Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: April 19th,

Dear Associate Dean Stephenson,

I am writing today to submit a formal appeal for AG standing. I believe you are aware already of my situation, but to briefly summarize:

As you know, 15 million Ontarians have been ordered to remain in their homes to prevent the health care system from collapsing under the weight of the most severe wave of this global pandemic yet. Statements like this can sound like exaggerations, because after a year of this, existential problems have become part of our daily lives. And while this is not longer novel, it remains devastating to people's lives in unequal ways.

I am the primary care giver to a 5 year old girl. This lockdown has closed schools, and prohibited private and even family childcare. As such, I am now required to provide childcare 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This has eliminated my ability to participate in other activities, like academic study and test writing. Mitigations like daycare or baby sitters are not permitted by law.

On April 8th I was approved by the AC team with a severe problem, and on April 16th the AC advised me that Dr. Ritchie would support an appeal for AG standing.

As you know To be eligible for an AG grade, students must have completed at least 60 of the work required for the class and must have demonstrated that the learning outcomes have been met.

This is a full year course, requiring 20 hours a week of academic work. I have completed all assignments in most cases achieving A grades, except one: the final exam, which I was unable to write under the circumstances. This is three hours against hundreds of hours of course work, and as I mentioned, successful completion of all assignments. This is my first appeal for AG standing, and at Queens I am an A student, and was on the Dean's list last year. I believe I have met the learning outcomes for this course, and am struggling under an exceptional circumstance, in a human rights protected category, that I cannot mitigate. Please grant me this appeal.

Yours Sincerely,
Karsten Shantz