Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 9291
Submitted: June 13, 2022 at 8:21:09 PM
First Name: Amy
Last Name: Owen
Student Number: 20196872
Email: 19aeo3@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BA
Plan: HIST
Level of Study: 2
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Waive the requirement to withdraw for one year
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: To Associate Dean Jean Stephenson
I am writing to appeal the Faculty??s decision that I must withdraw from Queen??s for a minimum of one year. I believe there is a compelling extenuating circumstance that proves why I was unable to raise my GPA to the required minimum to continue my studies.
I have two medical conditions that were and are ongoing. I am a Type 1 Diabetic and I have been dealing with ongoing shoulder and nerve issues for the better part of five years. I have been seeing a physiotherapist weekly for the past 5 years to get treatment for the shoulder issue to stop it from getting worse.
In January of 2022 it began to rapidly go downhill faster than my physiotherapy treatments could help with. In June of 2021 I had met with a surgeon to look at the possibility of surgery to help with the issue because other treatments I had tried were not helping. In February of 2022 I got an MRI I had been waiting on since June of 202, after this MRI I had a follow up with the surgeon that the way to go forward was with surgery. I got a call in mid May of 2022 that my surgery would be May 31 2022. I was then in the hospital until June 4 due to some complications.
Before the surgery my condition was quite bad. There were many days that I had to miss work and school activities because I could barely move because of the pain. I had to seek medication from my doctor because over the counter pills did not help anymore. My condition also made it hard for me to focus or sit for long periods of time. Doing school work was hard as I could not sit for long periods of time without pain. It also caused me to lose a lot of sleep as rolling over onto the painful side would wake me up and send me into a pain episode.
I was taking 4 classes in the Winter term of 2022. I passed two of these classes. I tried to work on all of them but towards the end I focused on trying to do the assignments that were a bit easier for me. I thought I was going to be able to raise my GPA enough but was not fully successful. I did end up raising my GPA but not to the full requirement. I did not want to drop the classes before the dates because I thought at the time I could pass them.
I made the choice to take summer classes to raise my GPA to the needed requirement. I took a lighter class load due to the possibility of having surgery during the summer. When I got my date I reached out to my teachers to inform them and get extensions. Going forward I will be taking light class loads as I continue my recovery with multiple weekly sessions of physiotherapy. I have also taken a leave of absence from work until July 20 so I can focus on both school and recovering.
Should I be successful in this appeal I will also reach out to my accommodations worker to see if there is anything that can be added or needs to change depending on how my recovery is going. I will also be using extensions when needed with my teachers as I know the resources are there to help me. My doctor said that going forward I should no longer have major pain episodes that I did before and I am finding sitting in a chair for more than 30 minutes possible whereas it was hard before the surgery.
Thank you for taking the time to look over my appeal.
Amy Owen
I am writing to appeal the Faculty??s decision that I must withdraw from Queen??s for a minimum of one year. I believe there is a compelling extenuating circumstance that proves why I was unable to raise my GPA to the required minimum to continue my studies.
I have two medical conditions that were and are ongoing. I am a Type 1 Diabetic and I have been dealing with ongoing shoulder and nerve issues for the better part of five years. I have been seeing a physiotherapist weekly for the past 5 years to get treatment for the shoulder issue to stop it from getting worse.
In January of 2022 it began to rapidly go downhill faster than my physiotherapy treatments could help with. In June of 2021 I had met with a surgeon to look at the possibility of surgery to help with the issue because other treatments I had tried were not helping. In February of 2022 I got an MRI I had been waiting on since June of 202, after this MRI I had a follow up with the surgeon that the way to go forward was with surgery. I got a call in mid May of 2022 that my surgery would be May 31 2022. I was then in the hospital until June 4 due to some complications.
Before the surgery my condition was quite bad. There were many days that I had to miss work and school activities because I could barely move because of the pain. I had to seek medication from my doctor because over the counter pills did not help anymore. My condition also made it hard for me to focus or sit for long periods of time. Doing school work was hard as I could not sit for long periods of time without pain. It also caused me to lose a lot of sleep as rolling over onto the painful side would wake me up and send me into a pain episode.
I was taking 4 classes in the Winter term of 2022. I passed two of these classes. I tried to work on all of them but towards the end I focused on trying to do the assignments that were a bit easier for me. I thought I was going to be able to raise my GPA enough but was not fully successful. I did end up raising my GPA but not to the full requirement. I did not want to drop the classes before the dates because I thought at the time I could pass them.
I made the choice to take summer classes to raise my GPA to the needed requirement. I took a lighter class load due to the possibility of having surgery during the summer. When I got my date I reached out to my teachers to inform them and get extensions. Going forward I will be taking light class loads as I continue my recovery with multiple weekly sessions of physiotherapy. I have also taken a leave of absence from work until July 20 so I can focus on both school and recovering.
Should I be successful in this appeal I will also reach out to my accommodations worker to see if there is anything that can be added or needs to change depending on how my recovery is going. I will also be using extensions when needed with my teachers as I know the resources are there to help me. My doctor said that going forward I should no longer have major pain episodes that I did before and I am finding sitting in a chair for more than 30 minutes possible whereas it was hard before the surgery.
Thank you for taking the time to look over my appeal.
Amy Owen
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: Amy Owen: Academic Plan for Bachelor of History Online
Required classes:
HIST 124 (6.0 units): Canada In The World
HIST 125 (6.0 units): The Evolution of Modern Europe Passed
18.0 Credits to choose between classes:
HIST 124 (6.0 units): Canada In The World Want to Take
HIST 125 (6.0 units): The Evolution of Modern Europe
HIST 200 (3.0 units): India and the World Taking
HIST 207 (3.0 units): Global Indigenous Histories
HIST 211 (3.0 units): The Cold War Passed
HIST 214 (3.0 units): Food in Global History
HIST 252 (3.0 units): Africa in the Modern World Passed
HIST 260 (6.0 units): Canada from the Conquest to the Present
HIST 270 (3.0 units): Contemporary China Wants to take
HIST 282 (3.0 units): Gender in North American History, 1000 to 1880 Passed
HIST 283 (3.0 units): Gender in North American History, 1880 to 2000 Want to take
9.0 units of 18.0 taken
60.0 units in other classes
23.0 credits passed.
Currently, I can take 6.0 units to be a full-time student due to being qualified as a disabled student through the school and with OSAP. In past semesters I was taking between 9-12 credits and working a part-time job with around 25 hours a week.
Area of Concern
Academic Habits and work Habits/personal circumstances.
Going forward I have two plans of action:
Academic skills and work habits.
I will be taking a smaller course load of between 6-9 units or 2-3 classes. This will allow me more time to complete assignments and understand the class work. It will also mean that if a health issue does pop up, any work I need to catch up on will be less than before. I will also use my accommodations as needed rather than trying to be a normal student. The accommodations are there to help me pass and I have been foolish not to use them.
I have also created an office in the spare room of the house so I have a quiet place to do my school work without being distracted. My work abilities will also change so that I am no longer available all week but I can't work Monday, Wednesday or Friday. This means that those days can be used for school work only. I am trying to create a set schedule during the week so I know constantly that these days I do school work.
I am also going to go back and look at what support the resource office can offer to help me pass.
Personal Circumstances.
I have gotten surgery to fix the most pressing health issue that was affecting my school work the most. As I work through my recovery I will create healthy habits to help deal with prolonged sitting or desk work issues. My health issues also mean I will reach out to my professors ahead of time if possible to try and explain what is going on if I am going to be late on an assignment.
As I am submitting this with an academic appeal I have taken the largest step with my issue and got the surgery that is already shown some improvement and is looking at providing more with the appointments I have set up for the next few weeks with a healthcare professional. I have also used my accommodations already with my surgery in communicating with my professors about class work and extensions. I have also let my accommodation worker know and will be booking an appointment with her later in my recovery.
Required classes:
HIST 124 (6.0 units): Canada In The World
HIST 125 (6.0 units): The Evolution of Modern Europe Passed
18.0 Credits to choose between classes:
HIST 124 (6.0 units): Canada In The World Want to Take
HIST 125 (6.0 units): The Evolution of Modern Europe
HIST 200 (3.0 units): India and the World Taking
HIST 207 (3.0 units): Global Indigenous Histories
HIST 211 (3.0 units): The Cold War Passed
HIST 214 (3.0 units): Food in Global History
HIST 252 (3.0 units): Africa in the Modern World Passed
HIST 260 (6.0 units): Canada from the Conquest to the Present
HIST 270 (3.0 units): Contemporary China Wants to take
HIST 282 (3.0 units): Gender in North American History, 1000 to 1880 Passed
HIST 283 (3.0 units): Gender in North American History, 1880 to 2000 Want to take
9.0 units of 18.0 taken
60.0 units in other classes
23.0 credits passed.
Currently, I can take 6.0 units to be a full-time student due to being qualified as a disabled student through the school and with OSAP. In past semesters I was taking between 9-12 credits and working a part-time job with around 25 hours a week.
Area of Concern
Academic Habits and work Habits/personal circumstances.
Going forward I have two plans of action:
Academic skills and work habits.
I will be taking a smaller course load of between 6-9 units or 2-3 classes. This will allow me more time to complete assignments and understand the class work. It will also mean that if a health issue does pop up, any work I need to catch up on will be less than before. I will also use my accommodations as needed rather than trying to be a normal student. The accommodations are there to help me pass and I have been foolish not to use them.
I have also created an office in the spare room of the house so I have a quiet place to do my school work without being distracted. My work abilities will also change so that I am no longer available all week but I can't work Monday, Wednesday or Friday. This means that those days can be used for school work only. I am trying to create a set schedule during the week so I know constantly that these days I do school work.
I am also going to go back and look at what support the resource office can offer to help me pass.
Personal Circumstances.
I have gotten surgery to fix the most pressing health issue that was affecting my school work the most. As I work through my recovery I will create healthy habits to help deal with prolonged sitting or desk work issues. My health issues also mean I will reach out to my professors ahead of time if possible to try and explain what is going on if I am going to be late on an assignment.
As I am submitting this with an academic appeal I have taken the largest step with my issue and got the surgery that is already shown some improvement and is looking at providing more with the appointments I have set up for the next few weeks with a healthcare professional. I have also used my accommodations already with my surgery in communicating with my professors about class work and extensions. I have also let my accommodation worker know and will be booking an appointment with her later in my recovery.
Documentation
Professional Letter: Letter-15.pdf
Document: Off Campus Note.pdf
Document: Detailed Issue.pdf
Document: Hospital paperwork.pdf