Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

My name is Ellen Olsen (20102341) and I am a third-year Life Science major. I am appealing to drop MICR 386 (Fall, 2020).

On November 6, I was one student among many who wrote, edited, and signed a letter detailing some improvements we would like to see to the course. The issues needing improvement included the teaching team ignoring requests for office hours, errors in course content, ignored emails, exceptionally rude emails to students, and issues with our midterm, which was written on October 20.
On November 6 I found out through the letter that our midterm marks had been released. In the week previous to November 6 I had been checking OnQ for my grade, where there was a space under the Grades tab for our midterm mark. To this day it still remains empty. The teaching team had not informed the students that the marks would be released on Elentra, the platform on which we wrote the exam, nor were we informed that they were released. The drop deadline had already passed.

The class average on the midterm was in the low 60s, as was my midterm grade. My performance in the course in assignments and quizzes has an 85 average between them. The teaching team claims that they have never received a complaint about the course, that the midterm average was 85, and that historically, the average MICR 386 midterm grade has always been 85. The teaching team has not been receptive to inquiries about midterm grades and has sent emails both dismissive and rude. All of this has been recorded in the letter. I would like to drop this course as I fear the final exam and its marking will not be an accurate reflection of my knowledge of course content.

The letter was sent to Dr. Michael Adams on November 6. According to the email chain, Dr. Winn and the Life Science Department had previously been involved. After allowing time for a response, on November 12 and November 15 I followed up with the student who organized the letter and they had received no response from Dr. Adams. On November 16 I emailed Dr. Adams asking if there was and discussion or changes to be made to MICR 386. As of now, I still have not received a response.
My other courses have all been very transparent in regard to releasing grades, hold office hours
when requested, and are cordial with students. MICR 386 is the only course I feel the need to drop.

In the future, I will be more responsible in seeking out my grades before the drop deadline. I will be more proactive in emailing instructors and teaching teams in advance and involving authorities earlier (if necessary).

Thank you for considering my appeal.

Ellen Olsen