Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Stephenson,

I hope you are doing well and that your summer has been lovely. My name is Bronwyn Gould, and I am a fourth-year political science student pursuing an economics minor (Student Number 20223618). I am petitioning to have my ECON 212 (Fall 2023) and STAT 263 (Winter 2024) marks credited to my transcript.

First, I would like to address my extenuating circumstances regarding ECON 212 and why I believe it should be credited. Throughout the fall semester, I worked extremely hard to maintain a good mark in the course (like I typically have done in my past courses, especially in the past two years). However, with a heavier course load in the fall semester, towards the end of the semester I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with my courses and manage my stress levels. I am a very conscientious and hard-working student. I did my very best to prepare and study for this final. In the days before the ECON 212 final exam, I had sought mental health counselling from one of the advisors at Student Health Services at Queens to help manage my stress, as I was experiencing daily panic attacks throughout the exam period and was having trouble coping with my stress and anxiety levels, and was having trouble sleeping. Unfortunately, the advice I was given was not very helpful; when I took the final exam, I left after 40 minutes due to a severe panic attack that I began to experience during the test, which led me only to be able to answer one question on the exam as I could barely write. These panic attacks were something I had not experienced in a while, and as I had never experienced one during an exam, I did not know that I needed to notify the proctor that I was leaving and why. After I left the exam and calmed down, I emailed my teacher to explain, but he informed me that I could not re-write the exam as I had sat down and begun it on the day of the final and left the room without notifying the proctor. After this incident, I began speaking with a psychotherapist (Susan Moore), whom I have been seeing on a weekly basis since then. Through talking to her and my doctor, as well as taking various assessments, I was diagnosed with anxiety and ADD. A note from Susan Moore is attached. Since then, I have also been in contact with Academic Advising at Queens regarding accommodation and this petition. My ECON 212 mark is not one that I would have received if I had adequately written the exam and demonstrated my knowledge to the best of my ability, as I had a much higher mark going into the exam and throughout the course.

Now, I would like to move on to my petition regarding STAT 263. Going into the final exam (which weighed 60 percent of the final grade), I maintained an A in this course. I regularly kept up with course content and lectures and did well on the weekly quizzes and mid-term exams. However, I did not have enough time to process and work through the material in the final exam, due to my disability. As a result of my recent diagnosis of ADD and anxiety, I have been working on getting my accommodations in place at the University, which Queens Academic Accommodations have recently confirmed, but unfortunately, I did not have them in place when writing the STAT 263 exam in April. In terms of the exam, this again is an example of how my mental health and disability have impeded my ability to properly demonstrate my knowledge and critical thinking. I simply needed more time on the exam to process the information, stay focused and manage my stress while writing. During the mid-term exam, which was an online and open book test, I did well because I had the ability to not simply rely on my memory, which I have noticed especially takes me longer to process in math and calculations. Not having accommodations on this final significantly impacted my ability and results as I was only able to answer about half of the questions on the exam, and I was unable to properly process the information at the speed I needed to complete it. If I had more time to write this exam, as per my current accommodations, I would have done well as I studied hard, was well prepared and knew the course content and material thoroughly, which I had demonstrated throughout the course up until the final.

Overall, these courses are just two examples of how my anxiety and ADD have impacted my ability to adequately demonstrate my knowledge, critical thinking, and skills in the courses I have taken at Queens. I understand that I have been an A student for the past two years. However, in most of my courses, I have been able to get extensions for assignments or speak to professors when I have been struggling, as they have primarily been essay and assignment-based rather than heavily weighted final exams. Additionally, I have taken penalties in courses where I have struggled to complete things at the appropriate date, which has not largely impacted my grades, as in the end, I do work very hard to ensure that I know the content and maintain an excellent understanding of the material in the courses I have taken. These courses, however, are examples of times when I could not manage as well.

As of May 2024, I have implemented my accommodations, which have been approved. I recently completed a summer course where I had my accommodations in place, which greatly benefited me during the exam. This is an example of how I can perform to the same level as high achieving peers, when my disability has been accounted for. Thus, extra time on assignments and exams will significantly help manage my stress and reduce the likelihood of another panic attack or inability to complete an exam. In addition, I am still speaking with my psychotherapist and doctor regarding my condition and the proper medication to aid my study and ability to concentrate on exams and in general. Overall, I am a good and diligent student, and the ECON 212 and STAT 263 marks do not accurately represent the work I have put into these courses nor my overall ability to succeed academically at Queens more broadly.

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like any further information. Thank you for your consideration.

Yours sincerely, Bronwyn Gould