Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean,

My name is Darby Clarke and I am a 3rd year History major and Psychology minor. I am writing this letter to appeal dropping the course HIST 436: Canadian Legal History for the 2015 Winter Term. I am unable to complete this course as planned as I have suffered from a concussion while playing intramural hockey on March 2, 2015. This being my 4th concussion, the symptoms are more intense and lasting longer than expected, making it very difficult to complete work.

I went to the doctor on the 2nd of March and was told I should not preform academically for 2 weeks and to return if my symptoms had not subsided. I had believed my symptoms were gone but they came back, seemingly worse, and I again visited the doctor on the 20th of March. The symptoms of my concussion include nausea, constant headaches, spotty and blurry vision, trouble focusing as well as poor short-term memory. These symptoms only become intensified when I attempt to do work. I am unable to look at my computer or focus on readings without having painful headaches and blurred vision. The symptoms stared immediately after I was hit (March 2nd) and are still continuing today (March 22). The doctor has referred me to concussion specialist and given me a six-phase program, which I have attached, to follow that is based of returning to playing sports; we have applied it to returning to academic work. I am supposed to be cognitively resting until my symptoms subside, leaving me unable to do any coursework without risk of prolonging the injury. This has affected my ability to not only do assignments, but also the readings for my seminars, which are important to complete in order to discuss in class and receive participation marks. As a result of this injury my schoolwork has all been pushed back, leaving me with 6 essays due in a two-day period between April 1st and 3rd. With my symptoms still present and no real indication of when they might subside this seems an impossible task to complete. After speaking with an academic advisor and my professor, and going over my course load we concluded it would be best for me to drop HIST 436 in order to alleviate some work and certainly stress. I have done the least amount of assignments, and thus the lowest percentage of this course thus far due to all the extensions and therefore it seems most logical that it be the best course to drop. This will not only relieve stress and allow me to rest, but it will also give me time to focus on the rest of my courses, which will lead to a better reflection of my academic ability. It will also give me time in between the deadlines for other essays and my exams for much needed rest. This is a better option than doing poorly in all of my courses because I cannot preform to my full ability and complete everything on time.

If my appeal is granted I will first focus on monitoring my symptoms and resting. Hopefully I will be able to see a concussion specialist within this time as well and receive further instruction. I will also be working with my other profs to talk about potentially receiving Incompletes in my courses if I am unable to make the deadlines, however I feel that dropping this course will make the other courses much more manageable and that it will alleviate stress, which will help my recovery. I have enrolled in a summer course which will make up for this missed credit if need be and I believe that through dropping this course, I will be able to preform academically by the beginning of the summer course. In the event that my concussion symptoms prevent me from doing my summer course, I am willing to take more courses next semester or additional summer courses.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter,

Darby Clarke