Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Johanne Bénard,

I am appealing to drop PHYS 117 (Fall/Winter 2014-2015). I am doing so because at this point in time it is highly unlikely I will be able to pass the course due to previous circumstances that have and will prevent me from succeeding.

Since the beginning of the school year, the strain that physics has placed upon me has been quite heavy. Since September I have been having great difficulty in the course. My lack of understanding of course material caused me to be very stressed and this was preventing me from sleeping and being able to focus on my studies. The negative impact of all this stress and lack of understanding was evident when I received my mark from the December exam and found out that I did not pass the exam. Although I was still barely passing the course, I decided to stay enrolled because at this point in time I believed that I wanted to pursue a science degree, most of which have physics listed as a prerequisite course.

In order to ensure that I would be able to get a better understanding of class material second semester, I visited the ASUS Core on University Avenue to get a tutor. When I applied for my tutor online through the ASUS website, it stated that only one tutor for PHYS 117 was available. I contacted this tutor, but unfortunately he said he would not be able to tutor me because he was already helping many other students. With no available tutors the course was quite challenging. Currently I have a math tutor and a chemistry tutor to help me with those courses, mostly due to the fact that with all the time spent trying to understand physics I was falling behind in those subjects. Although I have only missed one or two physics lectures at most all year, and have completed all the required labs and homework assignments, I was still finding the course impossibly difficult. I did not decide to drop the course before the deadline, however, because I had a midterm on the final day to drop courses: 6:30-8:00 pm on Friday,February 27th. I did not want to drop the course until I knew my midterm mark, because months of hard work and dedication had already been put into the course, and at my parents urging as well, thought there was still as small chance that if I did well on the midterm, I would be able to successfully complete the course. Unfortunately, when I did receive my winter midterm mark (March 6th), I had found out that I failed the winter midterm as well. At this point in time I knew there was slim to no chance of passing the course, and decided that making an academic appeal would be the best option.

Although I have not succeeded in physics, I know that dropping the course will not have an effect on my future academic goals at Queen's. I am planning on doing a major in Health Studies next year, a field which does not require any physics credits (of course, had I known this earlier on in the semester, I would have dropped the course by the deadline, but since I was not certain, I wanted to keep the option of a science degree open). I know that I will succeed in Health Studies because I am genuinely interested in that field, and have done very well achieving an A- in Health 101, and am doing very well in Health 102 this semester. I do not want a failing grade in physics to jeopardize my eligibility to enter into a second year program that is not, in any way, related to the course.

In short, please understand that although I have tried my best at ensuring success in PHYS 117, due to previous events and circumstances I do not think it will be possible to succeed. I know that I will still be successful without this course credit, and for that reason would very much like to drop the course. Thank you for taking time to read this letter, and I eagerly await your decision.

Sincerely,
Mikaela Groulx
13mcg5@queensu.ca