Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My name is Adam Quast, I am a fourth year statistics major graduating in the winter semester of 2024. In the fall of my first year I was enrolled in STAT 263 with Professor Charles Molson as an elective. I did not pass the class and received an F on my transcript. In the Winter of my second year I took STAT 269 as a required course and received a B. I had initially wanted to retake STAT 263 to eliminate the F from my transcript, but I was unable to re-register for the course as those who had completed STAT269 are excluded from registering for STAT263. I was disappointed, but I had assumed there were no other options and accepted that I would graduate with an F on my final transcript. This fall 2023 semester I have been prioritizing my graduation preparation and utilizing many Queens academics supports. When I met with Spring Forsberg, an academic counselor, she let me know that I could apply for this academic appeal as I proved my capabilities by completing STAT 269 with a B as my final grade. She also brought up that my recently diagnosed ADHD and that struggles with mental health that it caused while it went undiagnosed may also be grounds for granting an appeal.

I struggled throughout my first three years at Queens. Staying on task with my work, remaining engaged during lecture and motivating myself to finish assignments to the best of my ability were all very difficult for me despite my efforts to create better study habits and improve my time management. No matter what strategies I used to try and improve my focus and productivity, I was still unable to finish exams on time or finish assignments within the same time range as my peers. In the winter semester of my third year (January 2023) I reached out for help to get through mental health struggles I was facing. In May of 2023, after finishing my third year, I was diagnosed with ADHD. The support from the Queens Wellness Centre as well as external supports helped me to understand why I was unable to reach my full academic potential and perform to the best of my ability in my classes. Undiagnosed ADHD was the root of many of my mental health issues through my first year at Queens. Problems which were amplified in my first year (2020-2021 school year) due to it being online the whole year. This made the transition to University much harder, causing a multitude of struggles for me. Online school alongside my undiagnosed ADHD made it very hard to develop good study habits and stay engaged in the lectures.

I am requesting to waive the one year deadline because I was not diagnosed with ADHD until May 2023 which was after the petition deadline, furthermore I was not aware of the services and support available to seek aid with problems like this. I learned that academic petitions and appeals were an option after talking to an academic counselor about graduation requirements in my fourth year fall semester (November 2023). Due to my success in the more difficult STAT269, paired with my recently diagnosed ADHD, I believe the failure of STAT 263 should be dropped from my transcript.

This is a matter I feel very strongly about so if there are any questions or doubts about my situation, please feel free to contact me and I would also be happy to talk about my situation in person if necessary.

Thank you for your time and consideration.