Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academic) and faculty staff,

I am writing this appeal letter to drop a course - GPHY 345 after the deadline. I enrolled in five courses last semester but only finished three on the scheduled time, but I failed to finish the coursework for GPHY 240 and GPHY 345. The instructor of GPHY 240 has given me an IN grade to let me complete the outstanding coursework in the summer semester. However, the instructor of GPHY 345, Professor Dongmnei Chen, had her research projects that could not do undergraduate teaching in the summer, so she gave me an F grade instead of IN grade.

This appeal is because I faced a personal extenuating psychological circumstance last semester. In November 2021, I was diagnosed with three personality disorders - Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and histrionic personality disorder with moderate monic depressive psychosis in Tianjin Hospital in China. The doctor there suggested I sought psychological therapy when I went back to Canada in late December 2021. After I returned to Canada in early January, the Omicron struck Canada. Courses and meetings had been virtual again, so I made an appointment with a psychological therapist for early March. However, the therapist was not shown. I faced deteriorating psychological extenuating problems from January to February this year, primarily because of the failure to communicate effectively with my family.

I have quarrels with my parents daily, making me feel very suffering and unable. My parents haven??t gone to university before and haven??t been to Canada either; they do not know the cost of living and my daily life. As an international student, my international tuition fee and cost of living are relatively high compared to local Canadian students or China local students. They were facing high economic stress for my living expenses and tuition fees, which impacted my daily life and emotional situation. My parents have also been quarantined for a long time; due to the COVID policy implemented by China, they faced a nearly 200-day quarantine in China, and they also had some psychological problems. They work for China government; my father works at the border, and my mother works as a civil servant, both of them cannot move freely and work over 11 hours each day. The economy of China is dropping, and the market is weak; it is hard for them to make money by selling property. Sometimes they blame me and let me return to China; I do not know how to cope with this situation. This kind of quarrel and blame, combined with lock-down and virtual courses in January and February, deteriorated my monic psychosis and personality disorder. I suffered from these psychological problems and felt pain, which made me unable to concentrate on large lab assignments. So, I only finish three courses in the Winter semester with academic accommodation from QSAS. Last year, I was placed on Dean??s honours list, and the extenuating circumstance broadly impacted my academic performance. Now, I would like to appeal to drop the course GPHY 345, which has three large lab assignments I could not do in the last semester.

As a member of the Appointments Committee and academic coordinator in the Department Student Council in the Department of Geography and Planning, Dr. Dongmei Chen and some faculty knew I was struggling with this. Therefore, I am taking two Queen??s summer courses on campus and also taking the GPHY 240 outstanding coursework to catch up on my academic progress. Besides, I have finished the other three studies with transfer credits from another university.
Meanwhile, I am getting regular psychological therapies from Queen??s Student Wellness Service and trying to achieve relatively peaceful communication with my family. The GPHY 345 is a core course for my Geographic Information Science Certificate program, so it is crucial for me; I intend to drop it and retake it in my fourth year to achieve a better grade. As the Deputy Academic Commissioner (Supports and Deputy) at ASUS, I am responsible for Arts&Sci Appeal Resource Center, and I promise the information I shared is correct and accurate. I have also attached the academic appeal documentation from Student Wellness Service for reference.
Thank you for your help and understanding.

Sincerely,
Tianshu Yin