Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 5444
Submitted: March 18, 2019 at 9:38:17 AM
First Name: Lena
Last Name: Malizia-Kelly
Student Number: 20011807
Email: 15lmk3@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BScH
Plan: MATH
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: MATH387
Term: Winter
Year: 2019
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Monday March 18.
To the Associate Dean (Studies).
I, Lena Malizia-Kelly, am appealing to drop MATH387 (Winter 2019).
In the last week or so, I have experienced severe mental health issues. I have experienced heightened anxiety and depression that have led me to become overwhelmed and feel incapacitated. For my own mental wellbeing and safety, I am appealing to drop MATH387 (Winter 2019). The last date to drop a course without academic penalty is March 1st, and at this time, my mental health issues were not as severe and more manageable along with my courses. After the drop date, my mental health declined and my mental safety was at risk. In order for me to properly prioritize my mental health, a lighter course load would be required. MATH387 is the most demanding of my four courses, as it has more than 3 assessments due each week from now until the end of the term, assignments that take more than 10 hours of work, and deadlines that are introduced/presented last minute. Because of my current mental health state, I have found it very difficult (sometimes impossible) to: get out of bed, attend lectures, take appropriate time for meals, sleep, dedicate time to be with friends and socialize, and meet peers for studies.
For some years now, I see a psychologist about my mental health issues (please see supporting documentation). Following my psychologist's recommendation to reduce my workload, I signed up for four (sometimes 3) courses per semester starting in Winter 2017. Almost all the courses I choose could be considered heavy courses, mostly Mathematics and some Commerce and Computer Science courses. However, I find that the workload required for MATH387 is double or more than that of my other Math courses. In this way, my overall workload more reflects five courses rather than four. I also find that the demands of MATH387 are not predicable, in that deadlines change often and timeframes to turn around assignments are less than 6 days. This added to the anxiety I felt about this course and tended to ramp up the sense of being overwhelmed in the last few weeks. More recently in MATH 387, a project was assigned along with details of weekly deliverables that require hours of work over and above the 10+ hours that I work on the course weekly assignments. Up to this point, I found the course load to be excessive and barely manageable, but along with some personal issues that affected my mental health in the last week or so, this was a breaking point for me. Unfortunately, the breaking point occurred after the Week 8 deadline to drop a course. By dropping MATH387, I feel that some of my anxiety due to the workload will be relieved. I believe that I will be better able to manage the demands of the remaining courses in the remaining weeks of this semester without the burden of the heavy demands of MAT387.
I will continue to work with my psychologist to find ways to manage stress in my life, deal with personal issues and become more resilient. I have also met with an occupational therapist at Queen's University Student Wellness (Tess Grant) to discuss my situation and outline a plan to prioritize my mental health. We also made an appointment in a few weeks from now to meet again to monitor and better manage my mental health. Additionally, I receive academic accommodations related to my mental health issues and I meet with my academic accommodations advisor at Student Wellness once a semester so that adjustments can be made to my accommodations if need be. I will continue to opt to take four courses per semester, but I will choose at least one elective course that I believe comes with a lighter workload. As well, I will review the workload of the four courses periodically throughout the semester to identify possible sources of excessive stress and determine ways to manage, which in turn may influence a decision to continue or drop a course before the Week 8 deadline in the future.
Sincerely, Lena Malizia-Kelly
Supporting documents (2):
Letter of support from my psychologist Dr. Tom Newman.
Letter of support from my accommodations advisor Meg Hall. This document is password protected, the password is 2019MAR12Lenaletter
To the Associate Dean (Studies).
I, Lena Malizia-Kelly, am appealing to drop MATH387 (Winter 2019).
In the last week or so, I have experienced severe mental health issues. I have experienced heightened anxiety and depression that have led me to become overwhelmed and feel incapacitated. For my own mental wellbeing and safety, I am appealing to drop MATH387 (Winter 2019). The last date to drop a course without academic penalty is March 1st, and at this time, my mental health issues were not as severe and more manageable along with my courses. After the drop date, my mental health declined and my mental safety was at risk. In order for me to properly prioritize my mental health, a lighter course load would be required. MATH387 is the most demanding of my four courses, as it has more than 3 assessments due each week from now until the end of the term, assignments that take more than 10 hours of work, and deadlines that are introduced/presented last minute. Because of my current mental health state, I have found it very difficult (sometimes impossible) to: get out of bed, attend lectures, take appropriate time for meals, sleep, dedicate time to be with friends and socialize, and meet peers for studies.
For some years now, I see a psychologist about my mental health issues (please see supporting documentation). Following my psychologist's recommendation to reduce my workload, I signed up for four (sometimes 3) courses per semester starting in Winter 2017. Almost all the courses I choose could be considered heavy courses, mostly Mathematics and some Commerce and Computer Science courses. However, I find that the workload required for MATH387 is double or more than that of my other Math courses. In this way, my overall workload more reflects five courses rather than four. I also find that the demands of MATH387 are not predicable, in that deadlines change often and timeframes to turn around assignments are less than 6 days. This added to the anxiety I felt about this course and tended to ramp up the sense of being overwhelmed in the last few weeks. More recently in MATH 387, a project was assigned along with details of weekly deliverables that require hours of work over and above the 10+ hours that I work on the course weekly assignments. Up to this point, I found the course load to be excessive and barely manageable, but along with some personal issues that affected my mental health in the last week or so, this was a breaking point for me. Unfortunately, the breaking point occurred after the Week 8 deadline to drop a course. By dropping MATH387, I feel that some of my anxiety due to the workload will be relieved. I believe that I will be better able to manage the demands of the remaining courses in the remaining weeks of this semester without the burden of the heavy demands of MAT387.
I will continue to work with my psychologist to find ways to manage stress in my life, deal with personal issues and become more resilient. I have also met with an occupational therapist at Queen's University Student Wellness (Tess Grant) to discuss my situation and outline a plan to prioritize my mental health. We also made an appointment in a few weeks from now to meet again to monitor and better manage my mental health. Additionally, I receive academic accommodations related to my mental health issues and I meet with my academic accommodations advisor at Student Wellness once a semester so that adjustments can be made to my accommodations if need be. I will continue to opt to take four courses per semester, but I will choose at least one elective course that I believe comes with a lighter workload. As well, I will review the workload of the four courses periodically throughout the semester to identify possible sources of excessive stress and determine ways to manage, which in turn may influence a decision to continue or drop a course before the Week 8 deadline in the future.
Sincerely, Lena Malizia-Kelly
Supporting documents (2):
Letter of support from my psychologist Dr. Tom Newman.
Letter of support from my accommodations advisor Meg Hall. This document is password protected, the password is 2019MAR12Lenaletter
Documentation
Professional Letter: Dr_Tom_Newman_Supporting_Doc_drop_MATH387.pdf
Decision Letters
Amendment to Appeal 5444
Relevant Petition: 5444
Student Number: 20011807
Documentation
Professional Letter: Dr_Tom_Newman_Supporting_Doc_drop_MATH387-0.pdf