Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: During this year I had substantial problems with my mental health which, early in November, encouraged me to drop the majority of my courses at Queens so that I could focus on recovering fully, and to plan to take an additional semester at Queens to make up for this lost time and to achieve an academic record which I am happy with. I did not drop this course because I, wrongly, felt that I could recover my grade and position in the course despite failing to involve myself in the class for much of the term.

These problems had begun to worsen beginning in the Winter term of 2019, but during the Fall term they were aggrevated to an extent which I feel rendered me unable to perform necessary academic activities. My depression caused me to miss necessary classes, tests and to overall disengage with my studies to an extent that I was unable to recover from these challenges. While I had begun anti-depressants in the late summer, and taken steps towards other methods of treatment and aid for my condition, I should have taken more time to focus on my well-being and develop coping stragies in order to be able to successfully earn an academic record worthy of what I have been able to achieve in the past, before my illness.

I do intend to retake this course, as I found the material involved both relevant and interesting, yet I do not feel able to complete the course this semester to a level which I feel represents my academic ability nor that I would be happy with.

I would request to be allowed to take a DR on my transcript for this course this term. While I do intend to retake the course, a failing grade on my transcript in addition to those courses I have already decided to retake would place additional stress upon me to rush through retaking these courses so as to meet the GPA requirements for my capstone seminar next year. In light of my current situation, I believe that rushing to retake this course would not aide me in learning to properly cope with my mental health issues and succeed at Queens despite them. It, in fact, would harm that effort.