Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Appeal Letter: Dear Board of Studies:

I am writing to appeal the dean??s decision to deny my appeal to drop ASTR 101 after the academic deadline.

I have been a lifelong student at Queen??s and as my previous appeal letter indicated, I have had to manage various health challenges through the years. With some accommodation, I have demonstrated on numerous occasions the ability to successfully complete a course. As such, I am acutely aware of my academic ability.

The dean recommended that I assess my progress in Week 7 to meet the drop deadline. Respectfully, I can make (and have made) such an assessment in Week 12 to determine whether I can complete ALL of the course requirements by the end of term.

I will use HLTH 102, taken in the winter of 2020, as an example. This was a course taught by Jennifer Tomasone and Beth Blackett.

I spoke with Dr. Tomasone at the beginning of the term about my accommodations. Given the unpredictable nature of some of my health challenges and particularly, my increased difficulties during the winter term, I needed more open-ended accommodations. While Dr. Tomasone was supportive of my need for accommodation, she was extremely reluctant to grant such accommodations. Dr. Tomasone did ultimately change the deadlines for course requirements and I learned of these changes on March 8th. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, I lost access to the course text for over 3 weeks but I was able to access the text online as of April 9th. (E-mail documentation of this is provided.)

Thus, I completed ALL of the course requirements for HLTH 102 in less than 4 weeks with a final grade of A+. Dr. Tomasone has kindly provided supporting documentation of how (and when) I completed her course.

HLTH 102 is just one of many courses I have completed in such a short timeframe. Normally, I would advocate to the instructor for completion of the course in the time remaining but when the instructor for ASTR 101 recommended that I appeal for a late drop, I decided that this was the best course of action.

I made the decision to appeal for a late drop because I needed a full tuition refund. As I had stated in my previous appeal letter, my financial situation is now quite tenuous. That is, if I continue to not earn a sustainable income, I will become homeless. I, most certainly, cannot afford all of the medical equipment, medication and other aids that I now require. A full tuition refund would help with paying for some of these aids. However, I cannot appeal to the Registrar??s Office for a refund unless I am approved for a late drop.

The dean also referred me to the Academic Consideration policy. It is my understanding though that if a student is already registered with QSAS, the Academic Consideration protocol is not applicable. I did meet with my QSAS advisor in the fall term to discuss changes to my accommodations (as a consequence of my health circumstances). Unfortunately, given the busyness of the office, this appointment did not occur until December 2nd. (E-mail documentation of this is provided.)

I have also provided additional medical documentation from Dr. Lee to support this appeal.

In the dean??s decision, it was stated that exceptions to the Academic Regulations could only occur under extenuating circumstances, which ??normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control and debilitating to your overall academic
performance?.

My circumstances during the fall term DO constitute extenuating circumstances.

Earlier in 2021, I was hospitalized and had to stay in the Intensive Care Unit. I nearly died. In fact, I expected to die from the moment I made the decision to go to the Emergency Department. After discharge from the hospital, my health was still in a precarious state. I had various follow-ups with several medical professionals (including Dr. Lee). It soon became evident that I could not afford the medical equipment, medication and other aids needed to even approach adequate management of my medical conditions. There were also additional repercussions, as I had to contend with new significant problems during the fall term that were exceedingly difficult to manage.

These medical issues were not only debilitating to my overall academic performance; they also significantly compromised and were even more debilitating to my ability to perform the basic activities of daily living. Quite frankly, my academic responsibilities were the least of my concerns. I attended to these matters when I was better able to do so and as my previous appeal letter stated, this occurred in November.

Extensive medical documentation has been provided over the years to the Faculty of Arts and Science office about my difficult, and often unpredictable, physical health challenges. It is extremely redundant to have to continually document how my situation constitutes extenuating circumstances. I would like to quote from my medical documentation in an appeal to the University Student Appeal Board:

??Ms. Hum had also clearly asked to not revisit her circumstances of this past year, and this process of appeal after appeal after appeal is making her do just that. From a mental health perspective, it is understandable how stressful the appeal process is. However, in Ms. Hum??s case, these stresses also have a profoundly negative impact upon her physical health. The appeal process is already difficult enough for someone who is so taxed, appealing that decision is even more so still and now, to have to appeal again, it is a crushing burden. Ms. Hum is someone who is suffering greatly.?

Dr. Stephen McNevin wrote this in November of 2017. I have faced even greater health challenges since then. At this point, my medical conditions are progressive. The extenuating nature of my circumstances can be encapsulated in one question. It is a question that I am still unable to answer.

Which is worse ?? to suddenly collapse and die because I lack the financial resources to even adequately manage my health or to suffer a protracted and more painful death because I lack the financial resources to even adequately manage my health?