Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: March 22, 2015

Dear Associate Dean of Studies,


I am writing to request that I be allowed to drop PSYC 251 after the deadline of February 27, 2015, without academic penalty.

I have made appointments with my disability services counsellor and my doctor, but have not yet been able to see them. I did, however, contact my professor about my intension to appeal to drop the course and about my reasoning one week after the drop deadline (March 6, 2015).

I am writing today because I do not wish to wait any longer before submitting my appeal. It takes so long for me to get a doctor¿¿s appointment at my new doctor, and my disability office appointment last week was cancelled that day. I have also been struggling with anxiety and motivation with regard to preparing this letter, so I just need to get it in to you and then I will have to follow up with my other information/documentation. I trust this is alright.

In January, my children and I got terrible colds that lasted 6, 8 and 9 weeks respectively. I was taking cold medication and a puffer that the doctor prescribed throughout this period just to function. After a couple of weeks, I was unable to sleep through the night and was getting up around 3:30am for a 2 week period; I was becoming exhausted. I thought it may be perimenopausal symptoms, but I then had a period of 2 days that I was shaking all over and I went to the clinic where they told me that the sleeplessness and shaking were caused by the puffer and cold medications. Since then, I have recovered from my cold but have been plagued with feelings of anxiety, severe muscle tension and feelings that I am dying. I continue to work with my social worker at providence care, but I¿¿m finding the strain of doing this extra half credit course is overwhelming. I have continued to work toward completing my other course, a 6 unit Physiology course, because the course work load is significantly lighter and due dates are more spaced out ie: short, multiple choice tests, no weekly quizzes, no projects.

I am pasting my email of March 6th, 2015 to my professor, Dr. Fitneva, below, as well as her response. I will forward the actual email with my other documentation.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Laurel Rafter
(4830469)

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On 2015-03-06, at 2:08 PM, Laurel Rafter 2ler1@queensu.ca wrote:
Dear Dr. Fitneva,
I am writing to let you know that I am going to be sending an appeal to the Associate Dean of Studies to request that I may drop the Developmental Psychology course after the drop date of February 27. As you know, I wasn't well for quite a period of time, and I have been having a great deal of difficulty getting over the persistent cough and fatigue, not to mention that sleeplessness and anxity that have ensued over the past couple of weeks.
It takes over a month for me to get a doctor's appointment, and I do have an appointment with my disability services counselor next week, but I wanted to let you know first.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Laurel Rafter
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Hi Laurel
I'm sorry to hear that you'll be dropping the course but given the circumstances I understand your decision. I'll certainly support the appeal

I hope you recover completely soon

Best
Stanka Fitneva

Enabled by mobile computing. Please excuse any typos

On 2015-03-06, at 2:08 PM, Laurel Rafter 2ler1@queensu.ca wrote: