Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 14131
Submitted: April 7, 2026 at 2:08:42 PM
First Name: Maxwell
Last Name: May
Pronoun: he/him
Preferred Name: Max
Student Number: 20385326
Email: 22pqq1@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BS
Plan: Life Science
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Code: CHEM 281
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: Dr. J Carran
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: I am writing to request that my final grade in CHEM 281 be converted to a Credit (CR) designation due to extenuating mental health circumstances that significantly affected my academic functioning during that term.
During this period, I was experiencing depression, reduced motivation, and difficulty maintaining structure in my daily routine. These challenges extended beyond academics and affected multiple areas of my life. I withdrew socially, stopped spending time with friends, and spent much of my time isolated at home. Although my courses included in-person components, I struggled to attend them and instead relied primarily on asynchronous, modular, or hybrid course materials where possible. I also made the difficult decision to withdraw from a varsity team that I had been part of the previous year because I no longer had the capacity to manage the commitment. These changes reflected a broader decline in my functioning during this period.
Around this same time, my grandfather was hospitalized. Although he has since recovered, this was a stressful and uncertain situation for my family and contributed to my emotional strain during the term. This added to the difficulty I was already experiencing and further affected my ability to stay engaged and structured academically.
A significant barrier during this time was difficulty communicating what I was experiencing. I struggled emotionally to express how much I was affected, and although I became more distant, my friends and family were largely unaware of what I was going through. I internalized these challenges and attempted to manage them independently. I was also afraid to seek counselling or formal support and minimized the severity of my symptoms to myself. As a result, I did not pursue accommodations or documentation at the time, even though in retrospect this would have been appropriate.
Despite these challenges, I continued to put effort into my coursework and maintained strong performance in my other classes that term. Many of my other courses allowed for more flexible engagement, which made them more manageable while I was struggling. CHEM 281, however, relied heavily on consistent engagement and keeping pace with in-person instruction. Because of this structure, it was particularly difficult to manage during this period.
Throughout the term, I performed strongly on course components and demonstrated understanding of the material. I earned an 88% on the midterm examination and was maintaining approximately an A-level standing prior to the final exam. As the exam period approached, my mental health challenges intensified. Although I attempted to push through, I was not able to perform at my typical level. Because the final exam carried substantial weight, my performance during this period disproportionately affected my final grade and resulted in an outcome that does not reflect my understanding of the material or my performance throughout the term.
Since that time, I have taken meaningful steps to address these challenges. I am now attending therapy through Student Wellness Services, which has helped me better understand my mental health and develop strategies for managing motivation and workload. Through this process, it has also been suggested that I explore possible ADHD assessment, as difficulties with sustained focus and engagement may have contributed to my experience during that period. My academic performance outside of CHEM 281, including strong grades during the same semester and placement on the Dean’s List in subsequent coursework, reflects my typical academic standing.
The final grade in CHEM 281 is an outlier relative to my academic record and occurred during a period where my functioning across multiple areas was significantly impacted. Because this grade does not reflect my performance throughout the course and disproportionately affects my overall academic record, it also limits my ability to pursue further education opportunities despite otherwise strong academic performance. Given these circumstances, I respectfully request that my final grade in CHEM 281 be converted to a Credit (CR) designation.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
During this period, I was experiencing depression, reduced motivation, and difficulty maintaining structure in my daily routine. These challenges extended beyond academics and affected multiple areas of my life. I withdrew socially, stopped spending time with friends, and spent much of my time isolated at home. Although my courses included in-person components, I struggled to attend them and instead relied primarily on asynchronous, modular, or hybrid course materials where possible. I also made the difficult decision to withdraw from a varsity team that I had been part of the previous year because I no longer had the capacity to manage the commitment. These changes reflected a broader decline in my functioning during this period.
Around this same time, my grandfather was hospitalized. Although he has since recovered, this was a stressful and uncertain situation for my family and contributed to my emotional strain during the term. This added to the difficulty I was already experiencing and further affected my ability to stay engaged and structured academically.
A significant barrier during this time was difficulty communicating what I was experiencing. I struggled emotionally to express how much I was affected, and although I became more distant, my friends and family were largely unaware of what I was going through. I internalized these challenges and attempted to manage them independently. I was also afraid to seek counselling or formal support and minimized the severity of my symptoms to myself. As a result, I did not pursue accommodations or documentation at the time, even though in retrospect this would have been appropriate.
Despite these challenges, I continued to put effort into my coursework and maintained strong performance in my other classes that term. Many of my other courses allowed for more flexible engagement, which made them more manageable while I was struggling. CHEM 281, however, relied heavily on consistent engagement and keeping pace with in-person instruction. Because of this structure, it was particularly difficult to manage during this period.
Throughout the term, I performed strongly on course components and demonstrated understanding of the material. I earned an 88% on the midterm examination and was maintaining approximately an A-level standing prior to the final exam. As the exam period approached, my mental health challenges intensified. Although I attempted to push through, I was not able to perform at my typical level. Because the final exam carried substantial weight, my performance during this period disproportionately affected my final grade and resulted in an outcome that does not reflect my understanding of the material or my performance throughout the term.
Since that time, I have taken meaningful steps to address these challenges. I am now attending therapy through Student Wellness Services, which has helped me better understand my mental health and develop strategies for managing motivation and workload. Through this process, it has also been suggested that I explore possible ADHD assessment, as difficulties with sustained focus and engagement may have contributed to my experience during that period. My academic performance outside of CHEM 281, including strong grades during the same semester and placement on the Dean’s List in subsequent coursework, reflects my typical academic standing.
The final grade in CHEM 281 is an outlier relative to my academic record and occurred during a period where my functioning across multiple areas was significantly impacted. Because this grade does not reflect my performance throughout the course and disproportionately affects my overall academic record, it also limits my ability to pursue further education opportunities despite otherwise strong academic performance. Given these circumstances, I respectfully request that my final grade in CHEM 281 be converted to a Credit (CR) designation.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: NO DOC
Decision Letters
Level 1 Status
Status: DeniedLevel 2
Appeal Type: Level 2
ID: 362
Submitted: April 30, 2026 at 12:11:46 PM
Relevant Petition: 14131
Decision(s) Being Appealed: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses: CHEM 281, Fall 2025 ( Dr. J Carran )
Appeal Grounds
Appeals to the Board of Studies must include a letter based on one or more of the Grounds for Appeal (Appeal Regulation 3.4). What are the grounds you are basing your appeal on?
- The Associate Dean's decision did not follow the rules of procedural fairness. A breach of procedural fairness includes such things as the Associate Dean failed to:
- Make a reasonable decision in your appeal. A “reasonable” decision is one that is based on evidence, thought out and supported by facts and logical inferences from the facts. To be reasonable, the decision must contain adequate reasons for the conclusions.
Appeal Grounds Details: I am appealing on the ground that the decision was not reasonable, as it did not fully consider the available evidence and the reasonable inferences that can be drawn from that evidence.
In the decision letter, it is acknowledged that I experienced health-related circumstances affecting my motivation and academic routines during the Fall 2025 term. However, the decision ultimately rests on the absence of contemporaneous documentation demonstrating that an extenuating circumstance affected my academic performance during that period.
While I understand the importance of documentation, I respectfully submit that the decision places disproportionate weight on its absence and does not adequately consider the totality of the evidence provided, nor the reasonable conclusions that follow from that evidence.
During the Fall 2025 term, I was experiencing severe psychological distress that was sudden, beyond my control, and debilitating to my ability to function academically. These difficulties significantly impaired my concentration, motivation, structure, and ability to consistently attend and engage with coursework. Importantly, this level of distress also impaired my ability to recognize the severity of my condition and seek help at the time, which directly explains the absence of contemporaneous documentation.
Despite this, I provided multiple forms of evidence that collectively establish both the presence of these circumstances during Fall 2025 and their academic impact.
First, the documentation from Student Wellness Services early in the Winter 2026 term reflects that I sought support shortly after the Fall term ended, once I was able to recognize the severity of my condition. The timing of this engagement is consistent with a delayed help-seeking pattern and supports that the difficulties were already present and ongoing during the Fall term, including the December examination period, rather than arising as a new issue in Winter.
Second, I provided contemporaneous behavioural evidence of impaired functioning and withdrawal. For example, I included a message showing that I declined attending a Queen’s varsity Academic All-Star event and chose not to see my teammates—an event I would typically have attended. This reflects a clear and uncharacteristic withdrawal from academic and social engagement during that period. In addition, I provided a message to a professor in a subsequent course indicating that I had been missing classes and struggling to attend and engage. Together, these examples demonstrate a broader pattern of reduced participation and impaired academic functioning consistent with the challenges I described during the Fall term.
Third, my academic performance in CHEM 281 provides clear and objective evidence of impact during Fall 2025. I earned an 88% on the midterm and was performing at a high level earlier in the course, followed by a significant decline to 50% on the final examination. This sharp and isolated drop is inconsistent with my demonstrated understanding of the material and aligns directly with the period in which my symptoms were most severe, including the final examination period.
Taken together, this evidence forms a consistent and corroborated pattern of impairment during the Fall 2025 term. It demonstrates not only that extenuating circumstances were present, but that they were debilitating and had a direct and measurable impact on my academic performance.
The decision does not appear to meaningfully engage with these elements collectively. Instead, it relies primarily on the absence of contemporaneous documentation, without adequately considering whether the combination of timeline evidence, behavioural indicators, and objective academic decline reasonably establishes the presence and impact of extenuating circumstances.
For these reasons, I respectfully submit that the decision was not reasonable, as it did not fully consider the available evidence and reasonable inferences regarding the presence and academic impact of severe psychological distress during the Fall 2025 term
In the decision letter, it is acknowledged that I experienced health-related circumstances affecting my motivation and academic routines during the Fall 2025 term. However, the decision ultimately rests on the absence of contemporaneous documentation demonstrating that an extenuating circumstance affected my academic performance during that period.
While I understand the importance of documentation, I respectfully submit that the decision places disproportionate weight on its absence and does not adequately consider the totality of the evidence provided, nor the reasonable conclusions that follow from that evidence.
During the Fall 2025 term, I was experiencing severe psychological distress that was sudden, beyond my control, and debilitating to my ability to function academically. These difficulties significantly impaired my concentration, motivation, structure, and ability to consistently attend and engage with coursework. Importantly, this level of distress also impaired my ability to recognize the severity of my condition and seek help at the time, which directly explains the absence of contemporaneous documentation.
Despite this, I provided multiple forms of evidence that collectively establish both the presence of these circumstances during Fall 2025 and their academic impact.
First, the documentation from Student Wellness Services early in the Winter 2026 term reflects that I sought support shortly after the Fall term ended, once I was able to recognize the severity of my condition. The timing of this engagement is consistent with a delayed help-seeking pattern and supports that the difficulties were already present and ongoing during the Fall term, including the December examination period, rather than arising as a new issue in Winter.
Second, I provided contemporaneous behavioural evidence of impaired functioning and withdrawal. For example, I included a message showing that I declined attending a Queen’s varsity Academic All-Star event and chose not to see my teammates—an event I would typically have attended. This reflects a clear and uncharacteristic withdrawal from academic and social engagement during that period. In addition, I provided a message to a professor in a subsequent course indicating that I had been missing classes and struggling to attend and engage. Together, these examples demonstrate a broader pattern of reduced participation and impaired academic functioning consistent with the challenges I described during the Fall term.
Third, my academic performance in CHEM 281 provides clear and objective evidence of impact during Fall 2025. I earned an 88% on the midterm and was performing at a high level earlier in the course, followed by a significant decline to 50% on the final examination. This sharp and isolated drop is inconsistent with my demonstrated understanding of the material and aligns directly with the period in which my symptoms were most severe, including the final examination period.
Taken together, this evidence forms a consistent and corroborated pattern of impairment during the Fall 2025 term. It demonstrates not only that extenuating circumstances were present, but that they were debilitating and had a direct and measurable impact on my academic performance.
The decision does not appear to meaningfully engage with these elements collectively. Instead, it relies primarily on the absence of contemporaneous documentation, without adequately considering whether the combination of timeline evidence, behavioural indicators, and objective academic decline reasonably establishes the presence and impact of extenuating circumstances.
For these reasons, I respectfully submit that the decision was not reasonable, as it did not fully consider the available evidence and reasonable inferences regarding the presence and academic impact of severe psychological distress during the Fall 2025 term
Appeal Letter
Appeal Letter: Dear Members of the Board of Studies,
I am writing to respectfully appeal the decision to deny my request for Credit (CR) standing in CHEM 281 (Fall 2025). I appreciate the time and consideration given to my original petition; however, I believe the decision did not fully account for the totality of the evidence demonstrating that extenuating and debilitating psychological circumstances affected my academic performance during that term.
As acknowledged in the Associate Dean’s decision, I experienced health-related challenges that impacted my motivation and academic routines during Fall 2025. The decision ultimately rests on the absence of contemporaneous documentation. While I understand the importance of such documentation, I respectfully submit that the nature of the circumstances I experienced—and the evidence provided—reasonably demonstrate that these difficulties were present, significant, and academically impactful during the Fall term.
During Fall 2025, I experienced a sudden onset of severe psychological distress that was beyond my control and substantially impaired my ability to function. This included significant difficulty with concentration, motivation, maintaining structure, and consistently attending and engaging with coursework. These challenges were not isolated to academics; they extended to other areas of my life, including withdrawal from social and extracurricular activities.
A key factor in my situation was that this level of distress also impaired my ability to recognize the severity of what I was experiencing and to seek help at the time. I internalized these challenges and attempted to manage them independently, which explains why I did not obtain formal documentation during the Fall term. My engagement with Student Wellness Services early in Winter 2026 reflects the point at which I was able to seek support, not the onset of the difficulties themselves. The timing of this support is consistent with a delayed help-seeking pattern and supports that these challenges were already present during the Fall term, including the December examination period.
In addition to this timeline, I provided behavioural evidence demonstrating the impact of these circumstances. For example, I declined attending a Queen’s varsity Academic All-Star event and chose not to see my teammates—an event I would normally have attended—reflecting a clear and uncharacteristic withdrawal from engagement. I also provided a message to a professor in a subsequent course indicating that I had been missing classes and struggling to attend and participate. These examples illustrate a broader and sustained decline in my ability to engage academically and socially during this period.
Most significantly, my academic performance in CHEM 281 provides objective evidence of the impact of these circumstances. I earned an 88% on the midterm and was performing at a high level earlier in the course. However, as my condition worsened, my performance declined sharply, resulting in a 50% on the final examination. This marked and isolated drop is inconsistent with my demonstrated understanding of the material and aligns directly with the period in which my symptoms were most severe, including the final examination period.
Taken together, the timing of my engagement with support services, the behavioural evidence of withdrawal and reduced academic participation, and the objective decline in performance form a consistent and corroborated account of significant impairment during the Fall 2025 term. While this evidence may not take the form of contemporaneous medical documentation, it nevertheless provides a reasonable and evidence-based basis to conclude that extenuating and debilitating circumstances were present and had a direct impact on my academic performance.
For these reasons, I respectfully request that the Board reconsider my petition and grant Credit standing in CHEM 281. I appreciate your time and consideration of my appeal.
Sincerely,Maxwell May
I am writing to respectfully appeal the decision to deny my request for Credit (CR) standing in CHEM 281 (Fall 2025). I appreciate the time and consideration given to my original petition; however, I believe the decision did not fully account for the totality of the evidence demonstrating that extenuating and debilitating psychological circumstances affected my academic performance during that term.
As acknowledged in the Associate Dean’s decision, I experienced health-related challenges that impacted my motivation and academic routines during Fall 2025. The decision ultimately rests on the absence of contemporaneous documentation. While I understand the importance of such documentation, I respectfully submit that the nature of the circumstances I experienced—and the evidence provided—reasonably demonstrate that these difficulties were present, significant, and academically impactful during the Fall term.
During Fall 2025, I experienced a sudden onset of severe psychological distress that was beyond my control and substantially impaired my ability to function. This included significant difficulty with concentration, motivation, maintaining structure, and consistently attending and engaging with coursework. These challenges were not isolated to academics; they extended to other areas of my life, including withdrawal from social and extracurricular activities.
A key factor in my situation was that this level of distress also impaired my ability to recognize the severity of what I was experiencing and to seek help at the time. I internalized these challenges and attempted to manage them independently, which explains why I did not obtain formal documentation during the Fall term. My engagement with Student Wellness Services early in Winter 2026 reflects the point at which I was able to seek support, not the onset of the difficulties themselves. The timing of this support is consistent with a delayed help-seeking pattern and supports that these challenges were already present during the Fall term, including the December examination period.
In addition to this timeline, I provided behavioural evidence demonstrating the impact of these circumstances. For example, I declined attending a Queen’s varsity Academic All-Star event and chose not to see my teammates—an event I would normally have attended—reflecting a clear and uncharacteristic withdrawal from engagement. I also provided a message to a professor in a subsequent course indicating that I had been missing classes and struggling to attend and participate. These examples illustrate a broader and sustained decline in my ability to engage academically and socially during this period.
Most significantly, my academic performance in CHEM 281 provides objective evidence of the impact of these circumstances. I earned an 88% on the midterm and was performing at a high level earlier in the course. However, as my condition worsened, my performance declined sharply, resulting in a 50% on the final examination. This marked and isolated drop is inconsistent with my demonstrated understanding of the material and aligns directly with the period in which my symptoms were most severe, including the final examination period.
Taken together, the timing of my engagement with support services, the behavioural evidence of withdrawal and reduced academic participation, and the objective decline in performance form a consistent and corroborated account of significant impairment during the Fall 2025 term. While this evidence may not take the form of contemporaneous medical documentation, it nevertheless provides a reasonable and evidence-based basis to conclude that extenuating and debilitating circumstances were present and had a direct impact on my academic performance.
For these reasons, I respectfully request that the Board reconsider my petition and grant Credit standing in CHEM 281. I appreciate your time and consideration of my appeal.
Sincerely,Maxwell May
Documentation
History
Originally submitted April 7, 2026 at 2:08:42 PM.
| Field | Reference | Old Value | New Value | Note | User | Date/Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| status | N/A | Received | Incomplete | Kerri Andrews | 2026-04-07 2:44:57 PM | |
| status | N/A | Incomplete | In Review | Kerri Andrews | 2026-04-24 10:34:11 AM | |
| status | N/A | In Review | Denied | Kerri Andrews | 2026-04-30 10:13:55 AM | |
| associate_dean | N/A | Dorit Naaman (Associate Dean Academic) | Kerri Andrews | 2026-04-30 10:13:55 AM | ||
| decision_letter | N/A | N/A | Decision letter sent | Kerri Andrews | 2026-04-30 10:14:54 AM | |
| new_appeal_level_2 | N/A | Level 2 | Level 2 Appeal ID: 362 | 22pqq1 | 2026-04-30 12:11:46 PM | |
| status | N/A | Received | In Review | Kathrine Scott | 2026-05-06 10:48:23 AM | |
| status | N/A | In Review | ADA Amended Decision | Granted | Kathrine Scott | 2026-05-23 11:38:48 AM |