Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

I am writing to you to appeal for credit standing for BCHM 270, which was taken 2018 Winter. I am an online Arts & Science student, as I currently work full time in commercial banking. While I completed this course in full, my final grade resulted in a C- as a result of poor performance on the final exam ¿¿ noting my other grades in the course were reasonable. I am appealing this as I was impacted by extenuating circumstances including: 1) exam anxiety as part of using the Online Proctoring Service 2) the death of my Grandfather and personal health issues.

I am an individual who suffers from exam anxiety, and as part of that I have developed specific strategies to help me succeed on exam day. I have been a student my whole life, having obtained an undergraduate degree and an MBA, and now furthering my learning through online classes. On the day of the exam for BCHM 270, I used the online proctoring service which affected my performance; the initial issue was in regards to the software downloading onto my computer which took way longer than expected ¿¿ noting the process was not supposed to take a long time. I was granted an extension, as I emailed the Professor in regards to the issue; however, I was also faced with further issues with the introductory video (showing ID, room space is clean etc.), which took 8 tries for the video to take (this was not due to my internet connection) which further contributed to my anxiety given the unexpected delay in starting a timed exam. While I admit, I could have downloaded the software the day before, this was not mandatory and as someone who grew up with technology I did not think it would be an issue (I also had a specified time to write this exam as I work full time). Secondly and more importantly, given my exam was heavily weighted on written answers (50 of exam), I struggled with using the software and inputting my answers effectively which further heightened my anxiety. For example, my exam strategy for exams with written answers is to flip through the exam first and view all the questions, and I will complete the questions I 100 know first to build my confidence ¿¿ I will even write notes on specific questions (for written answers especially), so I have the information in case I blank if I get anxious. This software, did not allow to easily flip through questions, as the software would lag and did not provide an overview of the questions/ easy navigation between questions; as such, it was impossible to see which questions were written/how many were written without reaching the question sequentially or potentially clicking on the right one through guessing. The software/lay out of the test was also more geared towards a full screen desktop computer vs a laptop with a smaller screen (which is what I used).

In addition to the issues with the online proctoring services, on March 1st, my Grandfather passed away which was a huge source of stress and brought on both depression and anxiety for me. I had reached out to the Professors in regards to same as one of my assignments was affected since I was attending the funeral during the due date. The passing of my Grandfather, was also 2 months after I found out I had an abnormal MRI after having MS symptoms and a family history of MS (Mother & Grandmother both diagnosed) ¿¿ an incredibly stressful time in my life. In terms of the exam, my Grandfathers passing which was already affecting me mentally, combined with my inability to manage my exam anxiety on the day resulted in poor performance and an inability to complete the exam to the best of my ability.

With my personal issues in my life, it is now apparent to me that I ultimately took on too much in a short period, as I work full time in a high pace/stress filled environment. However, I could not plan for my Grandfather¿¿s passing and the timing of it taking place at the end of the semester was extremely unfortunate. Since the semester ended, I have taken the summer off to work on my mental well-being through allowing myself to come to terms with my life events and simply process. In regards to the proctoring service, I will simply not take classes that use this service or I will try to receive accommodation for an in person exam.

I hope that you will consider my appeal and I thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Daria Boswell
Arts & Science Student, 10205213