Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern, I am a fourth-year arts and science student majoring in physics. Due to extenuating circumstances, I would like to make an appeal to mark the following courses attended in the winter term of 2022 as dropped ‘DR’, after the deadline for academic penalty.

• PHYS 317 - Methods in mathematical physics II (3.0)
• PHYS 345 - Quantum physics of atoms (3.0)
• PHYS 372 - Thermodynamics (3.0)

I would also like to request aegrotat standing for the following class:
• PHYS 350 - General laboratory (6.0)

Reasoning – 3.0 Unit courses
Near the start of the winter academic term in 2022, I began to suffer from a severe mental health breakdown that affected all areas in my life, including the courses I had enrolled in. The personal conditions I had lapsed into made the completion of my courses unrealistic to say the least. I had resolved to push through regardless, dropping a physics elective from my full course load to lessen the strain. I strived to, at the very least, achieve a passing grade for the remaining courses I was enrolled in at the time. My condition however only worsened over the coming weeks, and after the deadline for dropping courses without academic penalty had passed, it was clear I could not achieve a passing grade, let alone perform as to my usual proficiency in prior terms. I have since retaken each 3.0-unit course and achieved good standing marks for them.

Reasoning – 6.0 Unit course
The laboratory (PHYS 350) course, unlike the others in the winter term, was a full year program. During the first fall term I successfully completed the required material, achieved well above passing grades. I was involved off and on in the winter term until I was no longer able. Considering that I completed 52% of the required assignments and tasks and achieved nearly a passing grade in the course overall at 48.99/100, I feel it would be unwarranted to repeat the full year class entirely. I would request an aegrotat standing in the course. I have since been in contact with Professor Giroux and he has agreed to support my aegrotat standing, he has accepted an outstanding essay worth piece of course work which was done individually during the course and accounts for 15% of the course marks in total.
The completion of this material would account for 67% of the course material completed, meeting the aegrotat threshold of 60%.

Extenuating circumstances and current developments

In the months of the 2022 winter term I began finding it intensely difficult to continue with any class assignments or even attend lectures; I started to focus my energy on group projects in two of my courses, foregoing individual assignments out of a sense of obligation to my groupmates and friends. I tried to contribute in any way I could but soon enough even this became too demanding, as did all extracurricular and personal endeavors I was participating in at the time. It was a difficult and dark time where suffice it to say, academic concerns were the least of my worries.
With the help of family and psychotherapy I was able to gradually recover and was later diagnosed with dysthymia, also known as persistent depressive disorder. A condition which I continued to grapple with long after its inception, which is partially the cause of the delay in my appeal. I was also diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), something I had never suspected of or sought out consideration for in my past years at Queen’s or since discovering it. I believe it’s highly evident these conditions are the primary reason for the drop in performance I experienced. My transcript for instance highlights the contrast between my performance in the 2022 winter term, and the terms immediately proceeding it.
As of now, I have worked with professionals to receive medications which I take for both disorders and have drastically improved my mental state in the hopes of continuing with my education. I have successfully completed a full semester as well as a summer term of two courses and am returning for my final year in physics. I hope this paints a picture for my circumstances and the lengths I have gone to improve them.

The reason this appeal was submitted past the one year deadline of April 2023 was that reacclimating to academic work took much of my time and focus. After returning to school I had began explaining the circumstances to my PHYS 350 Professor Guillaume Giroux, it took some time to work out a solution for me to submit some outstanding work and more time for me to complete it and for him to grade it. Professor Giroux had finished grading the work and agreed to support my appeal at the end of August 2023, I spent some time gathering my documentation and obtaining relevant letters from professionals amidst starting the new term. Since I was completely debilitated throughout the Fall term of 2022 and was working on my appeal and returning to classes while seeking help for my condition through the Winter and Summer terms of this year, I was unable to submit this appeal before now. I hope this testimony and my documentation demonstrates my circumstances completely, I would be happy to clarify any details in person and can be reached via my email.

Thank you for your consideration.