Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am writing today to request a Late Course Drop for WELL100 for the Fall Term.
While I take full ownership of my poor overall performance in my courses this term, the basis of this appeal is grounded in medical and accessibility-related circumstances that significantly affected my academic functioning and also directly contributed to my failure to meet the course drop deadline.

Throughout the academic year, my diagnosed ADHD was not adequately managed. While I was registered with accessibility support and grateful for the accommodations I received, I was enrolled in a full course load and was still in the process of determining an effective medication protocol. As a result, I experienced lots of difficulties with executive functioning, including time management and administrative deadlines. These challenges greatly impacted my ability to track and respond to key academic dates, including the final deadline to drop a course. I feel like this semester will be much better as I reduce my course load, take my proper medication, and continue to use the supports that are made available to me.

To add to this difficulty, I became acutely ill with COVID-19 during the final week of classes and throughout the examination period. I was so sick that my Don contacted the Queens EMT who treated me for what they thought was a severe allergic reaction. My official diagnosis of Covid was made the next day December 7. I was feeling very unwell for about a week before this. This illness significantly impaired my physical and cognitive capacity during a critical academic period and directly contributed to my missing the course drop deadline as well as poor performance on my actual exams. I have included medical documentation to support this illness.
As a result of these combined circumstances, I received an F grade in the course. I am very disappointed in my shortfalls that lead to this result but also I believe my shortfalls were made much worse by the impact of unmanaged disability-related barriers and the medical event occurring at a decisive moment in the term. Having the F on the transcript will put my future at Queens at risk and I know I can improve greatly and be successful at this school. For these reasons, I respectfully request that the Committee approve a Late Course Drop for WELL100.

I am grateful to have the support of Dr. Tim Salomons, the course instructor, as well as the Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) office, both of whom are aware of my circumstances and support this appeal.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration of my appeal. I sincerely appreciate your understanding and support.
Yours sincerely,


Ella Nicholson SN 20515993