Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

I am emailing to submit an appeal following an assignment that was not marked by the professor during the Fall semester of 2022. I acknowledge that this request may be later than usual, however, during the initial incident I took all possible routes to have this reconciled, but was met with failure during each. After spending over a month attempting to work with the department, I stopped trying as it was exam season and I had to prioritize other work at that time.

This is in relation to the following assignment: Essay 2 for PHIL 301 with Prof. Kerah Gordon-Solomon. An accomodation requested and approved by the university was for the following timeline: November 16, 2022 to November 18. My accomodation was due to COVID-19 symptoms (runny nose, prolonged headache, fatigue, cough) and at the time, there had been an entirely separate section to apply if an individual had COVID-19 symptoms. I applied for the accomodation related to the exhibition of COVID-19 symptoms and used my attestation as the proof. This academic accomodation was approved by the university and I received an email staying this. I submitted the assignment on November 18, 2022 at the end of accomodation period. The assignment was never marked, and I received a grade of zero on it.

When emailing my Professor, Kerah Gordon-Solomon, she mentioned she did not receive this academic accomodation. I then sent her the receipt that I received from the university but she was unwilling to engage and move forward with this recognition. I am submitting this appeal to request some form of remedy for this issue: either a grading of the assignment to be reflected in the final mark for that course; a pass/fail designation for the course; or aegrotat standing in the course on my transcript.

I took the following steps to attempt to have the assignment acknowledged. I contacted the professor to come to an understanding of the circumstance and have the assignment recognized. This was not acknowledged and I was told to go to academic appeals. I reached out to the teaching assistant to try and resolve the issue with them, but they said that they never received my essay. I attempted to submit a formal appeal on December 7, 2022 which the system did not allow me to move forward with (attempt recorded on appeal website). I emailed the philosophy department and called them on several occasions - all times when I followed up they told me they were ??working on getting me an appointment? but did not receive a call or email follow up with information.

As this is my final year of study, it is important to me that my GPA and individual grades remain excellent as they have during the entire duration of my undergrad. During my time at Queen??s I have been on honour roll each year, I have only received 2 grades below an A-, but of which are a B and B+. Receiving a C+ in a course, is completely out of character. As for this extension I had a valid reason and I submitted within the time frame of the extension, it is unclear to me why this grade must remain on my transcript, potentially harming my ability to get into grad school or law school the following year.

If necessary, I am able to provide further documentation of my efforts to have this issue resolved at the time, including records of communications I had with Professor Gordon-Solomon, and emails to the philosophy department.

Many thanks,
Olivia McElrea
20153667
Queen??s University, Class of 2023 Political Studies