Petition Letter
Petition to Drop Course HLTH 200 Late without Academic Penalty (Remove from Transcript)
I am formally petitioning to have HLTH 200 removed entirely from my academic transcript for the fall term, ensuring it does not appear as a “DR” on my transcript. I am not getting the experience I had been expecting and am needing to drop it due to various reasons. My inability to complete this course to the best of my ability was not due to academic difficulty, but was the result of significant administration failures. Specifically, the chaotic course organization and format, combined with the lack of instructional response to my emails created an untenable learning environment. The challenges I have experienced with this course only worsened my documented anxiety, which heavily affected my ability to complete this course to the best of my ability and negatively impacted my performance across my other courses.
Throughout this semester, the online organization and formatting of this course was very poor. For the majority of assignments, essential assignment documents were extremely challenging and sometimes impossible to locate within the course which resulted in my poor performance and marks for such assignments. This issue was not a reflection of course difficulty, but rather the inaccessibility of essential assignment materials. Furthermore, instructional support was absent when needed. On November 2nd, I emailed my assigned Teaching Assistant to inquire about a past assignment and to raise my concerns regarding my challenges in navigating though the course. I did not receive a response for 11 days (November 13th in the evening). This delay of nearly two weeks is insurmountable and in the email response, there was no reply referancing my struggles in navigating through the course.
I manage diagnosed anxiety and symptoms of depression, which severely impact my executive functions. These struggles undermine my motivation, sometimes making it impossible to maintain consistency and focus required to complete university-level coursework and demands. The nature of this course - where materials and assignments were unclear and support was unreliable - negatively impacted my pre-existing mental health struggles. The constant confusion and uncertainty of assignments and course materials exacerbated my symptoms, which caused a spiral of anxiety and “low” periods (referring to the depression symptoms). This resulted in my inability to complete work to my usual standard not only in HLTH 200, but across all my courses. This course became a source of significant mental distress, negatively impacting my overall performance in all of my courses.
The grade I currently hold in this course is not a reflection of my intellectual capacity or lack of effort, rather it is a reflection of poor organization and cognitive barriers caused by the heightened anxiety of navigating a very poorly formatted and unorganized platform. I am especially disappointed in the 11-day lapse in communication during a period I was significantly struggling in navigating through the course and its assignments.
Before resorting to writing this petition, I had reached out via email to my TA, spent excessive time attempting to locate needed documents for my assignments, and continued managing my mental health to the best of my ability.
Given that these issues I have raised above were beyond my control, leaving a “DR” on my transcript is unfair, as it portrays a standard voluntary withdrawal rather than having to drop this course because of administrative obstacles and health implications. I am respectfully requesting that the course be entirely removed from my academic transcript to ensure my transcript remains an accurate reflection of my academic abilities and potential and I don't believe they should be tainted by these circumstances.
Thank you for your time and understanding and a fair consideration of this petition.
Sincerely,
Mackenzie Morin
I am formally petitioning to have HLTH 200 removed entirely from my academic transcript for the fall term, ensuring it does not appear as a “DR” on my transcript. I am not getting the experience I had been expecting and am needing to drop it due to various reasons. My inability to complete this course to the best of my ability was not due to academic difficulty, but was the result of significant administration failures. Specifically, the chaotic course organization and format, combined with the lack of instructional response to my emails created an untenable learning environment. The challenges I have experienced with this course only worsened my documented anxiety, which heavily affected my ability to complete this course to the best of my ability and negatively impacted my performance across my other courses.
Throughout this semester, the online organization and formatting of this course was very poor. For the majority of assignments, essential assignment documents were extremely challenging and sometimes impossible to locate within the course which resulted in my poor performance and marks for such assignments. This issue was not a reflection of course difficulty, but rather the inaccessibility of essential assignment materials. Furthermore, instructional support was absent when needed. On November 2nd, I emailed my assigned Teaching Assistant to inquire about a past assignment and to raise my concerns regarding my challenges in navigating though the course. I did not receive a response for 11 days (November 13th in the evening). This delay of nearly two weeks is insurmountable and in the email response, there was no reply referancing my struggles in navigating through the course.
I manage diagnosed anxiety and symptoms of depression, which severely impact my executive functions. These struggles undermine my motivation, sometimes making it impossible to maintain consistency and focus required to complete university-level coursework and demands. The nature of this course - where materials and assignments were unclear and support was unreliable - negatively impacted my pre-existing mental health struggles. The constant confusion and uncertainty of assignments and course materials exacerbated my symptoms, which caused a spiral of anxiety and “low” periods (referring to the depression symptoms). This resulted in my inability to complete work to my usual standard not only in HLTH 200, but across all my courses. This course became a source of significant mental distress, negatively impacting my overall performance in all of my courses.
The grade I currently hold in this course is not a reflection of my intellectual capacity or lack of effort, rather it is a reflection of poor organization and cognitive barriers caused by the heightened anxiety of navigating a very poorly formatted and unorganized platform. I am especially disappointed in the 11-day lapse in communication during a period I was significantly struggling in navigating through the course and its assignments.
Before resorting to writing this petition, I had reached out via email to my TA, spent excessive time attempting to locate needed documents for my assignments, and continued managing my mental health to the best of my ability.
Given that these issues I have raised above were beyond my control, leaving a “DR” on my transcript is unfair, as it portrays a standard voluntary withdrawal rather than having to drop this course because of administrative obstacles and health implications. I am respectfully requesting that the course be entirely removed from my academic transcript to ensure my transcript remains an accurate reflection of my academic abilities and potential and I don't believe they should be tainted by these circumstances.
Thank you for your time and understanding and a fair consideration of this petition.
Sincerely,
Mackenzie Morin