Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am a third year Political Studies Major and History minor, enrolled in the faculty of Arts and Sciences here at Queen's. I am appealing to drop POLS 385, Quantitative Approach to Political Research.


I have waited this long to submit a letter because I wanted to exhaust all options such as meeting with a tutor and spending countless hours on the material, before making the decision to drop my course. Unfortunately, POLS 385 is very heavily math based, a field of study I have found challenging my whole life so I have been focusing the majority of my resources on this course and, at times, neglecting my other four courses.


Currently as it stands my mark is at a 46.86 so I am failing this course. All of my other subjects are in the A and B range, so this extremely low mark is very out of character for me. We had not received feedback prior to the final add/drop date so I did not want to make the decision to go through with a drop at that time. Once I received my first assignment back, where I scored a very low grade, it was my hope that this was not an indication of how the entire course would be, but unfortunately my other two assignments came back below a 50.


I am registered with Queen's Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) and have met with my academic counsellor to discuss all options, and I feel as though dropping the course without academic penalty, in order to retake it again next year, would be the best course of action. My learning disability report shows that I have a very slow processing speed, and that interpreting non-verbal or written information is very challenging. Although I have attempted to put time and effort into this course it has proven to be ineffective. By taking the course next year, it would give me time to meet with a counsellor and figure out appropriate learning strategies in order to best complete this course.


Next semester I am scheduled to take POLS 384, a course that acts as a supplement to POLS 385. It is my hope that after taking POLS 384 I will be able to understand the key concepts that are outlined in both courses which will help me in POLS 385 when I take it in the future.


I have filled out an appeal form and attached a letter of support from Gail Eaton-Smith at QSAS and I hope that you take this all into account when making your decision.


Thank you for taking the time to consider my appeal,

Emily Vassos
10089246
12emv2@queensu.ca