure that does not happen again in the future. As my health changes I am learning my new limits and I hope that this journey doesn't diminish my potential in academics. Instead, I hope that it shows my dedication and enthusiasm towards my work and education.