Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academic),

I am appealing to withdraw from BIOL 102 (winter 2021, online non-degree continuing education) after the withdrawal deadline date. I have a diagnosed learning disability that was originally on file with QSAS when I started in the Faculty of Engineering in 2019. Before enrolling in continuing education courses, I transferred my LOA to the Faculty of Arts & Science and requested renewal (never confirmed). With the nature of my learning challenges, I struggled considerably to keep up with the required pace of BIOL 102 because of the heavy volume of reading required and combined with the specific online format for the course. From the course overview, I did expect more reading than many courses but did not expect the actual volume and for the course to be mostly reading-based learning. Taking BIOL 102 was part of my attempt to re-enter university and also try to figure out what my balance is between course workload and my learning abilities. It has been a tough year and the isolation that Covid imposed did not help. While in the Engineering program at Queens, the learning accommodations I took advantage of included a reduced course load (5 courses then 4 in J-section) but I still struggled considerably with the workload and pace especially when combined with everything else that comes with first year. I quickly fell behind and was never able to recover. I withdrew from engineering in the winter of 2020. A year later I wanted to try to start a slow return to university by beginning with two online courses. I wanted to figure out what types of courses I can do best and how many I could handle at a time given how I learn. I thought I would be safe taking only two courses. Based on how I learn best, choosing to do this during Covid was not ideal. I quickly discovered that taking a reading-intensive course (i.e. BIOL 102) in an online format and being tested with only multiple-choice questions plays to all my learning weaknesses. I had no trouble comprehending the material and being interested in BIOL 102. However, with my weakness in reading-based learning, combined with the volume of and density of reading required, I found myself again being too far behind to keep pace with the course (even though I was committing a lot of time, well beyond the expected normal amount to learning the course material) and my performance suffered again. Although I did not have the recommended (but not required) prerequisite of grade 12 biology, I felt based on reading the course outline that my grade 11 biology and grade 12 chemistry would be sufficient. After participating in BIOL102 I still feel that my struggles had more to do with the volume and pace of required reading (and the course format) rather than the recommended background. The other online course that I am taking (Astronomy101) has a more balanced amount of reading combined with video lectures and seems to be progressing fine. I am requesting this withdrawal from the BIOL 102 late (after the deadline) because I didn¿¿t want to give up yet and I was enjoying the material but by mid-March, I came to the realization that I was so far behind that I would not ever get caught up. I began by contacting Arts & Science online to inquire about withdrawing from the course in late March. The academic advisor Debby Leach contacted me and has given me guidance on how to appeal to withdraw from my course, as well as given me some advice on moving forward to having more success with my academics.
I have contacted the Regional Assessment Center at Queens to inquire about having my learning needs reassessed (hopefully before I take my next course in the fall). I am planning on only taking one course at a time until I am sure I have the right learning supports in place for me. I don¿¿t want to give up on University, I just have to figure out what types of courses to take and steps to take to manage my learning needs. Please consider my appeal to withdraw from Biology 102.