Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean (Studies),

My name is Madeline Zarb and I am going into my second year at Queen¿¿s. I am appealing to late drop PHGY 170 (Winter, 2018). Due to extenuating circumstances, I received a failing grade in the course and feel this is not representative of my true ability.
Shortly after the beginning of the winter semester, I began experiencing mental health issues such as severe depression, anxiety, and insomnia. As a result, I started to fall behind in my classes, unable to attend lectures and struggling to keep up with my coursework. In an attempt to aid this I visited my doctor in February and received a prescription for an antidepressant. Unfortunately, the prescription was not a good fit for me and for the first month of being on it I experienced an increase in my symptoms along with worsening physical symptoms. This made it difficult for me to even get out of bed for a long period of time due to constant feelings of nausea and exhaustion as well as worsening anxiety and depression. Although I attempted to complete the online modules and assignments for PHGY 170, I found it nearly impossible to focus on any work and ended up extremely behind in the course. During this time, I also missed an assignment worth 20 of my mark as a result of my circumstances. At the end of March I visited my doctor again and explained the complications with my prescription and its worsening effect of my mental health and sleep. She prescribed me two new medications instead in an attempt to resolve these issues. She did inform me that it would take a couple weeks to adjust to the medications and I may still feel an increase in symptoms during that time. Unfortunately, my final examination for PHGY 170 took place in this time period and at the time that I wrote my exam I feel I was not in a adequate mindset or in healthy condition to perform well. Consequently, I performed very poorly on the exam despite my best efforts to understand the material I had missed. Following this, I submitted a medical form to the Academic Accommodation Counsellor for academic consideration, (case 2486) and was informed that my documentation was verified and to contact my professor. Upon contacting Dr. Pruss and Dr. Ward, they agreed that appealing for a late drop was the best course of action. Therefore, I feel due to these extenuating circumstances, I was unable to complete the course to my true ability and would like a chance to have the failing grade removed from my transcript.
If my appeal for a late drop of PHGY 170 is granted, I will retake the course over the next summer term so that I have a chance to focus solely on the one course. In the time that I have been on my new medication I have seen great improvements in my mental health and my insomnia. I plan on continuing with this medication when I return to school in September, as well as incorporating meetings with a personal counselor to deal with the added stress of school. I feel that if I am able to late drop this course and retake it with my improved condition and mindset, I will be able to achieve a grade representative of my ability and continue with my degree plan successfully.

Thank you for your consideration,
Madeline Zarb