Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of Studies,

I am appealing to change the course BIO 360 (Fall 2018) into a credit standing.

This is a course that I took out of interest in the subject and to augment my general scientific knowledge. In this course, the majority of marks came from two major assessments, a mid-term and a final exam. My mark was worse than I had expected on the midterm, but by the time the marks for the midterm were returned to students, it was past the due date to drop the course. As such, I did my best to improve my mark through meeting with my professor and T.A and in the final but was unable to. I don¿¿t believe that this grade (C-) reflects my academic ability, as can be seen in the discrepancy between the other grades I received that semester (All Bs and As). I have attached my transcript for reference.

Earlier in this semester I met with the undergraduate assistant (Andrea Labelle) in my department and she informed me that I could appeal this credit as a credit standing, where the mark would not appear on my transcript and the grade would not factor into my GPA, but the credit would still go towards my degree. At this time, she also informed me about the option to take a course as a credit of interest. Had I been aware of this possibility before, I certainly would have applied to mark this as a credit of interest but given the current circumstances I believe having this course as a credit standing helps my transcript better reflect my academic abilities.

In the future, if I am concerned about my mark and the deadline to drop a course is approaching I will schedule a meeting with my T.A. or professor to discuss options available to me. Beyond this, I will take a more critical assessment of the courses that I take that are outside of the general subject area of my degree to ensure that I am not hurting myself academically while trying to broaden my knowledge. Should I need to take a course whose subject matter is further away from my general field of study in the future, I will be aware of the choice to either audit the course or assign it as a credit of personal interest.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
Katie Carson