Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Committee,

I am writing to request an appeal for the review of my instructors decision on grading of a final examinations and/or term work.

I am Misbah Amjad, a fourth-year student specializing in Environmental Biology. For the winter semester 2020, I was taking the Environmental Science 200 course as my elective from my option course requirements of choosing a 3.0 credit from the ENSC Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and Humanities list.

One of the assignments was a media analysis critique worth 30, that entailed composing a critical essay of 3 pages on a media regarding an environmental disaster. At first, this assignment seemed simple but with the constant correspondence with my teachers assistant (TA), Joshua Jones, this assignment required more time and thought. Josh was helpful by always guiding and directing me of the marking scheme with the expectations of the assignment. Joshua was extremely supportive in terms of this assignment and generally as a TA to which I appreciate his generous efforts.

The issue to which I write this appeal is to seek your permission to pardon the 10 late penalty I received on this assignment because of situations beyond my control. To commence this issue, I would like to explain the events leading to the day of the assignment submission (February 12th at 2:30 pm). On January 22nd, I received an email from the Government of Canada noticing me to appear for my citizenship test on the date of February 12th. This test was to be written at 8:52 AM in Hamilton, Ontario which meant I had to travel from Kingston to Toronto prior. Being notified almost three weeks in advance, I had ensured and organized all deadlines and preemptive measures required for this day. I had purchased a VIA rail ticket on February 3rd for the date of February 11th evening departing from Kingston to Toronto and a return ticket on February 12th at 1:20 pm arriving at 3:40 pm almost making time for ENSC200 tutorial at 4 pm that counts for attendance and participation. As you can see I was particularly prepared for this day and had set responsible targets for myself.

However, a series of unplanned events took place within the day of February 11th and February 12th. The VIA rail train I was supposed to take, from Kingston to Toronto, on February 11th was canceled because of the protests concerning the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory issue. To this unexpected news, my only immediate option at this last-minute was to take an Air Canada flight, as there were no rideshares nor Megabus seats available. Although I had made it on time for the citizenship test the following day, a delay of 3 hours at the immigration led to chaos for the entirety of the day. The test began at half-past 9 and the following verification of documents lasted until quarter past 12, making it severely tight for me to travel all the way from Hamilton to Union Station to catch my train in 40 minutes. My intention during the first hour of the train journey was to edit last-minute details and submit my final draft in time for the deadline. However, again due to the protests concerning the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory issue, train rails were closed and thus, VIA rail declared canceling of all their train services from that day onto two weeks. Again, because of this unexpected event, I had to find another transport to reach Kingston, which led me to miss my tutorial and the deadline as I did not have access to the internet. Because of this delay, I decided to join my family to drop off my father at his weekly chemotherapy session at 1 pm at Toronto General Hospital for his Liver Cancer treatment and then catch a bus later at 2:30 pm that night back to Kingston. My arrival in Kingston at 6 pm completely exhausted my motivation to work towards the assignment. I began working on it a late-night once I regained my mental motivation to submit, almost at 3 am. I had sent Joshua an email pertaining to the issues behind my late submission and seeking his permission to waive the penalty however, I believe he is not allowed to grant extensions.

I am aware that Dr. Myra Hird explained at the very beginning of the course about the assignment submission details and its rules but I request the permission of the committee board and Dr. Hird to excuse this irresponsibility. I actively took the precautionary measures to ensure such situations would not penalize me however, I was not prepared for this.

Attached entail all supporting documentation for your review that confirms the unexpected circumstances that were out of my control. Thank you for taking the time to review my request and I would appreciate it if you could cooperate.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me by email.

Sincerely,

Misbah Amjad