Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am writing to appeal for credit standing in four courses and to drop a course from the FALL 2014 semester. The following courses are the ones for credit standing: CHEM 281, MATH 231, PHAR 100, and STAT 268. The one that I want to drop is MATH 280 because I did not pass the course. Please consider my academic appeal as there were extenuating circumstances that negatively impacted my studies last semester and ultimately, I received a lower mark for these courses than expected. Moreover, I am currently working with my education counsellor to improve myself this semester forward.

The extenuating circumstances that I mentioned involved conflicts with my family, friends, housemates, and significant other. It was incredibly difficult for me to handle the transition into second year because of the changes in my life, such as the conflicts within my family and arguments with my housemate. Last semester, I was under a lot of stress and anxiety on top of those personal circumstances. These matters took up a lot of my time and energy, causing me to sleep less than seven hours a day and eat less than two meals a day. I had to find time to prepare meals, clean the shared areas, and manage house finances, all of which were new to me in my second year here at Queen's University. I did not realize how poorly my life style impacted my studying and concentration on academics because I persevered through my examinations with my issues bundled up inside. It became extremely hard for me to open up to my friends and professors about my concerns because the problems that affected my grades were very personal.

When I tried to express my concerns about my MATH 280 mark to Dr. Daniel Offin, I had a difficult time getting in contact with him. He did not reply to any of my emails and so I visited his office everyday during my spare time to find him. I emailed him on Tuesday January 13th when our MATH 280 marks were posted on SOLUS, but he was unavailable to discuss my exam until Monday January 19th. When we last met up, he told me that he will talk to the undergraduate chair for mathematics, Dr. Gregory Smith, about my marks, but I have not heard from him since Tuesday January 20th. On Friday January 16th, I also met up with Spring Forsberg and Dr. Gregory Smith to discuss the academic appeal and discuss future plans in the mathematics department respectively. I also reviewed my appeal letter with Joyce Hunter on Monday February 2nd. It was difficult to schedule appointments around my busy class schedule and therefore I was unable to submit this academic appeal any earlier.

At the beginning of this semester, I realized the life style I was previously living was unhealthy, and thus I convinced myself to consult a counsellor, as suggested by the Concurrent Education Assistant and Academic Advisor, Vicky Andrews. I was immensely nervous when I first started talking to someone about my personal life, but Sarah Horsford was encouraging and I was able to comfortably express my issues with her. After the two appointments that we had on Wednesday January 21st and Friday January 23rd, I felt less stressed and more motivated to improve my life style and ultimately, improve my academics. I have committed to a plan that involves counselling and my next appointment with her is on Tuesday February 10th. We will work on how to handle my family issues, house arguments, and other personal conflicts. She has also provided resources to help me through my academic years and help me deal with my personal issues. I am extremely grateful for her guidance with the process of writing this appeal and she has written a letter to accompany mine as well. I am now more willing to embrace the resources and guidance from Queen's University and I promise to work effectively to do better this semester and beyond. Please consider my appeal for credit standing in my four courses and the dropping of one course from FALL 2014 because of the extenuating circumstances. I am anxious that they will negatively affect my future academics. These matters were beyond my control and they caused my grades to be lower than expected. With the past put behind me, I am determined to improve in my academics and improve myself as a person in the future.

Sincerely,
Queenie Gao