Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I would like to petition for AG standing in my NSCI323 and GLPH271 courses due to extenuating circumstances I experienced throughout the semester. During the completion of these courses I was experiencing an exacerbation of my disabilities that strongly impaired my ability to complete daily tasks and multiple activities simultaneously.

At the beginning of the semester my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and mid-semester a very close family friend passed away whilst awaiting an urgent double-lung transplant; the occurrence of these events and my distance from home during this time led me to an episode in which the severity of my major depressive disorder was significantly increased, leaving me psychologically incapable of completing even simple tasks or leaving my house frequently in any sufficient capacity without having large mood swings and/or panic attacks. As a result of this, I was not attending my NSCI323 lectures in which I would be able to complete the in-lecture participation quizzes nor was I completing the weekly discussion posts and replies for my GLPH271 course. As this episode continued, I entered a very negative cycle in which my depression was preventing me from effectively performing academically, causing me to have very high levels of anxiety as I grew concerned regarding my inability to frequently participate and demonstrate my academic abilities; this furthered my reclusive behaviours and perpetuated the continuation of this cycle.

Although I was unable to complete all of the course work in these classes, in both NSCI323 and GLPH271, I completed all of the major assignments and examinations; through these assessments I strongly feel that I was able to accurately represent my understanding of the course content and associated learning outcomes. Regarding NSCI323, the lecture participation quizzes and two readiness assessment tests I was unable to complete comprise 25% of the overall course grade; I completed the additional 75% of the course, successfully demonstrating my strong comprehension of this course. For GLPH271, the discussion boards (starting week 3) that I was unable to complete account for 12.5% of the course; as with NSCI323, I was able to effectively complete the other 87.5% of the course through larger assignments and examinations in which I demonstrated my understanding and application of the course and learning outcomes.

To my shock and disgust, my previous psychologist was arrested for the possession of child pornography shortly following my last appointment with him. I have contacted my QSAS advisor requesting information to gain contact with a Queen's mental health counsellor that can hopefully aid me in finding a new psychologist to keep on-top of the onset of my disabilities through their wisdom and recommendations. I also feel that being home with my family for the holiday break between the fall 2022 and winter 2023 semesters has and will continue to help me immensely in addressing these changes and issues in my life to allow me to recover and adjust accordingly.