Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Thursday, May 20, 2021

Dear Dr. Stephenson and Ms. Everson,

I hope you are both well. My name is Carolyn Moore and I am a Computer Science student at Queen¿¿s. I¿¿m writing today to request a review of my instructors¿¿ decision on the grading of my final examination in PSYC 221 (Cognitive Psychology). The basis for this appeal is that I have been unsuccessful in arranging an informal review of my exam with the professor, Dr. Monica Castelhano. I will try to outline the situation in more detail below.

Around May 4th/5th, final grades in PSYC 221 were released on Solus. I was slightly surprised by my standing in the course because it did not reflect my own feelings after writing the exam earlier in April. Since it is uncommon for the Psychology department to release grades on final examinations, I reached out to my teaching assistant on May 7th, asking if it was possible to know what my final grade was, as well as if they had any feedback on how to improve my answers. When I didn¿¿t receive a reply, I emailed the professor on May 11th, requesting an informal review of the exam to see where I made mistakes.

On the 13th, I received a reply to my second email, which happened to be from the teaching assistant. They informed me that we could not review the exam because the professor was away from the office and any review needs to be proctored by them. I followed up on the 14th asking when the professor would return so we could arrange a review. I also asked what my final grade was on the examination. As of today (May 20th), I haven¿¿t received a response (I¿¿m happy to provide a transcript of these emails if requested). Since I know I only have 21 days after receiving a grade to appeal, I¿¿ve decided to move forward with the process.

When researching what my next steps could be, I came across the Senate Policy on Student Access to Final Examination Papers. Essentially, it states that students are to be given the opportunity to gain informal or formal access to their final examination papers. Since I have been unsuccessful in obtaining informal access, I¿¿m seeking formal access through the appeal process. In the policy, it states ¿¿As a part of the process of appeal, and on request, the student will obtain access by a method determined by the Department or School. This may be either supervised access to, or a copy of, the final examination paper as well as all other material submitted by, but not returned to, the student and for which a mark has been assigned.¿

To summarize, I¿¿m launching this appeal because I would like to gain access to my final examination paper in PSYC 221. As a student, it¿¿s very important to me that I correct any misconceptions about the course content and learn where I can improve. If, after reviewing the exam, I believe an error was made in marking according to the grading scheme, I may also request a re-marking of the exam, but this is not my primary intention. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Carolyn Moore