Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 5698
Submitted: May 3, 2019 at 6:56:27 PM
First Name: Zoe
Last Name: Couillard
Student Number: 20029117
Email: 16zac@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BScH
Plan: GEOL
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: MATH 121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2019
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: I am writing this to appeal for a late drop of MATH 121, the 6.0 Credit course for the Fall 2018/ Winter 2019 term, due to continuing academic conflicts, identified disabilities relating to math-based subjects and extenuating medical problems which were out of my control.
I am currently a third-year geology student and have been registered with QSAS since my first year at Queen's in Fall 2016. My diagnosed learning disabilities are specific to math-based courses, leading to the recommendation that the three core math courses in the science degree, MATH 121, CHEM 121 and PHYS 117 be taken separately due to the increased amount of time I would have to devote to complete the same amount of work that my peers would.
At the beginning of the year I spoke with the course professor, Alan Abelson, to inform him of my accommodations for the course and my personal concerns with the course material. My largest concern was the difficulty of the material and the time recommended vs the time I require to spend on the material along with my other courses. To help cut down on some time and help decrease my frustration with the material, I even hired a tutor for the entire Fall semester to help with homework and the online lessons for about 4 hours a week. Due to scheduling conflicts with my third-year Geology courses and the first-year math course, midterms and assignments were all due at the same time, and had very little accommodation for students with accessibilities. After my poor performance in the fall semester and the scheduling issues I transferred from the on-campus course to the online course as an attempt to fix the scheduling issue as discussed with the professor.
On top of my learning disabilities, unexpected health issues arose after Christmas break. I had a medical procedure done which led to unexpected side effects throughout the second semester. These issues lead to me being in and out of the emergency room, ultrasounds, and doctors appointments during March, and all the way up until May. The unexpected side effects made academics and dropping the course the last thing on my mind. It was not until the beginning of April that I was able to resume full time with my academics. I spoke with Professor Abelson and determined that I would need an extremely unrealistic mark on final exam to pass the course based on my poor marks from previous assessments. Due to this and my packed exam schedule, we decided it would be best for my personal health and my academic commitments to not write the exam and to discuss alternative calculus options that are better fitted to my accommodations and schedule.
My adjustment to the university course load has been extremely difficult and has caused me to drop and adjust my course load in the past a few times. Calculus is required for my degree and I have always been aware that it would be a struggle when I took it, however the medical issues that I experienced kept me from dropping the course in time without it effecting my transcript and progress to my GPA. I have worked extremely hard to improve my marks and to complete the required courses that I knew I'd struggle in. I am trying to drop this course so that my transcript may reflect my hard work, and not be a result of my disability and extenuating medical emergencies out of my control.
Zoe Couillard
I am currently a third-year geology student and have been registered with QSAS since my first year at Queen's in Fall 2016. My diagnosed learning disabilities are specific to math-based courses, leading to the recommendation that the three core math courses in the science degree, MATH 121, CHEM 121 and PHYS 117 be taken separately due to the increased amount of time I would have to devote to complete the same amount of work that my peers would.
At the beginning of the year I spoke with the course professor, Alan Abelson, to inform him of my accommodations for the course and my personal concerns with the course material. My largest concern was the difficulty of the material and the time recommended vs the time I require to spend on the material along with my other courses. To help cut down on some time and help decrease my frustration with the material, I even hired a tutor for the entire Fall semester to help with homework and the online lessons for about 4 hours a week. Due to scheduling conflicts with my third-year Geology courses and the first-year math course, midterms and assignments were all due at the same time, and had very little accommodation for students with accessibilities. After my poor performance in the fall semester and the scheduling issues I transferred from the on-campus course to the online course as an attempt to fix the scheduling issue as discussed with the professor.
On top of my learning disabilities, unexpected health issues arose after Christmas break. I had a medical procedure done which led to unexpected side effects throughout the second semester. These issues lead to me being in and out of the emergency room, ultrasounds, and doctors appointments during March, and all the way up until May. The unexpected side effects made academics and dropping the course the last thing on my mind. It was not until the beginning of April that I was able to resume full time with my academics. I spoke with Professor Abelson and determined that I would need an extremely unrealistic mark on final exam to pass the course based on my poor marks from previous assessments. Due to this and my packed exam schedule, we decided it would be best for my personal health and my academic commitments to not write the exam and to discuss alternative calculus options that are better fitted to my accommodations and schedule.
My adjustment to the university course load has been extremely difficult and has caused me to drop and adjust my course load in the past a few times. Calculus is required for my degree and I have always been aware that it would be a struggle when I took it, however the medical issues that I experienced kept me from dropping the course in time without it effecting my transcript and progress to my GPA. I have worked extremely hard to improve my marks and to complete the required courses that I knew I'd struggle in. I am trying to drop this course so that my transcript may reflect my hard work, and not be a result of my disability and extenuating medical emergencies out of my control.
Zoe Couillard
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: MEDICAL DOC