Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear: Associate Dean (Academic)

I am appealing to have KNPE 251 (Introduction to Statistics: Fall 2020) counted as a credit standing (CR) instead of the letter grade that I received. This year has been uniquely difficult for everyone with COVID, but as a student living with learning disabilities, this year was particularly hard. I have been provided with the necessary academic accommodations for my diagnosed learning disorders since I started at Queens. However, with this course, in particular, the extra help that I need in order to succeed was very difficult to find. Limited help was available; with very few help sessions that filled up quite quickly, I was unable to get the guidance I needed, and that would have been provided to me in any other academic circumstance.
I knew this could be a potential issue, so I tried to be proactive and attempted to get a tutor but struggled to find one that was available. I also attempted to make separate meeting times with course instructors, but they were not able to support me. This course had a software component to it, and each number had to be properly imputed or the code would not run. Something like this can be extremely difficult for me. Accommodations are integral in my success for tasks like these, as I am awarded extra time which I use to check and re-check my work since it is more difficult for me. Not having this extra time in a course where it was especially needed had a negative impact on my grade. Due to the time constraints that I faced without the extra time usually given, I found myself struggling with imputing numbers and I was not fully thinking clearly. Thankfully I received extra time on the final exam, however by that point, the semester was basically finished and most of the academic damage had been done. Going into the exam with such anxiety and lack of confidence in topics was a feeling I am not used to. Despite my learning disabilities, I am a student who prepares for exams well ahead as I know that I need it, and I did so for this class however with technological troubles from the online exam and the limited support, I did not perform to the best of my ability on the final exam.
I would like to add that recently I have been in the process of being diagnosed and treated for Dyscalculia, which is something that previous teachers had detected in patterns in my schoolwork. While the diagnosis of dyscalculia is new, I felt that it was there since the beginning of high school. Thankfully with help from instructors alongside accommodations, it has never created barriers for me, until this course. In courses such as Chemistry 112 which I am enrolled in now, the instructors are aware of the learning disabilities I face, and they present me with countless opportunities for extra help and I was also able to find a tutor. KNPE251 is the only course that needs to be taken into consideration as in the other classes I was able to work with my instructors to spot and correct my issues and mistakes and understand where I went wrong to improve my mark for the next assignment. I, however, feel that I did not have that option with KNPE. In other circumstances, I would have dropped the course due to the difficulties it caused me, however it is a requirement for my degree. I believed that I could push myself to finish the course, and I ultimately ended up doing so, however, the grade I worked to received is still not a true representation of the countless hours I spent working on this class to compensate for the additional effort I must always put in to stay on par with my peers who do not face the same challenges. I want to again be clear that I do not want to appeal this grade because it is lower due to my learning disabilities, but because I do not feel I was met with the accommodations that are necessary for me to be able to not just barely pass a course but to succeed and excel.
In the future, I plan on working with my health staff to create alternative ways to deal with test anxiety, stress, and a plan of action when it comes to working with number problems so that I do not face this situation again. I will become more independent and work on tackling difficult material in a variety of ways to ensure my success, as I truly do care about my success in education, which is why this appeal is important to me. I hope you consider this offer and can understand where I am coming from. Whatever you decide, I appreciate your time and thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Gabrielle Levasseur