Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Aaron Gregory-Evans First Year Undergraduate in Fine Arts Program
Associate Dean (Studies)
Queens University. 11-June-2018
Dear Sir/Madam,

A.) The Request
I am appealing my instructors grading for my work in the second semester for ARTF 128. I am also appealing my withdrawal for the academic year 2018-2019. This request has been made in consultation with the Academic Advisors.

B.) Explanation of Extenuating Circumstances
My first semester at Queens was hampered by significant illness. In October 2017, I suffered from malaise, chronic headache and gastrointestinal problems, which in November lead to my admission to Kingston General Hospital as an in-patient for two days. My doctors diagnosed an adrenal gland disorder. Afterwards, I was grateful for a discussion with the Head of Fine Arts which led to me being granted some academic considerations for my studies for that semester. I hoped my illness and its symptoms would subside over the Christmas break. When I returned for the second semester however, many of the symptoms that plagued me previously persisted. Unfortunately, in my ARTF 128 class I was confronted with an instructor who demonstrated little sympathy or accommodation for my medical recovery, who was persistently negative in her critique of my work and on occasion was personally hostile.

My instructor gave me a Fail for my first assignment in class. After seeking feedback on where the work fell sort I put in significantly more effort to improving the piece. I was extremely disappointed and stressed to nevertheless learn that this would receive no credit. Instead my subsequent feedback was that I was: the worst artist in the class and my skills were extremely weak. Despite my requests for constructive criticism on which I could build future work, my ARTF 128 instructor repeatedly failed every subsequent assignment with little positive support or constructive suggestions. Instead I was criticized with how poor of an artist you are and you have no skill. One particular incident that had an adverse effect on my confidence was my third assignment. The previous negativity led me to prioritize putting in much more effort into this project. As a consequence I missed the deadline for handing in this work. I did assume that my extraordinary effort might mitigate this but the only feedback I got was that the work was still very weak and needed a lot more work. No constructive comments were given. These experiences led me to feel unwelcome and excluded in class. I therefore elected to work on assignments more on my own, in isolation. In retrospect I suspect my instructor assumed that I was withdrawing from class and to interpret this as non-attendance.

I sought advice from classmates. In particular, I received positive support from Jessica McLean who suggested that my work was not as poor as suggested. In March 2018 I also took my concerns to Dr. Kevin Rogers, Undergraduate Chair of the Fine Arts Program. Dr. Rogers advised improving my personal relationship with my instructor and to seek further advice from Dr. Gordon E. Smith, the Head of the Faculty of Arts and Science.

When I met Dr Smith in March 2018, I learnt that my ARTF 128 instructor had already been in communication with him to state that up to that time three of my four assignments had not been submitted on time. I was surprised and distressed to hear this since apart from one error (explained above) all assignments had been submitted on time. I had a very productive and supportive interview with Dr Smith. With this encouragement and improvement in my general health I re-doubled my efforts to interact with my ARTF 128 instructor for my final assignment. I was again disappointed. My instructor stated: there is no evidence of improvement and you will not get a passing grade. Persistent negativity from my ARTF 128 instructor and recovery from my illness in the first semester had a significantly adverse effect on my overall confidence at Queens. Regrettably, this also led to problems with my other course that semester, HIST 121.