Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 7842
Submitted: June 14, 2021 at 4:43:28 AM
First Name: Shen
Last Name: Qiao
Student Number: 20224313
Email: 19qs14@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BSH
Plan: MATH
Level of Study: 1
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Waive the requirement to withdraw for one year
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean, My name is Shen Qiao, and my student id is 20224313.
First, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to explain my
circumstance, and I apologize for having a CGPA lower than the required level by the
end of winter 2021.
I want to appeal the Faculty of Arts and Science's decision that I must withdraw from
Queen's for one year, effective May 25, 2021. As a first-year international student, when Coronavirus spreads in my home country, I
cannot attend in-class courses, communicate with teachers face to face, and learn with
classmates to adapt to the new teaching mode.
To begin with, I took online classes at night and went to bed during the day due to time¿zone difference, which completely violated the human biological clock and disrupted
my long-term work and rest habits. As a result, I had insomnia and was unable to
concentrate on my studies.
When I discovered the sleeping problem in the first semester, I adjusted my schedules
and attended psychological counseling, so that in the second semester, I devoted myself
to study more deeply, and got an A in CISC102. In addition, I cannot directly access to international websites, due to the unique network
restrictions in China. Therefore, I need to use VPN to open my learning website. As a
freshman, I did not know these things. For example, for Gphy105, I did not keep up
with the progress of my first assignment due to VPN problems. After realizing this, I
actively searched for a suitable VPN. However, while doing my homework, I was still
sometimes interrupted by the unstable internet connection. This delayed the whole
process of my homework, also led to tight study schedules near the deadline.
The third point is that I failed to communicate clearly with my professors via emails.
Through online classes, I have fewer opportunities to communicate with my classmates
and can only ask professors questions by emails when I am not clear with their
instructions. For example, I tried multiple times to communicate with professors and teaching
assistants in MATH 110 and 120 and was still confused after their detailed responses. I
was embarrassed to bother the teaching assistant more, so I stopped asking. As a result,
more and more problems remain unsolved. For some courses such as CISC101, the question was too complicated to be answered
by text and through emails. When I just started learning Python, I was not able to
overcome some technical issues though asked for professor¿¿s instruction via emails
since it was difficult for me to explain all my questions clearly in text. I was not able to
fix all problems before retaking the class, so I failed to pass the course again.
The fourth reason is that I did not make a manageable course schedule in the first
semester, because of my lack of understanding of the Canadian educational system as
a Chinese student. In the first term, I selected several challenging courses. As a result,
to lighten my course load, I had to drop MATH 120 in the hopes of passing the other
courses. In the winter semester, I began to change my learning methods and improved
my grade for MATH 110. However, the annual class MATH 110 grade was low in the
fall semester, affecting the entire school year's grades and causing the course to fail.
As a result, those factors harmed my studies in general. Nonetheless, I improved my
grade average from 0 to 0.94 near the end of my second semester.
For the fall semester of 2021, to avoid the problems I had last year. I will take a lighter
course load and check the class syllabus daily. I intend to continue my study and attend
the school in person. So, I can meet with my professor and advisor every week to
discuss my progress and create a study plan for the following week to keep me on track.
In addition, I can adjust my sleep patterns and no longer suffer from insomnia, allowing
me to better keep up with my classes without VPN, concentrate on my studies and
ensure that I do not miss any assignments. For the summer term 2021, the school granted my request to drop both CISC 101 and
CISC 121, which let me better prepare for the ongoing exams. I will continue the study
in MATH 121 from May 10 to July 30th and demonstrate that my circumstance has
improved significantly. So far, I have attended all the quizzes on time and got good
results.
If my appeal is successful and I am given a second chance to continue my studies at
Queen's, I am confident that I will perform better next semester.
First, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to explain my
circumstance, and I apologize for having a CGPA lower than the required level by the
end of winter 2021.
I want to appeal the Faculty of Arts and Science's decision that I must withdraw from
Queen's for one year, effective May 25, 2021. As a first-year international student, when Coronavirus spreads in my home country, I
cannot attend in-class courses, communicate with teachers face to face, and learn with
classmates to adapt to the new teaching mode.
To begin with, I took online classes at night and went to bed during the day due to time¿zone difference, which completely violated the human biological clock and disrupted
my long-term work and rest habits. As a result, I had insomnia and was unable to
concentrate on my studies.
When I discovered the sleeping problem in the first semester, I adjusted my schedules
and attended psychological counseling, so that in the second semester, I devoted myself
to study more deeply, and got an A in CISC102. In addition, I cannot directly access to international websites, due to the unique network
restrictions in China. Therefore, I need to use VPN to open my learning website. As a
freshman, I did not know these things. For example, for Gphy105, I did not keep up
with the progress of my first assignment due to VPN problems. After realizing this, I
actively searched for a suitable VPN. However, while doing my homework, I was still
sometimes interrupted by the unstable internet connection. This delayed the whole
process of my homework, also led to tight study schedules near the deadline.
The third point is that I failed to communicate clearly with my professors via emails.
Through online classes, I have fewer opportunities to communicate with my classmates
and can only ask professors questions by emails when I am not clear with their
instructions. For example, I tried multiple times to communicate with professors and teaching
assistants in MATH 110 and 120 and was still confused after their detailed responses. I
was embarrassed to bother the teaching assistant more, so I stopped asking. As a result,
more and more problems remain unsolved. For some courses such as CISC101, the question was too complicated to be answered
by text and through emails. When I just started learning Python, I was not able to
overcome some technical issues though asked for professor¿¿s instruction via emails
since it was difficult for me to explain all my questions clearly in text. I was not able to
fix all problems before retaking the class, so I failed to pass the course again.
The fourth reason is that I did not make a manageable course schedule in the first
semester, because of my lack of understanding of the Canadian educational system as
a Chinese student. In the first term, I selected several challenging courses. As a result,
to lighten my course load, I had to drop MATH 120 in the hopes of passing the other
courses. In the winter semester, I began to change my learning methods and improved
my grade for MATH 110. However, the annual class MATH 110 grade was low in the
fall semester, affecting the entire school year's grades and causing the course to fail.
As a result, those factors harmed my studies in general. Nonetheless, I improved my
grade average from 0 to 0.94 near the end of my second semester.
For the fall semester of 2021, to avoid the problems I had last year. I will take a lighter
course load and check the class syllabus daily. I intend to continue my study and attend
the school in person. So, I can meet with my professor and advisor every week to
discuss my progress and create a study plan for the following week to keep me on track.
In addition, I can adjust my sleep patterns and no longer suffer from insomnia, allowing
me to better keep up with my classes without VPN, concentrate on my studies and
ensure that I do not miss any assignments. For the summer term 2021, the school granted my request to drop both CISC 101 and
CISC 121, which let me better prepare for the ongoing exams. I will continue the study
in MATH 121 from May 10 to July 30th and demonstrate that my circumstance has
improved significantly. So far, I have attended all the quizzes on time and got good
results.
If my appeal is successful and I am given a second chance to continue my studies at
Queen's, I am confident that I will perform better next semester.
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: ACADEMIC PLAN
A: Course of study
The Bachelor of Science¿¿Hons¿¿ program is a desired program that I would like to
take in my undergraduate study. In order to meet the degree requirement, in my first
year, I had completed CISC 102 and GPHY 102, and achieved an A in CISC 102. In the
term of summer 2021, I will continue the study in MATH 121 from May 10 to July 30th
and demonstrate that my circumstance has improved significantly. So far, I have
attended all the quizzes on time and got good results.
I plan to retake the courses that I failed last year, including CISC 101, GPHY101,
GPHY 105, MATH 110A, and some other degree required courses.
B: Full- time
I want to maintain my full-time status at Queen's University. I am taking one course in
my summer session now. I will not consider working in the first 2 years while attending
school since study is always the first priority for a student. In the next semester, I am
planning to reduce my course workload to 12 units per semester to achieve a better
academic result in each course.
C. Strategies for success
There are several issues bothered me through the first year. As a first-year international
student, the learning environment had changed a lot during the pandemic, and it is hard
for me to follow professors' steps. Unable to communicate with teachers and classmates
face to face makes it more difficult for me to study. In addition, I am in China now, the
time-zone difference disrupted my long-term work and rest habits, so I cannot
concentrate on my study . Thirdly, due to the restriction on accessing foreign website
in China, I have to use VPN every time to complete all the assignment, which lowers
my study efficiency.
After the first two semesters. I have improved not only my study abilities but also
learned a lot about different cultures and important life lessons that have been extremely
beneficial. In addition, looking back on the previous semester, the fall semester of 2020,
I overcame the difficulties associated with Zoom and Canvas, also learned many basic
learning tools such as Google Docs.
I adjusted to the pace of study at Queen's so far, and I am not ready to give up. I will
take a lighter course load and check the class syllabus daily. I intend to continue my
study and attend the school in person. So, I can meet with my professor and advisor
every week to discuss my progress and create a study plan for the following week to
keep me on track. In addition, I can adjust my sleep patterns and no longer suffer from
insomnia, allowing me to better keep up with my classes without VPN, concentrate on
my studies and ensure that I do not miss any assignments.
Meanwhile I will use any resources that are available on campus, for example, the
library and writing center.
A: Course of study
The Bachelor of Science¿¿Hons¿¿ program is a desired program that I would like to
take in my undergraduate study. In order to meet the degree requirement, in my first
year, I had completed CISC 102 and GPHY 102, and achieved an A in CISC 102. In the
term of summer 2021, I will continue the study in MATH 121 from May 10 to July 30th
and demonstrate that my circumstance has improved significantly. So far, I have
attended all the quizzes on time and got good results.
I plan to retake the courses that I failed last year, including CISC 101, GPHY101,
GPHY 105, MATH 110A, and some other degree required courses.
B: Full- time
I want to maintain my full-time status at Queen's University. I am taking one course in
my summer session now. I will not consider working in the first 2 years while attending
school since study is always the first priority for a student. In the next semester, I am
planning to reduce my course workload to 12 units per semester to achieve a better
academic result in each course.
C. Strategies for success
There are several issues bothered me through the first year. As a first-year international
student, the learning environment had changed a lot during the pandemic, and it is hard
for me to follow professors' steps. Unable to communicate with teachers and classmates
face to face makes it more difficult for me to study. In addition, I am in China now, the
time-zone difference disrupted my long-term work and rest habits, so I cannot
concentrate on my study . Thirdly, due to the restriction on accessing foreign website
in China, I have to use VPN every time to complete all the assignment, which lowers
my study efficiency.
After the first two semesters. I have improved not only my study abilities but also
learned a lot about different cultures and important life lessons that have been extremely
beneficial. In addition, looking back on the previous semester, the fall semester of 2020,
I overcame the difficulties associated with Zoom and Canvas, also learned many basic
learning tools such as Google Docs.
I adjusted to the pace of study at Queen's so far, and I am not ready to give up. I will
take a lighter course load and check the class syllabus daily. I intend to continue my
study and attend the school in person. So, I can meet with my professor and advisor
every week to discuss my progress and create a study plan for the following week to
keep me on track. In addition, I can adjust my sleep patterns and no longer suffer from
insomnia, allowing me to better keep up with my classes without VPN, concentrate on
my studies and ensure that I do not miss any assignments.
Meanwhile I will use any resources that are available on campus, for example, the
library and writing center.
Documentation
Professional Letter: 1.Supporting documentation - communication.pdf
Document: 2. Supporting documentation-MATH 121.pdf