Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am applying to appeal the GNDS 360 course due to extenuating circumstances, beyond my control. Originally, I was very excited for this course as it is a topic that is very much relevant to me in my daily life. The professor, Reena Kukreja, seemed very nice and welcoming which made me even more excited. Around the week 5 mark, I became very overwhelmed with my work load which affected my mental health. During this time an assignment was due, so I asked Professor Kukreja for an extension, however it was denied. This threw me off and ultimately resulted in getting a zero on that assignment. Shortly after, I heard about other students who were not being happy with how Professor Kukreja was not willing to help the students out. Not really paying attention to it, I dismissed it and kept up with the course. Over multiple weeks, our class became very anxious around Kukreja's grading methods which very much stressed me out when looking to prepare for the final exam. Many conversations were going on between the students of GNDS 360 about the circumstances of the class, which made me very uncomfortable when I attended. Having very little faith I would pass the exam, I went to talk to Kathy Baer (Gender Studies Undergraduate Assistant) about the issue and she replied giving me Jane Tolmie's (Gender Studies Undergraduate Chair) support in dropping the course.