Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 8926
Submitted: April 1, 2022 at 4:48:00 PM
First Name: Sam
Last Name: Czerkawski
Student Number: 20124695
Email: sczerkawski29@gmail.com
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: ECON
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: PHIL 236
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this appeal letter to request to drop a course after the deadline to do so. This semester has been an extraordinary challenge to both my physical and mental health, and as a result I am doing poorly in many of my classes, but one in particular I am worried I may fail.
At the end of last year (November/ December 2021) my father was diagnosed with bladder cancer and through the holiday season and beginning of the year he has been undergoing treatment. This has put a huge amount of stress on both me and my family and has exacerbated underlying anxiety issues I have had even before his diagnosis. In addition to this I fell ill with COVID-19 earlier this year (January 2022) and I was barely able to get out of bed for around a week. As a result of both of this my mental and physical health have struggled and it has been difficult to keep up with my work this semester. I have been pushing through and foolishly I didn??t ask for any extensions because of misplaced pride or naivety, I??m not sure. I have slowly been able to catch up in a few of my classes, but with this class I am requesting to drop (PHIL 236), it has been more difficult to keep up with the many readings and the large philosophical essay we were required to write. As a result, I believe if I stay in this class, I may fail which would be a huge stain on my GPA. I understand that I have a responsibility as a student to keep organized in my classes and on top of things, especially while school was online, but as a result of what I had keeping my mental attention school took somewhat of a back seat. I also acknowledge that I should have dropped this class before the deadline and I would have been able to save myself this whole hassle, but I really believed I would be able to recover this, and I was determined to not have to drop the class. Unfortunately, in recent weeks I have come to terms with the fact that I cannot recover this mark. I am doing better now with my mental health and have implemented strategies from my doctor to deal with stress and it would be a huge stress relief if I am able to drop this class and not have to worry about it anymore.
Thank You,
Sam Czerkawski
I am writing this appeal letter to request to drop a course after the deadline to do so. This semester has been an extraordinary challenge to both my physical and mental health, and as a result I am doing poorly in many of my classes, but one in particular I am worried I may fail.
At the end of last year (November/ December 2021) my father was diagnosed with bladder cancer and through the holiday season and beginning of the year he has been undergoing treatment. This has put a huge amount of stress on both me and my family and has exacerbated underlying anxiety issues I have had even before his diagnosis. In addition to this I fell ill with COVID-19 earlier this year (January 2022) and I was barely able to get out of bed for around a week. As a result of both of this my mental and physical health have struggled and it has been difficult to keep up with my work this semester. I have been pushing through and foolishly I didn??t ask for any extensions because of misplaced pride or naivety, I??m not sure. I have slowly been able to catch up in a few of my classes, but with this class I am requesting to drop (PHIL 236), it has been more difficult to keep up with the many readings and the large philosophical essay we were required to write. As a result, I believe if I stay in this class, I may fail which would be a huge stain on my GPA. I understand that I have a responsibility as a student to keep organized in my classes and on top of things, especially while school was online, but as a result of what I had keeping my mental attention school took somewhat of a back seat. I also acknowledge that I should have dropped this class before the deadline and I would have been able to save myself this whole hassle, but I really believed I would be able to recover this, and I was determined to not have to drop the class. Unfortunately, in recent weeks I have come to terms with the fact that I cannot recover this mark. I am doing better now with my mental health and have implemented strategies from my doctor to deal with stress and it would be a huge stress relief if I am able to drop this class and not have to worry about it anymore.
Thank You,
Sam Czerkawski
Documentation
Professional Letter: 20124695.pdf
Decision Letters
Level 1 Status
Status: DeniedLevel 2
Appeal Type: Level 2
ID: 70
Submitted: June 10, 2022 at 6:23:37 PM
Relevant Petition: 8926
Decision(s) Being Appealed: Drop a course after the academic deadline: PHIL 236, Winter 2022
Appeal Letter
Appeal Letter: Dear Board of Studies,
I am appealing the decision by the Associate Dean to deny my request to drop the course PHIL 236 (Winter 2022) after the academic deadline. I understand that you will see my original appeal so I will not go through it again in depth but rather I will discuss why I believe the decision to deny this request was erroneously made by the Associate Dean.
The Associate Dean's reasoning for the denial of my request stemmed from her belief that: the documentation that you provided indicates that your extenuating circumstances began well before the deadline to drop this course and do not suggest that it would have impacted your ability to drop this course in SOLUS before the March 4th deadline. While it is true that the extenuating circumstances began before the deadline to drop the course, the assertion that it did not affect my ability to drop the course is incorrect.
The original appeal and supporting documentation provide evidence that I have a chronic anxiety disorder which has been medically diagnosed. Managing this disorder has been a constant struggle throughout my life and there are rare occasions in which it becomes entirely overwhelming. This is what occurred this past semester. When I am afflicted by such crippling anxiety, it often becomes difficult to respond as I normally would to certain issues. Normally if I was struggling with a class before the deadline to drop it, I would do the sensible thing and drop it. When I was experiencing this anxiety, it hampered my ability to logically think about my options with regard to dropping the course and indeed my schoolwork took a back seat to the constant daily struggle of dealing with my anxiety. To drop this class instead of just persevering through it would be like the end of the world to my anxiety filled head so I did not even consider this option until it was too late.
Hopefully this further explanation of what I was experiencing can provide some nuance to my situation and counter the assertion by the Associate Dean that my ability to drop the course was not affected. Not only was this conclusion incorrect but it lacks an appreciation and understanding of the workings of mental health conditions. It is discriminatory to not consider my very real and serious health condition in denying my request to drop this course without penalty.
Thank you for your time in considering my appeal request,
Sam Czerkawski
I am appealing the decision by the Associate Dean to deny my request to drop the course PHIL 236 (Winter 2022) after the academic deadline. I understand that you will see my original appeal so I will not go through it again in depth but rather I will discuss why I believe the decision to deny this request was erroneously made by the Associate Dean.
The Associate Dean's reasoning for the denial of my request stemmed from her belief that: the documentation that you provided indicates that your extenuating circumstances began well before the deadline to drop this course and do not suggest that it would have impacted your ability to drop this course in SOLUS before the March 4th deadline. While it is true that the extenuating circumstances began before the deadline to drop the course, the assertion that it did not affect my ability to drop the course is incorrect.
The original appeal and supporting documentation provide evidence that I have a chronic anxiety disorder which has been medically diagnosed. Managing this disorder has been a constant struggle throughout my life and there are rare occasions in which it becomes entirely overwhelming. This is what occurred this past semester. When I am afflicted by such crippling anxiety, it often becomes difficult to respond as I normally would to certain issues. Normally if I was struggling with a class before the deadline to drop it, I would do the sensible thing and drop it. When I was experiencing this anxiety, it hampered my ability to logically think about my options with regard to dropping the course and indeed my schoolwork took a back seat to the constant daily struggle of dealing with my anxiety. To drop this class instead of just persevering through it would be like the end of the world to my anxiety filled head so I did not even consider this option until it was too late.
Hopefully this further explanation of what I was experiencing can provide some nuance to my situation and counter the assertion by the Associate Dean that my ability to drop the course was not affected. Not only was this conclusion incorrect but it lacks an appreciation and understanding of the workings of mental health conditions. It is discriminatory to not consider my very real and serious health condition in denying my request to drop this course without penalty.
Thank you for your time in considering my appeal request,
Sam Czerkawski
Documentation
Decision Letters
History
Originally submitted April 1, 2022 at 4:48:00 PM.
| Field | Reference | Old Value | New Value | Note | User | Date/Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| status | N/A | Received | Incomplete | Kerri Andrews | 2022-04-01 5:34:26 PM | |
| status | N/A | Incomplete | In Review | Kerri Andrews | 2022-05-13 1:27:08 PM | |
| status | N/A | In Review | Denied | Kerri Andrews | 2022-05-24 9:52:18 AM | |
| associate_dean | N/A | Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D. | Kerri Andrews | 2022-05-24 9:52:18 AM | ||
| decision_letter | N/A | N/A | Decision letter sent | Kerri Andrews | 2022-05-24 9:52:53 AM | |
| new_appeal_level_2 | N/A | Level 2 | Level 2 Appeal ID: 70 | 18STC | 2022-06-10 6:23:37 PM | |
| status | N/A | Received | Denied | Pamela Briand | 2022-07-15 6:23:47 PM | |
| decision_letter | N/A | N/A | Decision letter sent | Pamela Briand | 2022-07-15 6:25:20 PM |