Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Queen¿¿s University Dean of Arts and Science,

I am writing this letter of appeal to file for approval of a late drop of CISC 102, Discrete Mathematics. At the beginning of the six-week summer course, I found the material to be manageable. Upon reaching week 2, I found the subject matter to grow in difficulty, so I reached out to a tutor, since it isn¿¿t easy to obtain one-on-one help during an online course. The tutor went over the book work with me, as well as the videos provided by the online professor. It became apparent to the tutor that the videos provided and the book work only vaguely correlated with the homework, which made up 48 of the course. Upon hearing this I was worried about my success in the class, but I was determined to succeed in the course. I thought perhaps I just hadn¿¿t found the right tutor, so I went about getting a second tutor. The second tutor was not able to meet with me until June 2, which was two days after the official drop date. After going through the textbook, online lecture and then homework, he reached the same conclusion as the first tutor. After hearing this from a second source, it dawned over me that I had no possibility of making it through the course without a failing grade. At this point, I started to experience extreme anxiety, inducing panic attacks. Meeting with my regular psychologist, she concluded that continuing this course would only be a deterrent to my mental health, and that dropping the course is the best course of action.

I have not made the decision to drop this class lightly, and I have a plan to move forward, taking MATH 110 at Queen¿¿s in the upcoming Fall & Winter semesters, as it is a supplement to taking CISC 102. In an additional attempt to move forward, I am now taking Calculus 1 and 2 over the summer in person at my local college, while I am home for the summer. Since my enrollment in this Calculus course, I have found I am getting required help and that an in-person classroom setting better suits my learning style, opposed to the online course I was previously taking. I am awaiting a letter from my psychologist. Once I receive it, I will forward it on to you. I have been in touch with QSAS who also encouraged the choice to drop CISC 102, and they will be contacting you with information that indicates that they supported my decision. Thank you for this taking this time to read my letter, and I do hope you will take all contents of this letter into consideration.

Sincerely,
Jake Ahearne
Queen¿¿s ID: 20039207